The Bush/Gore/Nader spoiler debate is taking place again, this time in the shadow of whether people of conscience can vote for Obama. Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg recently urged people in swing states to vote for Obama over a third-party candidate because the alternative is worse (this is the “Lesser of Two Evils” argument, or LOTE).

Photo: Gordon Wrigley / Flickr

Glenn Greenwald wrote about this issue today, here. The comments are interesting, as are the article and comments to this piece by Matt Stoller, who is urging people to vote against Obama. The commenters discussed the merits of LOTE voting and whether voting for a third-party candidate is viable and would send a strong enough message.

Then one commenter said the following, which stood out for me:

Change does not come at the top. It comes from your Selectmen, your County Commissioners, your Sherifs. That is where they create the Bernie Sanders. The ones that can Make a Difference.

Putting aside the issue of presidential politics, will better whistleblowing legislation take hold if up-and-coming local legislators–tomorrow’s national politicians–were pressured to support good legislation at the local and state levels?

What if there was a candidate clearinghouse that rated local and state candidates on their commitment to ethical conduct in government? Local municipalities and state governments need whistleblowing legislation, and the legislators that oversee these institutions become congressmen in a number of years. And whistleblowers can be found around the country.

Why not get involved and make the Congress of a future session friendly to whistleblowers on Day 1?

As far as I can tell, the National Whistleblowers Center is the only place that comes close to doing this, but on a presidential level. Here’s NWC’s questionnaire to then-candidate Barack Obama.

Another alternative is having whistleblowers and activists get involved locally and organize, organize, organize. And to put my money where my mouth is, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing in my own town of Alexandria, Virginia. Truth be told, I don’t even know what the local and state whistleblowing laws are here. 

I urge anyone reading this and so motivated to do the same in your own town and state.

Dissenters’ Digest takes a look back at the week’s stories covering whistleblowers, watchdogs, and government accountability. Look for it every Saturday evening at www.mspbwatch.net/digest.

Foreign Press Covers Obama’s War on Whistleblowers: A Guardian (UK) article covers recent prosecutions of whistleblowers by the Obama Administration and discusses the general state of free speech and dissent during Obama’s reign. Separately, Russia Today interviews two whistleblowers’ lawyers from competing organizations and discusses the case of John Kirikaou, the CIA whistleblower and torture critic who was recently indicted for allegedly sharing secret information with reporters. NPR and Salon have coverage of that prosecution.

FBI Blocks Publication of Whistleblower’s Book Critical of Agency: A lawyer for FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds claims the FBI is blocking publication of his client’s book in violation of agency regulations, according to a press release by the National Whistleblowers Center. Edmonds, who worked as a contract linguist at the FBI, was fired six months after 9/11 following complaints to management about possible compromises to national security and shoddy wiretap translations, according to the Associated Press. Edmonds’ suit was blocked by Attorney General John Ashcroft, who invoked the controversial state secrets privilege. Edmonds has additional coverage on her independent media site, Boiling Frogs Post. She is also featured in this podcast interview by Peter B. Collins.

99% Spring: Real Grassroots Activism or Partisan Co-opting? The “99% Spring” activism training effort by MoveOn.org is seen as an attempt to co-opt the Occupy movement for Democrats’ electoral gain, according to an anonymous party activist. Mother Jones, which is seen with the same suspicion as MoveOn in the link above, offers one account of MoveOn’s training, but a different on-the-ground account is unmoved.

Updates in State Dep’t Whistleblower Peter Van Buren’s case: State Department critic and whistleblower Peter Van Buren is profiled by his lawyer, Jesselyn Radack of the Government Accountability Project, who is covering for Glenn Greenwald on Salon.com. Van Buren separately discusses a recent interrogation by Diplomatic Security. The State Department is moving to fire Van Buren for critical blogging of his employer.

Below the Fold:

–JOBS Act encourages fraud in the financial markets, according to Rolling Stone columnist Matt Taibbi.

–The reputation of the late community organizer Cesar Chavez comes under scrutiny for questionable professional conduct.

–A fired SEC lawyer will have a chance to get his job back following a decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

–A power struggle at a watchdog agency could undermine nuclear plant safety.

–The White House rejects requests to sign executive order prohibiting LGBT discrimination by federal contractors.

–A California state report blasts UC-Davis over pepper spray incident.

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