John Kasich “Mystified” and “Shocked” People Expect Openness from Government

John Kasich announced today that his lawyers informed him he would eventually have to release information about the people who applied for government jobs on his private website. He also said he doesn’t think he should have to do it and he is, I shit you not, “mystified” that people expect him to follow basic rules of transparency and openness as the Governor of the state.

“I’m mystified at this,” he said. “Frankly, I’m shocked. Maybe the people that demand all this openness ought to think about the way they want their kids treated. Do they want their kids to be jeopardized because they’re trying to improve themselves and look for another job. This is another example of where we don’t have common sense; the tail wags the dog.”

Mystified by people who “demand all this openness”? Think about the kids? Common sense NOT to have openness?

Man, you can’t MAKE stuff like this up.

It’s so obvious by now that John Kasich doesn’t respect the rules of government openness and transparency, or the reasons they were implemented in the first place, that it hardly seems work repeating. It’s also obvious now that we can fully expect a fight from the Kasich administration over every little piece of information they want to keep private. Fortunately there are a lot of people out there – including us – who are willing and able to take on the challenge.

John Kasich thought he was running for the job of CEO of the state, and he is getting a quick and painful lesson that being the Governor of the 7th largest state in the country is absolutely nothing like running a company.