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by vidarh 2459 days ago
I see nothing to suggest he was lying. If the protections that are there on paper are not real, in the sense that they do not protect you, or you have good reason to believe they're not real, then it's not a lie to say there aren't any protections.

Personally, I think he did well not to be naive enough to trust that they'd work.
1 comments
decoyworker 2459 days ago
Just say that then? He was intentionally misleading or he was lying.
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vidarh 2459 days ago
I don't see anything misleading in it either, given that I don't see why anyone would look at those kind of whistleblower protections and believe they are anything but a PR exercise.

EDIT: Put another way: I'd believe those kind of whistle-blower protections are meaningful when we see these agencies admitting to past failures that have been brought up and taking proper responsibility and demonstrably taking steps to ensure better oversight. Until then, the safest assumption is that making use of any whistleblowing provisions they claim to have is at best ineffective, at worst dangerous.

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decoyworker 2459 days ago
https://www.wsj.com/articles/sec-whistleblower-program-has-r...

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/federal-newscast/2018/12/pent...

These protections are used all the time- it just doesn't always make the news.

>demonstrably taking steps to ensure better oversight.

Like expanding the protections? We see a whistle-blower complaint right now in the news working pretty much as intended, with the whistle-blower's identity being protected.

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vidarh 2458 days ago
How are SEC whistleblower protections relevant to the NSA?

As for the Pentagon, you'll note that part of what it covers is that the Pentagon Inspector General has struggled to substantiate allegations of retaliation in most cases, to the point where they ended up resorting to introduce a new system of mediation to resolve cases. Maybe that's because the allegations were bullshit, or maybe that's because the system is totally without teeth. In either case it does not illuminate the case of Snowden at all.

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frickinLasers 2458 days ago
Yet, when the secrets being revealed are important enough, whistleblowers are met with unmasking, armed raids, and prosecution. Perhaps things really have changed in the NSA since Snowden, but given the NSA's record I doubt it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Binney_(U.S._intellige...

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frickinLasers 2458 days ago
Also you are conflating the 2018 SEC and Pentagon with the 2013 NSA, which kind of kills your credibility.
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