Let Personal Communications be Private, But Public Decisions Be Public

  Where do we draw the line on Hillary Clinton and her emails? Do we say that if she is communicating as a government official, all her emails should be public?
   I say, some should, some shouldn't. And, we need to consider where to draw the line.
   Going into this consideration of where to draw the line, I'm thinking any communication that binds a government decision or action should be open to the public, for any time the government acts, the action should be the public's business.
   But, if the communication carries no action, and is not part of the process of coming to a decision on a pending action, if it is just the public official's opinion or thoughts or even knowledge on a non-pending matter, then let it be private, regardless whether it is communicated during working hours.
   So, as to whether I'm against Hillary using her personal email instead of a Department of State email account, it depends what she put in the emails. Some I would be against, and some I would condone.
   She should release any emails that resulted in, or reported of, actions being taken.
   I am against how many things we classify. I, along with many, am against the government classifying so many things. Hillary's emails included many things that came to be classified, and now she is under attack for that.
    If a true government secret -- something that truly endangers national security  -- was released, that is one thing. But, I'm guessing by far the lion's share, at least, of the classified information in Hillary's emails, shouldn't have been classified, and Hillary's free speech rights are being violated by the notion she should not have emailed what she emailed.
   And, taking this conversation to a matter I have for some time been concerned about, I am against how we have to file Freedom of Information requests to get bonafide public documents and information. We shouldn't need to submit to the FOIA process in order to get information. If it is government information, we should be able to walk into the building, ask for the information, and walk out with it.
   Better yet, place everything on line. Everything that does not have legitimate reason to be kept from the public ought to be available at the snap of the fingers.
  A government's actions and proceedings should almost always be open to the public. But, a government official should be allowed to express opinions without having every word he or she says being placed in the public domain.