Mike Bloomberg and “the chilling prospect of public disclosure”

Why did the Bloomberg administration expend hours and hours of City time keeping the Cathie Black emails private? There weren’t that many of them. They weren’t that interesting, overall. Their defense showed that the Mayor’s office — or “Mb” himself, as Bloomberg’s permanent #2, Patricia Harris, refers to him in emails — believes this: “the principles permitting government employees to exchange opinions, advice and criticism freely and frankly, without the chilling prospect of public disclosure, should extend to individuals who have been elected or selected to public office but have not yet assumed office.” That’s right. Because the machinations of installing an entirely unqualified local famous person to run (ruin?) New York City’s schools should definitely take place in secret. Particularly when it involves recruiting Oprah to wage a PR campaign for hearts and minds.