The Death of a Whistle Blower

The whistle blower is dead.

No, not the whistle blower who saw the illegal actions of Trump and reported them to the proper authorities. Not yet, anyway. This whistle blower was  Chinese doctor from Wuhan province. He is dead from the highly contagious deadly virus we call coronavirus.

Dr. Li Wenliang was only 34 years old. When he discovered the fact that his patient had an unknown virus and was spreading it, he took action. He thought it might be SARS.  It was too late for him, since he had no way of knowing how virulent the virus was before he treated his patients.

As soon as he understood the possible repercussions of the virus he immediately informed his colleagues on a web site. On December 31 he put out the warning. This was bad. This was transmitted human to human. This was highly contagious and deadly.  Take precautions . Get on top of this. He blew the whistle on the virus.

The Chinese government did not like it. Bad PR. Might lead to panic. So, Dr . Li Wenlaing was arrested. YES. Arrested for blowing the whistle. Then he was silenced.

Then he was forced to plead guilty. To spreading rumors. From an interview he did a few days before his death.

How did you feel when the police accused you of spreading rumors?

The police believed this virus was not confirmed to be SARS. They believed I was spreading rumors. They asked me to acknowledge that I was at fault.

I felt I was being wronged, but I had to accept it. Obviously I had been acting out of good will. I felt very sad seeing so many people losing their loved ones.

How long will it take you to recover? What do you plan to do afterward?

I started coughing on Jan. 10. It will take me another 15 days or so to recover. I will join medical workers in fighting the epidemic. That’s where my responsibilities lie.

But the good doctor did not survive. At 34, he is dead, leaving behind a wife, a 4 year old and an unborn child. According to Dr Li Wenliang if the government had disclosed the possible problems with the virus earlier, it may have limited the spread.

So, the whistle blower is dead. He was guilty, under Chinese law, of spreading rumors. He was silenced.

We don’t silence whistle blowers in the US. They are protected. We want them to come forth with information the public needs. Or information about government wrongdoing.

Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has a different idea, however. He follows the Chinese model. He plans to call the whistle blower and make him pay for blowing the whistle on Trump’s illegal activities.

“During an interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo over the weekend, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham vowed to compel testimony from the whistleblower in order to get to the bottom of what led to impeachment against President Trump. He also reiterated his plans to investigate the Bidens for their involvement with Burisma, the most corrupt company in Ukraine. ….

“”The day of reckoning is coming for congressional and Senate oversight of Joe Biden and the FISA warrant process,” Graham said.

A day of reckoning. For all whistle blowers. President Trump agrees. And president Xi of China concurs.

 

 

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2020/02/03/lindsey-graham-ill-be-calling-the-whistleblower-for-testimony-a-day-of-reckoning-is-coming-n2560619

The Hopeless Sixty Per Cent

A new poll came out from Monmouth University this week.  It reported that 40% of Republicans believe that Mr Trump , in his call to the President of the Ukraine, asked for help in finding dirt on Biden. That means that 60% of Republicans do not believe that Trump asked about Biden. 60%

OK.

This is from the WHITE HOUSE release of the transcript of the call:

“There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great,” Trump said. “Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it … It sounds horrible to me.”

So, the White House says that Trump referred to Biden in the call. And asked for an investigation.

The Whistleblower, supported by the Inspector General, was concerned that Trump was making a deal to help himself in 2020 by pressuring the Ukraine to “investigate” the Bidens.

From the Whistleblower complaint:

“…Multiple White House officials with direct knowledge of the call informed me that, after an initial exchange of pleasantries, the President used the remainder of the call to advance his personal interests. Namely, he sought to pressure the Ukrainian leader to take actions to help the President’s 2020 reelection bid. According to the White House officials who had direct knowledge of the call, the President pressured Mr. Zelenskyy to, inter alia:

• initiate or continue an investigation² into the activities of former Vice President Joseph Biden and his son, Hunter Biden;….”

 

A number of members of Trump’s staff evidently told this to the whistleblower, which cause d him to  blow the whistle in the first place.

Various news outlets have been reporting on the story, including the exact words of the transcript.

So, everyone right up through the White House says that, yes, Trump asked the president of the Ukraine to investigate the Bidens. I mean, it is there in black and white.

Yet, despite this, 60% of Republicans do not believe that Trump said what he said. Hopeless. Hopeless. Hopeless.

 

 

 

https://www.insider.com/only-40-percent-republicans-believe-trump-asked-ukraine-investigate-biden-2019-10

https://www.businessinsider.com/read-the-transcript-of-trumps-call-with-the-ukrainian-president-2019-9?_ga=2.30507197.340565475.1570044622-1474934704.1563128398