I’m always grateful to the Recorder for publishing information about Sunshine Week — an annual reminder highlighting the critical importance of the public’s absolute right to information in a democratic society. Sponsored yearly by the American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, this week of recognition emphasizes to all that this is a country founded on the First Amendment, and that without a free press virtually none of the other Constitutional protections can be guaranteed. The Freedom of Information Act is an insurance policy for the American People, and should be used and regarded as such.
Here in Franklin County we are lucky to have reporters and editors that put the First Amendment to work daily. We get pertinent information about our elected officials, public employees, and law enforcement. Unfortunately, in this age of unprecedented media streams and sources, the core facts can get garbled in background noise and comments. Nowhere has the fog and hype of these alternative media streams been used more effectively than by President Trump. He seems hell bent on turning his tenure into a wholesale celebration of demagoguery, with a side helping of debauchery.
No American president should be allowed to take office without documentation that they are a taxpaying citizen. Just as no president should be cavalierly allowed the false stamp of executive privilege as a convenient shield from public scrutiny. In the face of so much intrigue, financial obfuscation and scandal, the public has a right testimony from the parade of dismissed Cabinet members and White House insiders with information on the most shadowy presidency in living memory. Let (Special Counsel) Robert Mueller do his work. And, let’s see those taxes, Mr. President.
Karl Meyer
Greenfield