There are really only a couple of issues here.

1. The undeniable importance in a democracy of transparency and the critical
role of openness in records generated by government. This is appropriate
subject for the list. 
2. An assumption or allegation that a news source has a slanted opinion.
Really? Whose slant? Which direction? Much of the media is blatantly
shamelessly biased and it is therefore even more important that the subject
of FOIA, Open Records, and transparency be discussed. Attorney General
Holder was voted in contempt of Congress for not revealing significant
records regarding the Fast and Furious scandal and the death of a border
control agent.  The Bengazi scandal is equally terrible where an ambassador
and others were killed and still no significant records released or Congress
or the people informed. It  has outraged many on the left as well as the
right. Many people from differing overall political perspectives are getting
concerned about government openness.

There is nothing more important than discussing the failure (for whatever
reason) of a government to inform its people about what it is doing. It is
one of the most unique things about American democracy. However, I have
sided in the past with government records managers and officials who were
overwhelmed by self-serving lawyers seeking to use Open Records requests to
look over their shoulders to monitor daily actions. And I have also sided
with the public when a government agency is obviously stalling an a blatant
cover-up. It takes information about a variety of references and resources
to be professionally informed on these issues.

Discussing issues like this is very important and it is a primary reason we
have Records Managers in government and a Listserv like this to discuss it.

Facts vs Opinion. If someone thinks a news source about a records issue is
more opinion than fact, they can provide a reference to a countervailing
opinion or more accurate facts. It is more important to hear more than one
perspective on a records issue on this list than it is to appoint someone on
the list as the sole arbiter of sanitized perspective.

John



***************************
John Phillips
Information Technology Decisions
www.infotechdecisions.net



-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Larry Medina
Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 2:39 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Barack Obama promised transparency: The White House is as
opaque, secretive, and hostile ... Bush's admin

The tone and content of some of the postings 'weakly associated' with RM
issues in the recent past months lending themselves much more to political
issues have been a bit discouraging and I've done my level best to stay out
of them and NOT point it out further by responding to them, and I'd hoped
they would eventually simply go away... unfortunately, they haven't.

I hope it doesn't take people starting to respond to them and/or complain
about the inappropriateness of them to make them stop... but then again, one
woul dhave to wonder... would it simply be like...

SHOUTING AT THE RAIN ???   (see what I did there??)

Larry
[log in to unmask]

On Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 11:28 AM, Jim S. Craft <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> While I agree with the summation presented by Peter, I had hoped that 
> we could actually have a president that meant what he said.  He was 
> for reducing the debt as well as greater transparency.  Neither have
occurred.
>  HOWEVER, this may not be the proper forum for this discussion, even 
> though transparency is an issue when we look at how we run our records 
> programs in our organizations.  I would hate to see a lot of bashing 
> on either side of this issue due to the political nature of the 
> current occupant of the highest office in this country.
>
> Jim Craft | Records Technician
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On 
> Behalf Of Peter Kurilecz
>
>
> Barack Obama promised transparency: The White House is as opaque, 
> secretive, and hostile ... Bush's admin President Obama is no different.
> Whether it's responding to Congress, media questions, or FOIA 
> requests, this administration is no better than its predecessor. The big
difference:
> Obama is a Democrat. And because he is a Democrat, he's gotten a pass 
> from many of the civil liberty and good-government groups who spent 
> years watching President Bush's every move like a hawk.
>
>  http://slate.me/13Tiupk
>

--
*Lawrence J. Medina
Danville, CA
RIM Professional since 1972*

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