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First of all, the media are being misleading when they run and air headlines reporting that Republicans and Gov. Scott Walker have "abandoned" or "dropped" the deeply troubling gutting of the state open records law.

They simply removed the changes from the budget, where they were placed in a sneak attack on the citizenry leading into the holiday weekend. They moved the issue to a committee to get "public input." That means it’s not yet dead.

It should be. I’ve used the open records law extensively as a reporter, and I teach it. I believe there is nothing more critical to a functioning democracy than it. As Patrick Henry said, "The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them."

A recent example of how the law was used: The reporting on the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and those sketchy loans.

The Republicans in the legislature and Gov. Walker should announce, "This is wrong. It will not happen." And that’s what they have not done. In contrast, Republican AG Brad Schimel was resolute and strong in his denunciation of the changes to the open records laws, which he called a "cornerstone of democracy." So, too, were conservative groups like the MacIver Institute and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and a slew of conservative pundits. Good for them. In fact, the open records assault accomplished the unthinkable in Walker’s Wisconsin: It united left and right (outside the Joint Finance Committee and governor’s office, anyway). In fact, this debacle created the bizarre spectacle (but kind of refreshing in a way) of Democrat Jon Erpenbach and the conservative MacIver Institute sharing mutual flattery over Twitter.

This was so mind-numbingly dumb and contemptuous of the public that baffled conservatives all over social media actually floated the idea that it was a set up to make Gov. Walker look good. Republicans would pass this, so he could shoot it down, looking like the hero. The problem with that theory (which I don’t believe) is that I don’t think this made Walker look good. Secondly, he’s dodged key questions relating to the debacle. If it was a plot to make him look good, he wouldn’t need to dodge questions.

Plus, his administration has raised the same legal argument that is being advanced here to deny open records requests (more on that in a minute). I’m growing very sick and tired, frankly, of Republicans – whom I have supported on a number of measures, like Act 10, school choice, abortion, concealed carry – taking actions that are just literally not supportable.

This was sort of the legal version of the "secret router" – a measure designed to place the deliberative process of government away from citizen and media scrutiny and the public eye. It’s worth noting that some of the communications passed along the secret router at the county office building led to criminal convictions for things like campaign fundraising on taxpayer time. And that a judge later ruled they should always have been public record. And it’s worth recalling that Walker has never answered the question of whether he knew about the router.

Some legislators argued they wanted to protect the privacy of constituents; the problem with that is it’s easy to see how "constituents" could pretty quickly come to mean people like Michael Eisenga, that Republican campaign donor who helped draft a now defunct Joel Kleefisch bill changing child support laws. And, anyway, it went much farther than that. I think the public has a right to know how legislation is made and who is influencing it – lobbyists, average Joes, campaign donors or whomever else. Legislators and other government officials (changes would apply to the governor’s office and local entities like school boards too) are doing the people’s business. The process through which they reach outcomes matters. If everything is on the up and up, what’s to fear from transparency? Furthermore, Republicans could have not released records when sued.

So, here are the 10 most troubling unanswered questions about what’s being called "Openrecordsgate" by the left and the right. Since Walker and Republicans responsible for this are now pledging transparency, we should be getting the answers soon, right?