RSSWhistleblowing, Then and Now
Gene Lalor | December 30, 2010
There may be few true constants in America’s political life but one that is as reliable as snow in winter in Minnesota is the variability of Democrat Party absolutes as, for example, when it comes to whistleblowing.
Dems have always loved whistleblowers, those people who figuratively blow the whistle, rat out lies, subterfuges, and chicaneries–when it comes to exposing Republicans or those evil industrialists. When it comes to their own bailywicks, not so much.
One of the most infamous whistleblowers of the last century, Daniel Ellsberg, succeeded in bringing down two presidents and all but singlehandedly lost the Vietnam War by stealing and “leaking” the Pentagon Papers to, what else, the New York Times in 1971. Long before then, liberal Dems had grown to despise LBJ so his downfall was a good thing. Richard Nixon’s ultimate disgrace was a superb thing, ensuring Ellsberg’s status as a Democrat icon of whistleblowing par excellence.
Today, airline pilot Chris Liu is deemed a threat, saw his home raided by the TSA and sheriffs, and had his badge, credentials and permit to carry a firearm revoked, all for revealing in YouTube videos “sensitive information” on the fraud that San Francisco International Airport calls its security system. Liu is still under investigation.
That system involves patdowns, metal detectors. naked body screening of airline passengers and airport employees but requires members of ground crews to simply smile and wave to TSA officials. That’s a tad oversimplified: They must also swipe their badges to access the tarmac and aircraft landing and taking off. Whether they carry weapons, bombs, or box cutters will never be known, unless they use one of those weapons, bombs, or box cutters to perpetrate a catastrophe.
Ground crews must have better unions than air travellers and other airport workers and must inherently pose less of a security risk than toddlers, old ladies or even pilots since Liu blowing that whistle was considered totally reprehensible, not to mention deeply embarrassing to SFO, to the Transportation Security Agency, and to the commander in chief, all of whom pride themselves on the superlative safety they have brought to air travel in America.
What a crock! As one observer re-phrased the new TSA motto: “If you see something, say something–unless it embarrasses the White House!”
Liu, 50 and a 27 year veteran pilot, set up a website, ThePatriotPilot.com, on which he emphatically makes his case: “For our country to truly have a safe aviation system, we need to create a security zone around the airport and check everyone and everything that comes into that security zone, without exception. The current system, as exposed by the Patriot Pilot, allows ground crews far too much unsupervised access to the aircraft and only invites another terrorist attack or mass air disaster. Let’s plug the hole, NOW:” (http://www.patriotpilot.com/)
Would that were the whole case.
Liu doesn’t mention two other facets of the current security mess in America namely, the Obama administration’s obsession with image at all costs and the president’s need for a major disaster to rescue him from a failed presidency.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal elucidated on the former, that image obsession, in his book, Leadership and Crisis, in which he attributes much of the administration delay and ineptitude after the Gulf oil spill to Obama’s concern with image than with commitment and to containment of the spill.
Far more worrying, far more chilling, are the words of former Clintonite Robert Shapiro who claims ”that a successful terrorist attack may be just the ticket to restoring Obama’s lost luster. . . and, short of a 9/11 event or an Oklahoma City bombing, I can’t think of how he could do that:” http://tiny.cc/d3zpc
I can think of an excellent way “he could do that.” Muzzle whistleblowers such as Chris Liu, shoot the messenger instead of addressing the message, and hope for the worst. The president’s ace in the hole is that with the MSM in his pocket, there’s little chance of Chris Liu becoming the new Daniel Ellsberg by bringing down the Obama presidency even if his revelations constitute more than sufficient cause.
Liu’s 6-part cell phone video has been pulled by YouTube but portions can be seen here: http://tiny.cc/4mqc0. No video on how best to cover up a national security scandal is available from John Pistole’s TSA, from Janet Napolitano’s Department of Homeland Security, or from the White House.
Go figure.
Contributor's website: http://www.genelalor.com/
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