Whistleblowers

I believe when we look at cases involving national security and whistle blowers such as Snowden and Wikileaks, the bigger issue is not the leak but what is going on that necessitated the leak to begin with. We as a society have a right to know how our goverment is operating and that means knowing whether or not we are being unecessarily policed, our very bill of rights defines and protects us from such abuses in power by the government. We are protected against searches in the manner in which the phone companies participated and whistleblowers help us shed light on ways our rights are being violated. Be it journalist or employee, we need those willing to speak the truth to blow that whistle of informity and transparency to hold government accountable to its citizens. Quite simply, "Whistle-blowing is the moral response to immoral activity by those in power." 1

The concern for our nation is not if we are over policed but how. 2 Since the release of the Complete Pentagon Papers, and Wikileaks and Snowden and a host of other cases our attitudes around whistle blowers have changed. The very things each case represents is our rights and liberties as citizens and how those are being violated. New laws have been created like The Whistleblowers Act, and yet people involved in such cases of liberty abuse have faced very steep sentences protecting our rights. In order to protect democracy I feel we need to do a better job protecting those willing to risk dire consequences to protect it for us whether you believe they are traitors or heroes, whistle blowers have a place in protecting democracy.











1. http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/06/what-we-dont-know-about-spying-on-citizens-scarier-than-what-we-know/276607/

2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/daniel-ellsberg-bradley-manning_n_3793199.html