Obama Opens the Oval Office to Good Government Groups
On March 28, 2011, Executive Director of POGO (Project on Government Oversight), Danielle Brian, met with President Obama in the oval office to discuss the President's commitment to open government and support of protections for whistle blowers. POGO is "an independent nonprofit organization that investigates and exposes corruption and other misconduct in order to achieve a more effective, accountable, open, and ethical federal government."
The issue Danielle discussed with the President was that although he has shown strong support for the protection of whistle blowers, or employees who expose unlawful activities within the federal government and its contractors, the aggressive persecution of national security whistle blowers is undermining his efforts and the legacy reflecting these efforts. POGO is an avid supporter of protection for whistle blowers and the de-classification of government materials. The President stated that he will not protect the people who expose sensitive government information regarding war tactics which could have a major negative impact, but he will protect the rights of an employee of a federal contractor exposing illegal pay for work they did not actually do. Brian argued the current prosecutions are not for those contractors, but in fact for the whistle blowers. Namely, the persecution of former NSA employee, Thomas Drake.
For more information: Former NSA Executive Thomas Drake May Pay High Price for Media Leak
Drake, discontented with the efforts of the National Security Agency to increase security directly related to compromising the privacy of Americans, financial waste, and poor management, first tried going to those above him to expose the problems, then finally turned to the media to expose the shortfalls of the NSA. He was charged with espionage and is facing up to thirty five years in federal prison. Brian points out Drake's whistleblowing was not an attempt at advancing a political agenda, like so many media leaks are, but a valid attempt to expose the wrong doings of the NSA. The faith in the commitment by the President to protect these whistle blowers was greatly jeopardized as a result of this persecution.
After Brian raised her concerns regarding the issue, she goes on to say the President did acknowledge the flaws in these protections, and stated that he seemed genuine in his desires to discover ways to better handle these situations and come up with new ideas on how to do so. She said that Obama also agreed that too much information in our government is classified, and promised to continue efforts in having a more open government. The President agreed with her regarding the imperfections and also to work together to try and find a viable solution.
POGO does not mess around when it comes to their views and desires regarding government. They acknowledge and attack issues from housing to national security, and have really made a name for themselves as advocates for a more open, less corrupt government in the United States. It was started in 1981, and as acting Executive Director for POGO since 1993 Danielle Brian's credibility is hardly questionable. She frequently speaks before Congress, was inducted into the Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame, and was ranked among the top 100 influential people in business ethics in Ethisphere magazine. Her evidence to support her thoughts on open government and persecution of whistle blowers is substantial, especially after I read some of the articles she wrote on POGO's website, and I can definitely see her logic stating the President cannot protect one whistle blower while persecuting the next.
I have to say that I agree not only with Danielle Brian's theories, but also with those of POGO. Do I think everything that goes on within our government should be declassified? Absolutely not. Do I think we are "Top Secret" happy? Absolutely. I commend her actions in exposing injustices and striving for a government where the people can actually get involved. I never even really understood what a whistleblower was until I researched this blog, and honeslty feel like it taught me something.
At the beginning of the blog, Brian states when she met with the President in the Oval Office it was after a two week postponement, and stated her obvious distain that the same day they were originally supposed to meet ESPN aired an interview with the President discussing his March Madness picks. She later found out it was recorded the night before. I guess that's a lesson for us all: Everything is not as it seems.
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