Oh, that can’t happen here! How many times have you heard people make that naive claim? Let me explain something: If Human Beings are involved, “it” can happen anywhere, and in the past 3.5 years, it did happen here. The past 3.5 years have proved that our Constitution has no power unless it is enforced, and short of the Supreme Court, our system of government completely failed the people it was intended to protect. Our DOJ went rogue. The FBI went rogue. The CIA, NSA and other intelligence agencies went rogue. Our Department of Education went rogue. Our FDA went rogue. The IRS is ready and willing to go rogue anytime an administration wants it to. Our Congress went rogue, and the Office of The Presidency went rogue. Many of our federal judges went rogue, even those picked by President Trump!
Back in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, I worked as a drug-interdiction contract agent with various police departments nationwide, and many of them, like New Orleans and Detroit, were corrupt beyond belief. However, there were also very good and ethical police departments I worked with that operated under a strictly enforced policy that kept them honest, and it worked like this: If a police officer witnessed another officer violate department policy, violate law or violate the civil rights of a citizen and did not report the incident in writing within 24 hours, s/he would be disciplined no differently than the perpetrator. This could mean a reprimand for something minor, reduced rank or a dismissal, the latter including loss of all accrued benefits. So, if a cop witnessed another’s wrongdoing but did not report it as required, his/her punishment would be just as severe as the perpetrator. If you want a police department to run ethically, that is how you do it.
The same principle needs to be applied to the U.S. Government and all federal agency personnel. If a government employee knows that another government employee has committed a prohibited act, they should not have the luxury of deciding whether to blow the whistle or not; they are required to report the matter within 24 hours in writing, and if they fail to and it is later discovered they knew, they will be dismissed with complete loss of all accrued benefits.
To understand why this policy is so effective, it is important to understand why so many Americans choose government work over that of the private sector: Personal security. Among other benefits, they get paid health care and a pension plan they rely upon for their retirement, and because they are so security-minded, they will not do anything to jeopardize that “security”. The same policy must apply in the case of a subordinate employee being ordered to engage in an act that is illegal or a violation of civil rights by a superior. A good example would be the lowly IRS employee who is ordered to look the other way or is told to audit a political enemy the current administration dislikes. Another example would be the FBI agent who is ordered to engage in a mission against a citizen resulting in excessive force or violation of civil rights. Under existing conditions, a government employee has every reason not to report such misbehavior because government whistleblowers are not getting the protections they were promised, and making such a report in writing will often result in the termination of the whistleblower and loss of accrued benefits anyway.
To make this policy work, employees reporting misdeeds must be required to submit their required written report to a separate and dedicated federal agency that is completely separate from the federal agency the reporting employee works in, and unless otherwise necessary, the identity of the reporting employee must be kept confidential. That would be a great first step towards cleaning up our government.
In the past 3.5 years, we have witnessed one abomination after another against the American people, committed by elected, appointed and other government related personnel. Horrible persecutions have been committed against otherwise law-abiding citizens like the J6ers and those who prayed outside abortion clinics. J6er American citizens have been subject to actual torture while incarcerated, and the prison Warden needs to spend the rest of her natural life in prison for the evils she has committed. The FBI agents who agreed to harass parents who objected to their school curriculum must be identified, fired, lose benefits and never be allowed to hold another law enforcement or government position again. Same for IRS agents who knowingly harass and audit citizens the present administration politically dislikes. The EPA is another obvious violator, and I’m certain you can name more. In just 3.5 years, our nation became a Banana Republic with just one bad administration, so contrary to those who always chimed that it couldn’t happen here, well, it did happen here, and it happened much easier and faster than anyone could ever imagine.
It would be nice if we could just let bygones be bygones and move on, but that would just about guarantee a repeat of this evil behavior the moment another administration takes charge. No, if there are no serious consequences for the perpetrators of this current evil, then there is nothing that will deter another administration from doing the same thing. When it comes to Human Nature, what can be abused, will be abused — unless a policy of deterrence is strictly enforced.
Carl F. Worden
