Promoted - standingup

As the Bush administration enters its final six months, truthtellers in government positions should take care: government officials will be tempted to sweep their agencies clean of evidence and whistleblowers before a new administration takes over.

Already, the Bush administration has issued a new executive memo allowing government agencies to conjure up their own penalties for disclosing information covered by a new, broad and poorly defined controls on information (thanks, smintheus). It's a bad portent of things to come.

Saving truthtellers and restoring government integrity depends on proposed legislation that would give whistleblowers badly-needed protections; legislation that is now stalled.

Next week, whistleblowers from around the country will meet for a conference in Washington, D.C., to describe the perils of exposing corruption, waste and abuses of power, hopefully to convince Congress to pass legislation that would save others from suffering similar fates. But, their success will depend heavily on public support - a good turnout of citizens attending the conference events or calling their representatives to urge stronger whistleblower protections.