ATF Humor: Whistleblowers Facing A Firing Squad

from the it's-not-funny-if-it-might-happen dept

Thu, Oct 17th 2013 11:08pm — Timothy Geigner

Here at Techdirt, I like to think that we have a pretty decent concept of humor. While each writer may differ somewhat, I generally have a fairly liberal view of what's fair game for humor and how edgy something can be and still be funny. You want to joke about the government building a planet-killing machine? Cool. Jokes about low-level government employees twisting your giblets? Niiiice. Jokes about drugs? How could you not joke about drugs? Jokes about shooting whistleblowers inserted into government law enforcement training manuals? Somehow that seems to stretch away from funny to frightening.

Yet that's exactly what the ATF saw fit to do, according to (wait for it) leaks from a concerned ATF employee who was not full of bullet-holes at the time of this writing.

After months of anguished debate over mass shootings, gun control and Second Amendment rights, the Justice Department finds itself on the defensive after a training manual surfaced that suggests federal agents could face a firing squad for leaking government secrets. The online manual for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — complete with a photo of a turn-of-the-century firing squad — was obtained by The Washington Times from a concerned federal law enforcement official, and it immediately drew protests from watchdogs who said it showed a lack of sensitivity to gun violence and the continuing hostile environment toward whistleblowers.

Yes, the same federal government that has essentially declared war on whistleblowers, and from the very bureau in charge of helping to regulate firearms in this country, decided it was a-okay to joke about gunning down the very people who would make the country a better place out of a sense of duty. That's not funny. Why? Because I'm not all that clear exactly how many people in government wouldn't like to see that very kind of justice applied to some whistleblowers who already have come forward, namely Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden. We've already heard from former members of the NSA who enjoy joking(?) about killing Snowden and the fervor around Manning wasn't absent requests for his death. In other words, the joke isn't funny if we aren't sure it isn't going to happen.

Not to mention the potential for chilling speech from future whistleblowers.

Stephen Kohn, executive director of the National Whistleblower Center, said the DOJ has forgotten about the protections of the First Amendment, which covers leaks to the media, and that the photo could scare its employees into self-censorship. The photo “would have a chilling affect on legitimate speech. And some of the rhetoric used against whistleblowers could be construed as inciting to violence because they’ve turned up the rhetoric,” Mr. Kohn said.

In the words of fellow writer Tim Cushing, a government with this one's terrible history on protecting whistleblowers doesn't get to make the "don't talk or we'll shoot you in the face, LOL" joke. The image is reportedly being removed now that its use has surfaced, but whoever thought it was funny in the first place sucks at humor. Leave that to us idiots on the internet.

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Filed Under: atf, firing line, whistleblowers

19 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 17 Oct 2013 @ 11:53pm

It wasn't a joke, it was a fantasy.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Oct 2013 @ 1:49am

Obviously the correct thing to do if you uncover corruption would be shut your hole and forget you ever saw it.

Or if you feel like doing the right thing that will most likely destroy your job, reputation, and put you in firing range of some seriously butthurt officials, send it to the news.
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gab4moi (profile), 18 Oct 2013 @ 2:12am

DoJrogueorg.com
Yes you obnoxious, brainwashed, bureauclown, leave the bad humour to us, oh, and by the way, hightail out of the DoJ while you are about it, you never know what subversive commie implant might leak your details to the real world, and then real world and dog might have a few jolly japester pics for you...
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Disgusted, 18 Oct 2013 @ 3:09am

It's Typical
I'm not quite sure why this is such a surprise. The first words out of any criminal's mouth to his victim is usually something like "If you tell on me I'll find you and kill you". Why would we expect anything different from the criminals in our government. I don't.
.
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Carl "Bear" Bussjaeger (profile), 18 Oct 2013 @ 3:25am

With the ATF, it's a fine line between humor and murder.
Cool. The ATF can recycle their old "n----r hunting licenses". A little white-out, type in "whistleblower" and they'll be good to go.

But I'm sure that's just a humorous exaggeration. Really, they'll only stomp to death any kittens belonging to whistleblowers.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Oct 2013 @ 3:27am

Kidding about killing people is so funny lol. I wonder if I kid about executing people on Facebook the police state in US will also think it's funny, or if I kid about bombs at the airport.

I bet they'll think it's hilarious, too.
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beech, 18 Oct 2013 @ 4:06am

double standards
When an agency makes a joke about killing people, its ok. Layperson dares to utter a joke featuring the word "bomb"within 100 miles of an airport, it's terrorism.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Oct 2013 @ 4:14am

correction: Chelsea Manning
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Oct 2013 @ 5:13am

Re:
"send it to the news"

.... anonymously

I know, it gets more difficult every day.
Certainly there remains ways of doing this.
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Jim Anderson, 18 Oct 2013 @ 6:19am

It Wasn't A joke
It wasn't A joke. It was an online training manual.
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musterion (profile), 18 Oct 2013 @ 6:24am

No Firing Squad--Send in the IRS
A more cruel punishment--an audit.
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aiming4thevoid (profile), 18 Oct 2013 @ 8:13am

This is not OK!
Please kindly correct your article.

Her name is Chelsea Manning

The lack of respect you keep showing her is completely unacceptable!
She has shown more moral fortitude than most on this planet with her actions and the way she has handled her incarceration in solitary confinement, the least you can do is respect her choice of identity.
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Gwiz (profile), 18 Oct 2013 @ 8:22am

Re: This is not OK!
Lighten up, Francis.

At the the time of the cable leaks his name was Bradley Manning. The article is correct as is, IMHO.
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Wolfy, 18 Oct 2013 @ 8:32am

Re: DoJrogueorg.com
The fifties are calling... they want their rhetoric back.
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PRMan, 18 Oct 2013 @ 8:34am

Re: This is not OK!
And why aren't the demands of a person trying to require everyone else to call them something different completely unacceptable? Especially when it just serves to confuse everyone else as to who we are talking about?

And no, I never called him "Metaworld Peace" either. And I never called Prince "The Artist" or that weird symbol either.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Oct 2013 @ 9:36am

Turn-of-the-century, you say?
Firing squads still dressed like that 15 years ago? Wow.

(That's some fine reporting, Lou...)
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art guerrilla (profile), 18 Oct 2013 @ 11:26am

oh, i thought it was something serious...
... like a kid having a cartoon of a bomb, or a deadly pop tart, or fingers that went *pew*pew* 'i got you'...

now *THAT* would be some dangerous shit we should get right on ! ! !

armed gummint goons who already have a policy of shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later ?
not a problem...
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btrussell (profile), 18 Oct 2013 @ 12:31pm

Re: It's Typical
I think those would be the last words, but it has been quite a while since I have watched any movies.
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Cloudsplitter, 26 Oct 2013 @ 10:25am

Response to: Anonymous Coward on Oct 18th, 2013 @ 1:49am
No you send it to Wikileaks. By the way the book store that Manning used to send off his great leak is right near me, I wonder if they know they are an historic site.
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