Beyond Outrage

LITTLE ROCK — TALK about sheer impertinence, can anyone think of anything even close to the claims of absolute, arrogant authority made in a draft of the state Game and Fish Commission’s new, more than royal powers?

We can’t.

Once upon a time a happily former governor of Arkansas, Jim Guy Tucker, decided he would remain in office despite being a convicted felon, but even that hallucination lasted less than 24 hours. He decided he’d better resign after all when his delusions of grandeur were met by a justified outrage on the part of the public and talk of impeachment in the corridors of the state Capitol. And all breathed a sigh of relief to be rid of him.

But that outrage began and ended in a day. These impertinent little commissioner-kings and their lawyers must have been working on this draft declaration for some time. Now they’ve dared to go public with their plan, the essence of which is to declare that they’re not answerable to anybody when it comes to disclosing public information to the public. This isn’t just an outrage; it’s a premeditated one.

So much for Regnat Populus. Instead of ruling, We the People are to be ruled. By a small cabal who have never been elected or shown any other signs of being trusted by the people they now deign to dictate to. Those nice words on the state seal are looking more like empty decoration every day thanks to these secretive, self-important, power-grabbing little functionaries. Who can these people think they are? They act like they’re running a kingdom not a commission. And they need to be disabused of that delusion ASAP. Like yesterday. Like last year.

Somebody ought to send these powerhungry commissioners a copy of the state’s Freedom of Information Act and the attorney general’s opinion upholding it back in 1996. Or maybe just a Book of Common Prayer turned to a passage about the need for a decent humility. For these commissioners have done those things they ought not to have done. But in their brazen arrogance, they seem completely unaware of it. Their attention needs to be got—by the legal, moral, editorial and public equivalent of a two-by-four.

Who do these little Game and Fish commissars think they are—the Last Word?

Apparently. Under the new and beyond outrageous rules they’re drafting for their autocratic reign, when any question about whether they have to release public information arises, the final authority will be the commission’s own lawyers. It will come as no surprise then that this insufferable little edict was drawn up by, yes, the commission’s own lawyers.

Its legal staff seems to have confused a state commission with the General Assembly and the attorney general’s office combined. To quote Robert Jackson, Esq., one of the commission’s not one, not two, but three attorneys:

“We are essentially the General Assembly when it comes to making wildlife rules and regulations.” Also when it comes to leveling with the public about almost anything. Under this draft decree, there’s no such thing as simple accountability to the people of this state. Secrecy, the hallmark of petty tyranny, is now to be given the commission’s official imprimatur—the state’s laws, court decisions, and constitution notwithstanding.

EVERYTHING from the amount of time the commission has to respond to requests for public information (from three days to an arbitrary 10) to the information it may choose to disclose or withhold is to be decided by the royal and arbitrary will of the commission itself. To quote His Majesty Emon Mahony, chairman of the commission’s (mis)governance committee, when he was asked about its abrogating the state’s Freedom of Information Act: “I have never specifically addressed that question, and it is not relevant to us. We have the ability as an independent agency to address these rules ourselves.”

We can’t remember hearing such arrant—and arrogant—nonsense since Richard Nixon confused himself with the Constitution and laws of the United States. And soon enough learned better. These three commissioners (Emon Mahony, Rick Watkins and Craig Campbell) and their pettifogging highbinder of a mouthpiece need to be taught the same, nixonian lesson. The sooner the better.

These commissioners three need to reverse course 180 degrees or submit their resignations now. This diktat of theirs is more a confession of their boundless ambition than any kind of acceptable plan. They do seem to realize that the taxpaying public is good for one thing: supporting their arrogance with public funds. That much they’ll accept from the people. Maybe if the commission got its water cut off, that might get its attention.

Where are our leaders? Where are the expressions of outrage? Is anybody but Sheffield Nelson going to stand up to these little stumpwormers in commissioner’s clothes? Surely other good citizens will waste no time following his example.

Happily, it didn’t take long for the governor to speak out—forcefully. Mike Beebe is also a former attorney general of this state, and it showed. He called the commission’s plan “wrong,” talked about cutting off its funding, and told it in no uncertain terms to stop creating its own laws. As he put it:

“We start the easy way, by saying ‘you all made a mistake, I’m sure you’re sorry, I’m sure you want to change it, let’s see if you’re going to do that.’ And then if they don’t do that, you take further steps.’’

The governor noted that this state’s Freedom of Information law is among the strongest in the country, has served as a model for other states, and then added, pointedly: “Everybody should abide by it. And they better.’’ The state’s attorney general, Dustin McDaniel, now has followed suit. May their tribe increase. We hope the commissioners are listening. And learning. If not, the people of this state should rise as one man and kick their arrogant little egos out of office.

Let the justified outrage begin, and continue until King Emon and his royal court can hear it loud, clear and beyond question. Their kind of “public service” is a disservice. And a disgrace. They’ve not only betrayed a public trust but any sense of public decency. At this point, every day they remain in office is a continuing insult to the people and laws of Arkansas. These officious little power-grabbers need to apologize forthwith, and the sincerest form of apology remains a resignation.

We hope we’ve made ourselves clear.