Democracy depends on whistleblowers like Cassidy Hutchinson -- flaws and all

[marmar]

Democracy depends on whistleblowers like Cassidy Hutchinson — flaws and all
Cassidy Hutchinson made an imperfect hero. But her kind of courage is crucial to protecting our fragile democracy

By CLAIRE SYLVIA - DENNIS AFTERGUT
PUBLISHED DECEMBER 27, 2022 5:30AM (EST)


(Salon) On the last day of the Constitutional Convention in September 1787, the prominent Philadelphia socialite Elizabeth Willing Powel supposedly asked Benjamin Franklin whether the fledgling nation's new constitution would create a monarchy or a republic. He famously answered: "A Republic, if you can keep it."

In 2022, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Mark Meadows, Donald Trump's final White House chief of staff, courageously played an outsized part in keeping it.

Franklin understood the fragility of democracy. Its survival requires the vigilance not only of an educated citizenry, but especially of those who serve in government. Yet the demands of loyalty and the lure of power are seductive countervailing forces. With any institution, whether a corporation or a presidency, rooting out corruption depends upon individuals who choose morality over loyalty.

In an all-too-familiar story, Hutchinson, like many whistleblowers, faced an agonizing dilemma: choosing between her moral convictions and allegiance to her former White House bosses. She understood the price that choosing morality entailed. As she told the House select committee on the Jan. 6 insurrection, "You know, I'd seen this world ruin people's lives…. I'd seen how vicious they can be…. And I was scared of that."

....(snip)....

Cassidy Hutchinson may not have been a perfect profile in courage. She was initially evasive with the committee. But whistleblowers are not required to be perfect people. In fact, they are "ordinary people under extraordinary pressure," to quote a line delivered by Al Pacino as "60 Minutes" producer Lowell Bergman in the film "The Insider." Pacino continues: "What the hell do you expect — grace and consistency?" .............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2022/12/27/democracy-depends-on-whistleblowers-like-cassidy-hutchinson--flaws-and-all/

[bucolic_frolic]

1. There's usually one or two willing to rock the boat because

they know the whole cult is seeking fall guys and they don't wish to be included, plus they sense the career advancement that truth-telling provides. Based on what she's said so far, she has no limits to her upside when this all shakes out.

[SKKY]

2. I personally think we're giving Cassidy Hutchinson way, way too much credit...

...she came forth because she had to, not because she wanted to. Let's not forget she continued to work for Trump until April 2021. If she was so distraught about his actions, why did she hang on for almost 9 weeks afterward?

[SheilaAnn]

3. Rent and bills need to be paid. n/t