Some of the biggest and baddest news stories in history have been from “leakers” and “whistleblowers.” The most famous of all were so groundbreaking that they are shrouded in conspiracy theories even decades later. A colleague and friend of mine recently chided on a podcast that no one knows what real journalism is, and referencing creators and consumers of information alike said, “They don’t know who “Deep Throat’ is.” Aside from the sophomoric jokes I wanted to send my buddy, I had to agree a bit about the state of news today. Just the other day Cam chatted up journalist, colleague, and friend John Crump, a fellow AmmoLand News contributor, and they were discussing a story that involved a “leaker.” As if it were kismet, the same day I received a Department of Labor email about a seminar they’re hosting on “whistleblower protection.”

Did You Know?

OSHA’s Southeast regional office will hold a free August 16 webinar to explain workplace retaliation, how to file a whistleblower complaint and what to expect during a whistleblower investigation. Simultaneous Spanish translation will be available.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration did not have in mind what I’ve got churning in my head when they put out this notice, but let’s roll. Certainly OSHA is concerned about “safety,” and we do mean within the trades and workplace – specifically those jobs that have a more corporeal theme to them. That’s not to say that whatever information they have to offer up in their free webinar on “workplace retaliation” is not relevant to our cause here.

What does OSHA say about retaliation?

What is retaliation?

Retaliation occurs when an employer (through a manager, supervisor, or administrator) fires an employee or takes any other type of adverse action against an employee for engaging in protected activity.

What is an adverse action?

An adverse action is an action which would dissuade a reasonable employee from raising a concern about a possible violation or engaging in other related protected activity. Retaliation harms individual employees and can have a negative impact on overall employee morale. Because an adverse action can be subtle, such as excluding employees from important meetings, it may not always be easy to recognize.

Wouldn’t whistleblower training be a great thing for the rank and file members of our Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, et.al.? There is a problem though. OSHA does not cover any of the things that our friends in these alphabet agencies might be reporting on.

The DOJ has their own whistleblower program and we might applaud that, but really, it’s like reporting the principal of a school to the principal of a school. There’s no real accountability against these agencies when they go rogue.

What’s that leave for the well intentioned government worker or officer that actually wants to faithfully execute their duties and stop corruption when able? Deep Throat. That’s what we’re left with. Oh so appropriate.

The truth is, there are no real protections for the rank and file people that see corruption on a daily basis. Not in this current climate of swampy government. The only way they can enact change is by exposing what’s going on behind closed doors to trustworthy members of the media, and in doing so hope for the best that they’ll be treated kindly if ever doxxed. The information they share will be judged in the court of public opinion and we all have to sit back and hope that the government will stop whatever it is they’re doing out of embarrassment, or some watchdog will sue the pants off of the bad actors.

I don’t know if OSHA’s seminar on workplace retaliation and whistleblowers would have any relevance to or offer up anything useful to the battered souls of the DOJ. Maybe? What this does do though is offer up a stark reminder that we’re truly on our own, with dwindling numbers of upright people within the three branches of government to help safeguard our rights and liberties. Leakers risk everything because they think what they’re reporting is not in the best interest of the people and that we have a right to know.

As more and more stories grace the pages of Bearing Arms and all the other wonderful Second Amendment related news pages, let’s keep in mind the amount of corruption and bad doing that gets exposed or elaborated on. This latest leak on the ATF seeking to redefine who needs a federal firearms license in order to sell guns, is just one of the many stories that’s out there which involved someone with the courage to come forward and say, “This ain’t right.” With every bit of luck and the gaining of trust of the 2A journalists, we’ll find more stories popping up that expose the people and agencies wishing to strip us of our fundamental rights.