Because I Said So
Perhaps your parents were like mine. Sometimes when they said ‘no’ to a request, I would ask, ‘why not,’ and the answer was, ‘because I said so.’ That might work in a parent-child relationship but it is neither reasonable nor acceptable between elected officials and their tax-paying constituents.
Why Do We Need Laws for Transparency?
The fact that we need laws to make elected officials and government agencies share records and information (FOIA, Sunshine laws) is indicative of the usual lack of transparency.
At one of the recent clerk association conferences in Missouri, a session was held about how to handle Sunshine requests. But the session was marked as private, meaning only clerks could attend − no media or visitors. They can’t even hold a transparent session about how to be transparent!
When Should You Blindly Believe Elected Officials?
Never, of course. Whatever your concern or crusade, KNOW YOUR FACTS! Nothing is more unsettling for an elected official than a citizen who can debunk their ‘because I said so’ replies and expose their narratives.
Follow-up to the Introduction to Mythbuster Videos
As a follow-up to the introduction of the Mythbuster videos, Linda Rantz walks viewers through the Myths page of the Return to Hand Counting website for a quick overview of the most common objections (aka ‘because I said so’ replies) about hand counting ballots.
Watch our other Mythbuster videos and consider joining our Hand Count Mission to return the country to hand counting!
Your Vote Counts, so COUNT YOUR VOTE!
