Ginger McGill's fate as Oregon public records advocate is a concrete illustration of the politicization of open government laws.

Candidates for public office routinely give lip service to the importance of open government and their commitment to it. Once in office, that commitment quickly fades.

Virtually no candidate is exempt from criticism.

The Kentucky Open Government Coalition will expose those candidates' hypocrisy, if elected, and their performance in office betrays that commitment.

But for the differences in assignment of open government duties, this Oregon Public Radio interview could have been recorded in Kentucky.

As Oregon's "morality tale" demonstrates, proponents of open government cannot afford to be complacent.