How The US Government Destroys The Lives Of Whistleblowers
from the there's-a-process? dept
One of the things we've heard over and over again from defenders of the NSA surveillance program is that Ed Snowden is somehow "not a whistleblower" because he could have just gone through "the proper channels" to alert people to abuse internally at the NSA. Of course, to most people, that seems quite laughable. They know what happens. The Washington Post has an article detailing how the government has destroyed the lives of various whistleblowers from within the intelligence community, who chose to go through "the proper channels" to voice their complaints. It's not pretty.One of those discussed is Thomas Drake, whom we've written about often. He's now been reduced to working at an Apple store, because the government has more or less black-balled him, such that he can't get a job utilizing his actual skills. Bizarrely, he tells the story of Attorney General Eric Holder, who was in charge of the case against him that collapsed completely as it went to court, coming in to shop for a new iPhone:
Last year, he was working when he spotted an unlikely customer: Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who came in to check out iPhones.They cover others, like Richard Barlow, who blew the whistle on the CIA lying to Congress about whether or not Pakistan could use some F-16s it was about to buy from the US to hold (and potentially launch) nuclear weapons. He went through the proper channels to alert officials of the mistake and three days later he was fired. Even though a GAO report vindicated Barlow and said his statements were reasonable and that he was clearly fired as a retaliatory move, he was unable to get another job in the government saying his "record was smeared." He now lives out near
Drake introduced himself and asked: "Do you know why they have come after me?"
"Yes, I do," Holder said.
"But do you know the rest of the story?," he asked.
Holder quickly left with his security detail, Drake said.
The article has a few more stories like this one. Principled people who blew the whistle, and even when they were later vindicated, it made it impossible to get their jobs back or new jobs (or, in some cases, even to get money owed to them).
And people wonder why Snowden chose the path that he did? Sure, the other countries where he may end up don't have great track records either, but the US now has a well-established track record of doing serious harm to whistleblowers, especially within the intelligence community.
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Filed Under: doj, ed snowden, eric holder, intelligence, leaks, nsa, thomas drake, whistleblowers
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Rewrite the national anthem
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They have all been reduced to low-level jobs or been rendered nearly homeless, so actually managing to collaborate with each other is an up-hill financial battle.
Plus, they all know that as soon as there is a whisper of a book deal, all of the publishers will get a gentle push in another direction.
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British tyrants DUG UP Cromwell, HANGED AND QUARTERED his corpse!
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What would you be telling them that they didn't already know?
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And those really guilty of such breaches
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Re: And those really guilty of such breaches
The lying Govt officials or the People's Constitution?
I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of (STATE NAME) against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;
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Correction
Daniel Ellsberg: ‘I’m sure that President Obama would have sought a life sentence in my case’
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/05/daniel-ellsberg-im-sure-that-presi dent-obama-would-have-sought-a-life-sentence-in-my-case/
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Ok, seriously...
Have we *ever* protected *any* of them for doing the right thing?
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Re: Ok, seriously...
...From other nations.
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How do you blow the whistle against the people on top?
The NSA's wrongdoing is by design. It's not a question of people inside the NSA breaking its rules, but of the NSA itself behaving unethically. There's no way to address that sort of abuse by going through internal channels. Furthermore, since the NSA's surveillance involves all three branches of government, it would likely be impossible for Snowden to accomplish anything through official channels of any kind.
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Whistleblowers
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I thank all Whistleblowers for doing the right thing and outing the info.They know the consequences and they do it all for us.
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Define a "Failed State" then look at the USA.
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Trust this
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USCG Whistleblower Retaliation
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