by Marsha Coleman-Adebayo
The author was with Washington DC’s Occupation movement for its first march against a U.S. government agency, the EPA – the same one with which she had fought an epic court battle on the way to passage of historic whistleblower protection legislation. “The EPA is spending more time protecting the polluting habits of big corporations than those suffering from respiratory diseases because the United States is the world’s biggest polluter.” It was a helluva week, with sexual abuse and gender bias – as always – in abundance.
WHAT A WEEK – SEX, NO SEX, RAPE BY JOCKS AND A MARCH
by Marsha Coleman-Adebayo
“Since Cain has insisted that racism is no longer a determining factor in the lives of African-Americans, he was unable to draw a parallel between his dilemma and the historical context.”
SEX/NO SEX: What a week it was for whistleblowers. It’s hard to know where to start but Herman Cain is as good a place as any. He has steadfastly rejected the claims of four women who say he sexually harassed them, some say it was on multiple occasions. One may be doubted, a second gives pause for thought, but four? And, at least two of them are determined to have a joint press conference. Attorney Gloria Allred rolled out one accuser that triggered flashbacks, for many African-Americans, of the nexus between accusations by white women and the almost instantaneous torture and murder of black men and boys, like Emmitt Till in the South. But, since Cain has insisted that racism is no longer a determining factor in the lives of African-Americans, he was unable to draw a parallel between his dilemma and the historical context. While the corporate media was enraptured by the spectacle of news conferences parading an assortment of tell-all women, Cain was busy touting his position that "enhanced interrogation techniques," such as water boarding is not torture and would be an acceptable practice of his administration.
“Whenever there is a choice between supporting a U.S. multi-national or U.S. corporations and supporting people, the agency...always sides with corporations."
A March: On Thursday November 10th, the No Fear Coalition and the National Whistleblowers Center in collaboration with Occupy Washington D.C. and others held the first occupy demonstration targeting a government agency, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA is spending more time protecting the polluting habits of big corporations than those suffering from respiratory diseases because the United States is the world’s biggest polluter.
President Barack Obama, who has made “No, We Can’t” the hallmark of his presidency, ordered EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to stop implementation of new smog regulations that would have reduced upper respiratory problems that trigger asthma and other potentially fatal diseases. In a letter to their constituents, prior to the president's order, Senators Barbara Boxer and Ben Cardin called the new clean air regulations "life saving." They wrote that millions would die and hundreds of thousands injured if the new regulations were not implemented. The EPA, which appears to believe that the only environment it must protect is that in boardrooms have complied with the president's order without a whimper.
This is while whistleblowers, who valiantly continue to expose the agency's intimate relationship with corporations, continue to be retaliated against and fired under this administration. One EPA whistleblower on the eve of the Occupy EPA demonstration, in which a wreathe and crosses were laid to symbolize anticipated deaths, leaked an internal memo showing that EPA instituted a lockdown by the federal protective services warning EPA employees against participating in the rally. Nevertheless, a number of brave EPA employees joined in the rally; other employees could be seen encouraging demonstrators from inside the building.
Marching the three blocks from Washington's Freedom Plaza to the EPA headquarters, I felt encouraged by the good people who take time off work to do the unpopular thing of saying something’s wrong with our society, it needs to change.
“EPA instituted a lockdown by the federal protective services warning EPA Employees against participating in the rally.”
Interviewed by a correspondent for Federal Radio, I said: "Whenever there is a choice between supporting a U.S. multi-national or U.S. corporations and supporting people, the agency... always sides with corporations."
How low will the government go to destroy a whistleblower?"
Like many whistleblowers, Jon Grand is an unlikely hero, we didn’t know each when we both worked at the EPA and when I started blowing the whistle, but he saw an injustice, he did the right thing, he spoke out, and as his reward, he lost his job and was railroaded by EPA to federal prison for four months.
In an excerpt by Jon for the Occupy EPA march, Jon wrote: "EPA under Lisa Jackson has knowingly continued the deception and cover-up of her predecessors. The message? Racial and gender discrimination are positive traits in EPA senior managers.
Ms Jackson has knowingly allowed these cover-ups to continue...a sad commentary on an administration that promised openness and transparency in government. But as Abraham Lincoln warned: You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time...but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." The Obama administration promised something different. But the promise remains unfulfilled. That is why people are once again taking to the streets. It is time for Congress and the administration to wake up to the corruption and abuse of power and privilege that continues to erode the respect and trust of Americans in their government."
“Precisely who do we protect in our society, vulnerable children or football jocks?”
Rape by Jocks: But, the most shameful case in the nation at present is that involving Penn State and shocking claims of child sexual abuse by assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky. Read the Grand Jury indictment HERE, but be warned it is sickening and heartbreaking – and then wonder at those students who protested the firing of coach Joe Paterno, who appears to have known of the abuse charges for at least a decade, and like others who knew, he did nothing. Precisely who do we protect in our society, vulnerable children or football jocks?
And that is what often happens with whistleblowers, when first you raise the alarm you may be ignored. A school advised a mother who complained about Coach Sandusky, to “go back and think about this for a few days, this is a good man.” Pedophiles often appear to be good men, that is their cover, but for any to ignore complaints about harm against children is criminal.
In my own experience, I found that doing the right thing is incredibly hard. Everyone claims to be a good person; we all say we will do the right thing. But, I found that when I blew the whistle backs turned, people averted their gaze: allowing a wrong and protecting a job becomes more important than doing the right thing. There have been improvements, such as the passage of the Dodd-Frank Bill that provides whistleblowers monetary rewards to be paid by the Securities and
Exchange Commission if the claims turn out to be accurate - but this law is again under threat. On November 3, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee passed a bill to protect airport baggage screeners and give employees in the intelligence community legal ways to expose waste, fraud, and abuse. But ultimately, we need to create a culture within society that recognizes that whistleblowers are the most potent allies democracy has. Without them, autocracy and corruption rule.
Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo is the author of No FEAR: A Whistleblowers Triumph over Corruption and Retaliation at the EPA is available through amazon.com and the National Whistleblower Center. Dr. Coleman-Adebayo worked at the EPA for 18 years and blew the whistle on a US multinational corporation that endangered vanadium mine workers. Marsha's successful lawsuit lead to the introduction and passage of the first civil rights and whistleblower law of the 21st century: the Notification of Federal Employees Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 ( No FEAR.)
Click on the links below to view the demonstration and photos.
see bonus chapter from Jon Grand at: www.marshacoleman-adebayo.com
http://october2011.org/blogs/kevin-zeese/video-and-photos-epa-protest-clean-air;
http://aaenvironment.blogspot.com/2011/11/occupy-dc-no-fear-coalition-occupy-epa.html
http://www.eparafaelmustgo.com
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