Gary Aldrich

January 8, 2003

My candidate for “Hypocrite of 2002” has to go to Time magazine for suddenly discovering the dangers and benefits that come from whistleblowing. The cover of a recent issue features their “Persons of the Year” – three women who blew the whistle on corporate and government incompetence or wrongdoing.

I don’t want to discourage whistleblowers or those who choose to ride on their coattails; surfacing the truth about corporate and government wrongdoing is usually considered a good thing.

But I find it difficult to understand how we can turn truth “on” and “off” like a switch.

Not long ago this country went through a wrenching period which ended in a president’s impeachment. Not only was Bill Clinton chasing skirts in the Oval Office, but he and his administration were gutting national security safeguards to the point that we – as a nation – were seriously vulnerable to espionage and terrorist attacks.

Now there were those who tried to blow the whistle on Bill Clinton and his merry band, but they were attacked repeatedly by the media, including Time. After Monica Lewinsky became a worldwide embarrassment to our country, Time dutifully reported that there was a “Vast Right Wing” conspiracy hellbent on Clinton’s destruction. They downplayed numerous abuses and said it was “all about sex.” Somehow, we “Clinton Haters” were only out to get Bill and Hillary.

They actually reported this with a straight face alongside various graphs and photographs showing how the conspiracy worked. In the Time version of events, it was not important that the serious allegations about Clinton were true. What was important was the appearance, or the personality, or the political leaning of the whistleblowers. more

-- Anonymous, January 08, 2003