Tired of Toein' the Line

News on another governmental whistle blower/roadblock to domination from Salon's War Room:

You toe the line on Bush administration policies -- no matter how disastrous -- and you get promoted. Maybe you even get a Presidential Medal of Honor. Dare to dissent? You're history. Lawrence Greenfeld got the message earlier this month. In 2001, the president appointed Greenfeld to lead the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics. But as the New York Times reported the other day, the White House pressured Greenfeld to resign -- then demoted him -- after Greenfeld complained that senior officials at the Justice Department were trying to suppress data that showed disparities in the way racial minorities are treated when stopped by police. Now it's Bunnatine Greenhouse's turn. Greenhouse, a senior contracting official for the U.S. Army, was demoted this weekend after raising concerns about Halliburton's no-bid contracting in Iraq. The Army says the action is the result of Greenhouse's poor performance on the job. Her lawyer says it's "obvious reprisal" for objections she has raised about Halliburton subsidiary Kellog Brown & Root.

My mother-in-law wondered in an email last week whether there's been a listing of all the people who have been demoted/fired/threatened by this administration just for doing their jobs--raising concerns over the course of policy direction in an attempt to make it better, and not blindly following the administration's line. There'd be Richard Clarke. There'd be the guy who was threatened over releasing the true costs of the Medicare drug benefit. There would be a lot more than I can come up with off the top of my noggin.That would be a good database.

FYI - I've got a hugely busy week this week, so the postings will most likely be a bit light (unless something really causes my fury to rise, which I can hardly rule out). But I'll be back in full bore for sure next week.