Whistleblowers: The Hard Part of "Freedom of Speech"


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Image result for whistleblowersFor the past couple months, and really the last three years but this is just the newest thing, the mainstream news outlets have been showing 24 hour coverage of the Trump-Ukraine hearings.  This started when an unnamed whistleblower, now known but not confirmed as Eric Ciaramella, leaked information regarding President Trump and a conversation he had with representatives from Ukraine.  This sparked the latest in a long line of impeachment queries that have been launched against Trump since even before he was sworn in as president; and, as the evidence has been flushed out, it now seems that Ciaramella never had any firsthand knowledge of the claimed incident.  While this is a bad example, it is an example nonetheless of whistleblowing: the act of alerting the masses and news media of wrongdoing by an official or their administration.  Chelsea Maning, Edward Snowden, and Daniel Ellsberg are names that generally come to mind when people talk about whistleblowing.  These are people that have risked life and freedom to do what they thought was right: tell people about wrongdoing when no one else will.  But, these whistleblowers have all been persecuted or imprisoned for pointing out a grievance, and this is where the issue of free speech comes into play.  Obviously, governments don't appreciate it when people point out the wrong they have done.  So, when whistleblowers arise, they are normally met with legal punishment.  While there are some laws that protect whistleblowers, they normally have consequences for speaking up in some form or fashion. 
From my perspective, I think the need for Whistleblowers is real, but only if they are doing what is good and true.  People who take on governments, especially people who present a government's mistakes or corruption out to the public, are normally doing so from a standpoint of truth or freedom.  This is a good thing, and I believe it is something the Founding Fathers took into account when forming our country, as they came from a tyrannical government that they could not speak out against without imprisonment or death.  But, having said all that, people need to be aware that people who label themselves as whistleblowers may not always be telling the truth.  In this new climate of "guilty until proven innocent," especially when someone comes out with allegations against someone in power, whistleblowers have a big platform for power.  Whistleblowers are necessary to keep a truthful government; but, knowing that today's political climate favors headlines over truth, future whistleblowers need to be aware of how hard it will be to put truth above everything else.   

Links: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/watchdog-appointed-by-trump-says-whistleblowers-must-be-protected-from-attacks/2019/12/03/9e21f8ae-1614-11ea-bf81-ebe89f477d1e_story.html

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/whistleblower-democrats-deroy-murdock   

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