President Obama Indicts Sixth Whistleblower Under the Espionage Act

[Plucketeer]

48. Your argument assumes

- ASSUMES, mind you - that everyone involved is strictly on the up an up as they discern what should be cloaked and what shouldn't. Yeah, in a perfect world, no one would be hungry, no one would be sleeping in appliance cartons, and so on and so forth.

Furthermore - with guidance from on high - subordinates are going to do as directed. Their livlihood at stake, how many are gonna blow the whistle over proceses they deem improper?
I blew the whistle on some intentional bypassing of assembly standards, when I was involved in military aircraft production some 30-some years ago (my veteran supervisor told me he'd have someone else address a particular snafu when I complained that things weren't right). Air Force reps thanked me when I told therm what was going on, and in short order they stopped production on the plane involved and gave management and inspection a big lecture. What I got for rocking the boat was a threat of dismissal from my job. They told me there were "in-house" ways to have addressed what I had deemed as improper. Right. I knew damned well that if I made a 30-year supervisor (one who was liked - personally - by workers and subordinates) look bad, I'd be out on the street quicker'n I could blink!

Yeah, there's rules and guidelines and such - but your argument balances on the notion that they'll be sdhered to like gospel. If straying from instructions is an instigator for prosecution, we've got a passel of "reps" in various layers of government that are in deep doo-doo.