"Deep Throat's Lessons for Whistle-Blowers"

[TahitiNut]

Read this and weep. Are we going to be part of the problem or part of the solution???

COMMENTARY
By Patricia O'Connell

Deep Throat's Lessons for Whistle-Blowers
Plenty of folks have taken Mark Felt's lonely path since Watergate days. Here's a look at what it takes to successfully reveal wrongdoing.

Becoming a whistle-blower is one of the loneliest and most difficult choices one can make in life. Those who come clean on the wrongdoing they witness in the corporate suite or in government risk immediate ostracism. They open themselves up to counterattacks, loss of livelihood, and sometimes long, costly litigation, just for the act of speaking out against a perceived injustice or crime. And even when their disclosures are revealed to be true, they often have a difficult time finding work again, as potential employers fear they can't be trusted.

All of which makes the spate of splashy whistle-blowing cases in recent years remarkable indeed. Former Big Tobacco exec Jeffrey Wigand spilled the beans about what the industry knew and when, rousing the ire of cigarette giants. (His story was so dramatic, Hollywood made a movie, The Insider, about it.)

Sherron Watkins famously -- and futilely -- warned former Enron CEO and Chairman Ken Lay about the energy giant's financial house of cards. Watkins, persona non grata at Enron after writing her memo, left several months later. Since then, she has co-authored a book, Power Failure, and does consulting and gives lectures.

<snip>

HERO OR TRAITOR? Whistle-blowing is a funny thing: For every person who thinks it's noble, someone else thinks such a break in ranks is the ultimate disloyalty. Indeed, look at the reaction to the revelation about Felt. Some praise him as a hero. Others -- most vociferously and not suprisingly, former members of the Nixon Administration -- are now calling him a traitor.

<snip>

We are facing degrees of corruption and criminality at the highest levels of government, business, and religion not seen before in our history. Every time we avoid that co-worker who speaks out; every time we demean or demonize a whistle-blower; every time we just walk away because we're not 'comfortable' in the company of "disgruntled" people ... we merely add to the burdens such people bear.

If we ever want to live in a better world, we'd damned well better learn to "support the troops" because -- make no mistake -- these are the people on the front lines in a war against the corruption and criminality of the powerful. Perhaps as many of them or more are casualties to our "friendly fire" as they are to the assassins sent by the wealthy.

[AngryAmish]

1. No sex threads

[tk2kewl]

2. Honest people don't fear whistle blowers

[TahitiNut]

3. Nonsense.

"Honest people" fear for their jobs.
"Honest people" want to keep their careers.
"Honest people" avoid whistle-blowers out of fear every day.
"Honest people" are who Edmund Burke spoke of when he said "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

It's not enough to be "honest" - we must also be courageous.

[Wapsie B]

4. This is true in korporate Amerika as well in government.

Even with all this bullshit about reinventing the corporation, work "teams," empowering workers and other such drivel, blind loyalty is still the order of the day. It's in demand to such a degree that even to advance to the supervisory level in a company requires a case of a terminally bland personality and absolute and unquestioning obedience to the edicts from above. Trust me when I say this that the healthcare industry emulates this concept perfectly.

A whistleblower who dares rock the boat to that degree is a pariah. The nurse who outed the drunken surgeon, the secretary who told of sexual harassment by a highly regarded executive are now lower than whale shit in the eyes of the corporate drones; people who's mission in life is to be a good soldier for dear old ACME, to have their picture in the business section of the paper after their promotion, and to receive their gold watch at the end of their servitude. Conformity is so ingrained in our society. It's highly rewarded as evidenced by government and private industry and how they hire and promote. Everyone's looking for the perfect drone, the perfect worker bee.

The shitstorm unleashed by Deep Throat is evidence on how us as a society value those who dare question the status quo. Showing where the bodies are buried and merely asking why somethings happening are looked on none too kindly in this country.