Move over, eagle cam, we need a Wolf cam

The popularity of the eagle cam has given us a brilliant idea.

Pennsylvania needs a wolf cam, but not for real wolves. We’re talking about Gov. Tom Wolf.

We need a Wolf cam! No, not for real wolves. As far as we know, we don’t have any wild wolves in Pennsylvania.

We’re talking about Gov. Tom Wolf.

How cool would it be to have a livestream of everything the governor does -- all day, all night, all the time? (OK maybe not all the time -- maybe not in the bathroom or the bedroom.)

But in the boardroom where he meets with lawmakers and lobbyists? Yes.

In his office with staffers, discussing policy and political strategy? Definitely.

That way, citizens could be privy to every detail of how the governor is running the state on our behalf.

Mr. Wolf promised to be the most transparent governor in history, after all, and a Wolf cam would be a great way to live up to that promise.

The state Game Commission did a great job with the eagle cam, so maybe it could be in charge of the Wolf cam (though only if it promised not to hoard the livestream embed code to itself). The eagle cam lets us see how the birds behave in their natural habitat. The Wolf cam would let us study politicians in their natural habitats: Expensive restaurants, formerly smoke-filled rooms, Bahamian beaches.

Of course, we shouldn’t stop with the Wolf cam.

We’d also need Republicams and Demicams -- one for each state lawmaker. And for the president. And for Hillary Clinton. And for each member of Congress -- and all elected officials right down to your local school board.

We especially like the idea of congressional critter cams because it would save them from their own hypocrisy. Remember, the same members criti- cizing Hillary for her appalling private email server have imposed no laws upon themselves requiring that they retain emails or subject them to FOIA rules.

Cams for all pols would be kind of like Big Brother in reverse. A “Truman Show” for the-buck-stops-here set. (“The Circle,” a recent novel by Dave Eggers, envisions a similar world where politicians go “clear” -- with publicly accessible cameras recording their every move.)

What got us thinking about this Wolf cam thing was a recent story about the governor’s email.

Apparently, he doesn’t use it much. A FOIA request resulted in just a handful of very short and inconsequential emails written by the governor himself. Other emails released by the administration redacted such things as email addresses and phone numbers (though Mr. Wolf’s campaign was critical of Gov. Corbett for doing the same basic thing).

The response to our FOIA request was a little disappointing and left us somewhat skeptical of the “most transparent administration” vow. Hence, the Wolf cam idea. That’s not to say we really distrust Gov. Wolf. But others aren’t as trusting. The Commonwealth Foundation recently criticized the fact that the governor will soon negotiate huge contracts in private with public-sector unions that gave millions to his campaign.

How about opening that negotiation table to the public?

Actually state Sen. Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster, has introduced a bill that would open all public-sector union negotiations to the public. Amen. It has long irritated us that teachers’ unions and school boards essentially approve contracts in private before even telling taxpayers what’s in those already ratified deals.

Sen. Aument’s idea isn’t bad. But the Wolf cam -- and the Congress cam, and the mayor cam, and school board cam, etc. -- would be even better because citizens could all participate from the comfort of their own couches.

Hey, last Tuesday was April Fool’s Day, but we’re only half-kidding here.

What got us thinking about this Wolf cam thing was a recent story about the governor’s email. He doesn’t use it much.