Monday, April 1, 2019

On Manning and Snowden – The Middle Path

Respectfully, the polarized view on either side of the pro or con Manning and Snowden incidents fail to acknowledge that:

1) We need a more clear mechanism of where this type of whistle-blowing has a safe harbor. In a limited range, both Manning and Snowden mentioned some valid, legitimate motives and justifications for their actions.

2) The willy-nilly disclosure of documents that occurred cannot be tolerated and requires prosecution. Any temperance can be granted in the penalty or sentence of such behavior.

If any of you owned a business with numerous offices and agents, you would be livid and insist on legal action if the following occurred: Some manager/supervisor violated the law. To blow the whistle, one of your employees provided (not through a lawsuit, nor through proper authorities) to your competitor, not only the information on the bad behavior, but all of your trade secrets (e.g., R and D, pending patent apps, internal software, customer lists, business plans, recipes, policies, procedures, protocols, etc.).

There are no rational lawmakers and executive leaders that espouse or argue that government business – especially law enforcement, security, and foreign affairs – has no need of secrecy or privilege. A dangerous and lawless world require it.

Loren M. Lambert © August 12, 2013

No comments: