You betcha they are folks. We are taught from a young age it is not good to be a “tattle tale”. So what happens to whistleblowers? Slabbed reader James Barbieri, a whistleblower that is now retired from the World Bank shared that bit of unpleasantness with the Slabbed nation back in January via his legal treatise:
While the subject matter of this note is a legal claim, the “real” subject matter of whistleblower litigation is the whistleblower; a modern day tragic hero. While the law ostensibly protects and/or rewards the whistleblower, statistics show that whistleblowers usually experience personal and financial destruction. To talk about the Rigsbys‟ legal claim without discussing their personal plight (which is the common plight of most whistleblowers) would be unconscionable.
C. Fred Alford a professor at the University of Maryland (College Park) is an expert on whistle blowers and their subsequent misery. “Somewhere between half and two-thirds of whistleblowers lose their jobs… … Not only do most whistleblowers get fired, but they rarely get their jobs back. Most never work in the field again. …..Of the several dozen whistleblowers I have talked with, most lost their houses. Many lost their families. … Most whistleblowers will suffer from depression and alcoholism. … half went bankrupt.”
Somewhere in that depressing narrative lies the reason we’re stepping up to help both in the False Claims Act case against State Farm as well as those that speak out on the corruption in Jefferson Parish government.
In this clip from the last Parish Council meeting Miss Seeman mentions several whistleblowers including Lonnie Robinson and the rumored destruction of public records.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-GSlOO2CpQ]
sop
In my opinion Margie Seeman and her sister, Margaret Baird are public Saints as evidenced by their selfless commitment and tireless efforts to engage themselves and others in public debate of issues that relate to the quality of life in Jefferson Parish. They are public Martyrs for putting up with the contempt shown them by our Parish Council, their assistants and the Parish administration, Theriot and Barton in particular. Bravo ladies !
I’m taking Pelican’s advise, to calm down, and get some sleep before I initiate my visceral and vitriolic comments directed toward the heretofore neglected critique of the person most responsible the for continued nurturing of this JP culture of corruption; whose intentional and/or negligent maleficence is at the very core of the breakdown of law and order within JP political institutions…District Attorney PAUL CONNICK ! Good government is holding politicians accountable and insuring that they obey the law. DA Connick has failed miserably and is himself the most significant part of the problem.
Rein a foutre, j’en ai assez of Connick, The Council Clowns and da Furheur, avoir…..
sop:
Let’s also remember that while no one likes a tattletale, we are still our brothers’ keepers much to Cain’s dismay when confronted by God about Abel’s whereabouts.
And we are also admonished to care for the weak and oppressed, the widows and orphans.
Where there is oppression we are to defend those too weak to defend themselves, with no thought to the personal cost, because doing the right thing is always the right thing to do.
And God will take care of everything else if we are doing it selflessly.
So to those who would call whistleblowers ” tattletales” perhaps they should be called ” truthtellers”. And perhaps tattletales should be commended: Remember that the worst offenders ( pedophiles etc) use the ” Let’s just keep this our little secret” ploy to destroy lives.
And as far as Jefferson Parish is concerned remember it is Parish Ordinance enacted pursuant to the Charter that MANDATES that any employee who knows of a violation of the law MUST REPORT it or be considered complicit in the violation.
How many CAAs and above are wishing they had had the courage to blow the whistle before the Feds rode into town? Lucre, filthy lucre , clouds so many consciences.
Its just money, folks. You cannot take it with you. It does not guarantee life, love or liberty.
It is a tool to be used as any other tool either for good or for evil. The tricky part is how YOU decide to use it.
And how you decide to either rule it or let it rule you.
I would advise parents to tell their children to RUN NOT WALK to everyone they know and tell them if anyone tried to get them to keep anything ‘ just our little secret’. Let’s raise a bunch of little tattletales and maybe stop the bad guys in their tracks by shining the brightest lights possible on them.
Dark does not like light. Light is the truth and the Way. Teach the little ones to follow the light, the truth and the Way. Teach by example.
Amen.
Amen
OOOOOOOOOOOOwweeeeeeeeeeeeeee When I was a young monkey at the Tulane Primate Center one of the animal care workers would tune in a TV program named “CAR 54 WHERE ARE YOU”. The title was based on the characters, two less than intelligent policemen who most of the time wasted time during the day instead of meaningful detective work and capture of criminals.It was very funny but the reason I’m getting a flashback is because that TV series reminds me of the FBI investigation/ U.S.Attorney prosecution of the current JP political regime and lack of indictments to curb the ongoing chronic corruption. The fact that at every council meeting the officers of the Citizens for Good Government are revealing more and more corruption and JP retaliation of whislteblowers tells me that Theriot, the administration including the members of the Personnel Board and certain members of the council fully know about this retaliation; yet without any fear of federal prosecution continue to allow it to protect the political corruption which only internal whistleblowers can reveal. Margie Seemann’s latest report also reveals destruction of public records, a criminal offense, yet not one public official at the meeting said ONE WORD. What does that tell you about a conspiracy to hide the TRUTH ? So as I so vividly recall the TV series opening yell I will repeat it loudly, as I swing wildly about on my vines, for all the federal authorities to hear on Camp street: “CAR FBI/MR.LETTEN WHERE ARE YOU”? OOOOOOOOwweeeeeeeeeeeeeee
This lady has guts.
And she’s right.
Only thing missing from that video is the response or non-response from Theriot & Co.
I agree Unslabbed as what you say sounds very similar to the Catholic Catechism but when the subject is human behavior, unfortunately it is what it is and it is not based on religion.
We have an ingrained bias against lying for instance yet we teach our children it is OK to lie in certain circumstances. Teachers want to keep order but caution the students against being a tattle tale even if it restores order in the classroom.
Coming from the financial blogosphere I would submit that inherent to successful equity investing is the ability to divine management’s motivations. In mainstream blogging there is an unwritten, self serving rule that it is not OK to speculate what motivates the blogger. We ignore that so called rule of the road because it is bogus. Simply put people would not take the time unless there was a perceived or actual benefit. Unfortunately leaving the world a better place for one
As a side note: has anyone noticed how UNinvolved TheRiot is in the oil spill?
To my recollection, he has shown up once, when Obama went out for his inspection of the marsh and beaches and while everybody including the president was in short sleeves and hot weather gear TheRiot had on a jacket and suit.
Meanwhile, while the parish presidents or mayor of every surrounding parish, from Plaquemines to Terrebonne to Lafourche to Orleans (Mayor Landrieu) to St. Tammany, have been out front and center, from national and local tv and radio and print, JP’s president has been nowhere to be seen. But uou know who HAS been on CNN and in all those media appearances? Chris Roberts. Sometimes Deano Bonano, who I’ve heard on WWL radio. I have seen Young and Cappella sometimes, such as when Kevin Costner showed up with the Gauthier law firm to deliver their money-sucking, er I mean oil-sucking device which Houghtaling is partners in.
But otherwise? It has almost always been Roberts and occasionally Bonano.
TheRiot more and more just seems like a figurehead.
Sop: Right on point as usual. My hope is that time will tell about AMV’s motivations. And that everyone will do the right thing. And that the young’uns will learn to differentiate between the truth and lies without learning through the hypocrisy of their elders. I can think of at least one young woman whose rebellion against her father’s hypocrisy drove her to act out. Thankfully her mother had enough sense to gatekeep Dad. He is front and center in this controversy and the daughter has moved on and through to healthy young personhood.
Parents need to acknowledge their offsprings ability to see through their bull*$#@ and be real and upfront with them…as in truthful. Hypocrisy breeds all sorts of unhealthy issues.
Say what you mean and mean what you say. The children are listening.
I just arrived from DC and came over to ‘Gate’s house to discuss his vehement disposition regarding DA Connick. Apparently he went to Baton Rouge this morning for a meeting concerning Connick. All I can say is, when ‘Gate get’s that French ‘ir dans le cul’, he’s relentless. I think Wilkinson would agree…
‘Gate just called and told me he will spend the night in Lafayette. Placide is coming up from Bayou Lafouche to parley with him and their lawyer friends, part of a prospective legal team, to map out legal questions relating to the JP corruption scandal. He also gave me permission to use his computer, which is convenient since Malthilde is on my laptop working on the vote note case.
From what I now understand, as a result of the public discourse I’ve read, and also private conversations about this JP crap for some time now, ‘Gate is convinced that Connick is principally responsible for both the degree of arrogance displayed when these public officials are conducting taxpayers business and their blatant disregard for the rules and laws that apply to them as they do. In my opinion his assessment is not only insightful, but credible. ‘Gate has given me permission to particularize, superficially, some of the reasons he believes Connick is such a nefarious character. Although I have experience over the years dealing with Connick independent of ‘Gates observations, I tend to agree with the following:
1) Paul Jr. is a political whore created by his father who pimped him out beginning with Joe Yenni. As Telemachus tells us, !988 was the year Connick was chosen to be qualified by the Parish’s insurer to represent them. Of course he would be and was, Joe Yenni said so, or Paul Sr. can find an insurance company that will.
2) This umbilical legal ‘menage a trois’ between the Parish, it’s insurer(s) and Connick is still with us as I write. But it is Connick’s subsequent election as DA of Jefferson Parish that makes one question whether or not this relationship should have and/or should continue. Malthilde has reminded us from time to time that the Connick firm’s hourly rate ($165 dollars an hour) is reasonable and that their work product is professional. ‘Gate says so what…the problem is, money corrupts, and especially this amount of money…over a $1,000,000 MILLION DOLLARS a year, and that does not include such other public entities as Public Transit (MTA); the Louisiana State Office of Risk Management; and company such as Viola (represented by former JPDA Mamoulides) that do business with JP.
3) Connick tells us he has a toilet paper opinion from the State Ethics’ zombies, who opined that there is no conflict. Yea, right, Mr. Connick. He further states that the money paid to his “personal” law firm, Connick and Connick, is not paid to him personally! WTF! #$%$. It is this immoral parsing of words that is an insult to the common sense of taxpayers; the spin to confuse the issue of what is ethical as opposed to what is legal. Mr. Connick, as DA of JP, it’s wrong, period.
4) All of the above begs ‘Gate’s pivotal question: how does one address the didactic dilemma created by Connick’s intentional and /or negligent maleficiance in refusing to lawfully and dutifully uphold his oath of office by refusing to enforce the laws of JP and the State of La.? All the while, having such malevolent conduct cause the citizens and taxpayers to be held hostage to the corruption of this rogue JP Council and the illegitimate Parish President.
Whitmergate tells me he is preparing to post comments on much, much more of the travails of JPDA Connick, which includes: his office’s disgraceful racism; his Burke connections (Langiappe); his collusion in the illegal appointment of Theriot; his refusal to prosecute Wilkinson; and his unlawful entanglement with Villio.
Well, although ‘Gate’s not here, Mathilde is, and we are going to fill our glass with another Rebel Yell and toast to DA Connick’s yet to be continued initiation on slabbed !
Here’s to you cousain, nous allons baiser sur ce trou du cul de demain….