In 69 years of living, I’ve learned that when someone tries to feed me hogwash, it’s wise to just write them off as dishonest and dishonorable.
The other day Elon Musk falsely described the Boyers, Pa., U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Records Center as a “mine shaft elevator,” bringing to mind an old abandoned coal mine. In fact, the mine (privately owned and operated Iron Mountain Storage Facility) is a modern and pleasant underground office building that boasts a uniquely perfect environment for long-term preservation of important records.
The OPM stores federal employment records at Iron Mountain as required by law. You might ask, why would the law require paper records to be preserved when electronic records storage would seem so much more efficient? Because, if electronic records are destroyed in the event of a national disaster (or in the event of hacking by someone like Musk) the paper documents will still be available to ensure continuity and stability of essential government functions.
It’s also worth noting that the Iron Mountain Storage Facility (go ahead, Google it) has many private sector tenants, including Sony Music, Universal and Warner Brothers. Elton John confidently stores his original recordings there. As does Frank Sinatra’s family.
Don’t buy Musk’s or President Trump’s hogwash. As George Bush once said, “Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.”
Footnote: Your Social Security records are stored there, too.
Joseph Corcoran
Penn Township, Westmoreland County The writer is a retired national representative for the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO.