MANNING, SNOWDON EXPOSE GAP BETWEEN USA IDEALS AND WHAT GOV. DOES

MANNING, SNOWDON, EXPOSE HUGE GAP BETWEEN WHAT OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SAYS AND WHAT IT DOES.

Our recent history has many examples of courageous whistleblowers who somehow in the course of their careers and duties came upon evidence of government (or industry) wrongdoing and had the courage and determination to reveal it to the public. The names of Daniel Ellsberg (the Pentagon Papers), Mark Felt (Deep Throat)of the Nixon scandals, Frank Serpico who exposed corruption in the NY City Police Department, Karen Silkwood, who lost her life trying to expose lies and wrong-doing in the nuclear industry are all ensconced now in history as beneficent and even model citizens to be emulated. Over time, when society finally comes to realize their contributions many have had films produced and encomiums written of their lives. Two recent examples of these idealistic and courageous souls are those of Edward Snowdon, who exposed a massive domestic (and foreign) spying system secretly and probably illegally employed by the Obama government, and Bradley Manning who courageously revealed the wide-spread corruption and incidence of war crimes by American troops in Iraq.

These courageous sorts, have all experienced or somehow become aware of what our government or industry was doing and concluded that those actions were seriously in conflict with our ethics, morals, public statements, postures and Constitution. They understood they would suffer for their actions. Serpico was led into a shootout by his colleagues where he was shot in the face. His coworkers deserted him leaving him to lie bleeding on a Brooklyn, staircase. Silkwood, in face of death threats continued her work to expose wrongdoing. Manning knew he would be court-martialed and punished. Snowdon clearly knew he would face very serious charges and perhaps spend years in jail. Based on what we know of these individuals, none expected or sought personal advancement or financial gain. They are clearly different than the average joe or jane who almost invariably turns his or her back on wrongdoing or corruption and tucks those memories someplace deep in their consciousness, then goes on with their lives, perhaps with a few twinges of never-expressed guilt. So they ARE different. But are they “narcissistic”, “disturbed”, “weirdos”, “psychos”, as some would like to characterize them? Different yes, but based on their actions and statements one must conclude their differences are rooted in their heightened sense of right and wrong, their internalization of our nation's stated ideals and their willingness to take the consequences for revealing what they know as attacks on those ideals. We can and must applaud them for that.

Let us thank these individuals, and support them in their trials and tribulations with big government (and big business) because they are the beacons, like brilliant Pharos sited along our nation's course, which warn us of dangerous rocks and shoals ahead. Shoals which are an existential threat to our survival as a nation of free men and women. They warn us at these watersheds in our nation’a history, that our morals, our ideals, our very being, are at odds with and threatened by the direction our nation's leaders are often secretly attempting to steer the ship of state. Our government's political and policy decisions, often made for purposes of short term political gain, or as a result of poor judgement, corruption, or simple weakness, can come under needed scrutiny by the public only when revealed to the public. Manning and Snowdon have exposed the wide gap between what our government says and what it actually does. They have revealed the vast, yawning chasm that exists too often between our nation's ideals and its actual policies and behavior. Now these two men lie bleeding, like Frank Serpico on that Brooklyn staircase. The press, the government and the some elements of the citizenry are foolishly angry with their expose of the truth and resist the 1013 call to the ambulance. These resistant elements have not come to terms with the fact that the sacrifices of Manning and Snowdon give us the potential to initiate a public dialog and hopefully change the erroneous ways of our nation's leadership. We must act to help redirect the ship of state away from the rocks and shoals which threaten our existence as a nation of free men and women.

And history seems to suggest that at critical, junctures in our nations’s history as at present, that the number and persistence of whistleblowers are a good sign, a warning, and a measure of just how far we are drifting from our ideals. It is time now to take notice and reassess where we are heading.

Get the picture?

rjk