Rough Times for Whistleblowers

In a  just released, lengthy New Yorker article  , Jane Mayer -- with the diligence and thoroughness she used to expose the Bush torture regime -- examines a topic I've written about many times here:  the Obama administration's  unprecedented war on whistleblowers ...  

When President Barack Obama took office, in 2009, he championed the cause of government transparency, and spokeadmiringly of whistle-blowers, whom he described as "often the bestsource of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government." But the Obama Administration has pursued ...more such prosecutions than have occurred in all previousAdministrations combined. ...

Gabriel Schoenfeld, a conservative political scientist at the HudsonInstitute, who, in his book "Necessary Secrets" (2010), argues for more stringent protection of classified information, says, "Ironically, Obama has presided over the most draconian crackdown on leaks in our history --even more so than Nixon."

Fannie, you have every right to be wary of "over generalizations"  and "lies," but this is  thoroughly documented and completely irrefutable.  Rob knows I don't say things I cannot document which is why he relied on what I told him.

These are tough times for whistleblowers. Whistleblower protection reform legislation was passed by the house and senate, but held up by a single anonymous senate "hold."

This week, the brave whistleblowers will be discussing what to do next in a nation where the legislators are more loyal to the targets of the whistleblowers than to the truth tellers.