Friday, October 28, 2016

I'm Guessing I Wouldn't Take Offense to What was in Hillary's Emails

   If we are going to have an opinion on whether Hillary Clinton posted state secrets in her emails, don't we pretty much need to know what was in the emails? And, since the information is classified, what are the chances our government will release that?
   I'm guessing -- but do not know -- that I wouldn't take offense to what she put in the emails. My impression is that government classifies way too much, way too often, and it is an affront to a free and open society, one that expects -- or should expect -- transparency in government.
   Freedom of speech? Doesn't that fall under the First Amendment? Isn't it one of our most cherished freedoms? Hillary used a server in her home while emailing as secretary of state. If she emailed something potentially damaging to national security, I do not condone it. For that matter, we wouldn't condone it whether she was using a secured server from her office, or an unsecured one in her home. Emailing things damaging to the security of the nation is wrong, either way.
   But, if nothing endangered this nation, I don't care that she used a personal server instead of a government one. I wonder but what freedom of speech doesn't mean you can use a personal server and not be required to use a government one.
   The undershot of what happened, is that she might have been trying to hide what she was writing. Deleted emails? Sometimes, you delete because you don't want something to be public. While I believe a person does have the right to be private, I have often wondered if  when it comes to doing the pubic's business, everything (or most everything) should be on the table,out in the open, and available to the public.
   But, if we expect this of Hillary, shouldn't we expect it of every one of our leaders and policy makers? I wonder what would happen if we told Trey Gowdy and Jason Chaffetz they should release their emails and communications regarding the Benghazi and email probes -- everything that wouldn't endanger national security -- for their probes are the conduction of public business and the public's business should be done in public.

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