March 5th, 2010

Yes, between all the “exposing corruption” and “exploring solutions” POGO staffers do occasionally sneak away for a vacation now and again. The Watercooler recently caught up with POGO national security investigator Mandy Smithberger for a quick rundown of her adventure in Israel, which had the incredible timing to coincide with Washington’s biggest snowstorm in ages. Here, she offers a snapshot of the trip by filling in the blanks:

Best meal: There was no real “stand out” meal, just lots of good, fresh food. I came away with a new appreciation for falafel and eggplant, though I can still take or leave hummus (editors note: Papa Smithberger reportedly raved about the desserts).

Moment you realized you definitely were not in the United States of America: There wasn’t snow everywhere! I left town right before snowpocalypse. But on a more serious note, probably the security everywhere — the Israeli guards around the Old City, and the Tourist police in Jordan.

New word learned in a language other than English: Yalla — Arabic for hurry up.

Favorite building or piece of architecture: Definitely Masada. It was amazing to see King Herod the Great’s baths, how he built into the rocks, and the cistern system. And of course there’s the story of the mass suicide of the Jews there to avoid being enslaved or killed by the Romans.

Overall most memorable activity / tour: There were so many things. I was particularly interested in the places where the stories in the Bible could be verified with archeological truth, especially seeing the Olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane. Riding into Petra on horseback — as touristy and hokey as that is — was a great way to see one of the most beautiful sites in the world. It’s also hard to beat going to where Jesus was bapitzed in the River Jordan. Finally, I think it can be easy to forget about the role of women in faith, so seeing the Church of Visitation — which is largely devoted to Mary and Elizabeth, but also honors other women of religious significance — was a unique and memorable site.

BONUS:

Experience that reminded you most of POGO: My mom asking our guide a question that hit a little too close to home.

Stay tuned for more dispatches from around the world!

February 26th, 2010

Last week several of the POGO staff went to Northampton, Massachusetts to see POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian receive the Smith College Medal “to recognize women who exemplify in their lives and work ‘the true purpose’ of a liberal arts education.”

The visit included a packed audience to hear Danielle speak about “Going Above the Influence to Make a Difference,” crazy hats, one member of the staff getting inked, and an announcement that was so warmly received by Smithies that it looks like Keith Olbermann got a little jealous. Check out our slideshow of photos from Rally Day below.

- Mandy Smithberger

More background here.

January 15th, 2010

“Well, the government of course is hiding the aliens.”

– Office of Government Information Services head Miriam Nisbet, responding to a question about how her office plans to address FOIA requests concerning the location of alien spacecraft. She quickly clarified that she was joking [from the .mp3 posted here, around the 5:55 mark].

January 13th, 2010

“…I would like to focus on one problem that I consider a blind spot in the thinking of most defense hardliners, whether they call themselves conservatives or not. Proponents of a vigorous defense posture seem to think that the military should be exempted from fiscal discipline, even though they routinely decry expanding entitlements for disadvantaged members of society.”

- Loren Thompson, Lexington Institute

January 12th, 2010

“They’ve forgotten what made us great,” a former Northrop executive told me Thursday. “If you really valued innovation, if you cared about quality and reliability and systems engineering, then you’d say: ‘Don’t come to Washington. Stay close to the people who are actually designing and producing. Challenge them, inspire them, lead them. The rest will take care of itself.’ “

- From Steven Pearlstein’s January 8 column in the Washington Post about Northrop Grumman moving its corporate headquarters to Washington, D.C.

November 17th, 2009

“There are incentives, and then there are incentives”

- Jim McDermott, chief human capital officer of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, on one of the NRC’s recruitment strategies: offering a dating service to help single nuclear engineers meet one another (which “has so far resulted in about eight or nine weddings”).

November 3rd, 2009

Eleven years ago, a poor little intern raised her hand at a staff meeting to comment that she had no idea who or what a Silkwood was. Danielle was stunned. (And she felt old.) Then Danielle starting asking Hill staffers the same question. She found out that those under 30 had no idea about some of the classics in whistleblower history, including Karen Silkwood, Frank Serpico, Ernie Fitzgerald, and Daniel Ellsberg. (Although we tried to make sure that at least our interns knew Ernie’s story.)

Last night was the culmination of POGO’s response to that lack of knowledge.

Danielle thought there needed to be a whistleblower film festival to use movies as an educational tool. But we had no experience with film festivals, and we were never able to get a grant or raise money for such an event. We explored solutions on the cheap for years. Many interns were determined to make this dream a reality. Several gave it the good ole college try and advanced the ball. But it wasn’t until we connected with Chris Garlock of the DC Labor FilmFest that this concept started to become a reality.  Around the office, we affectionately call him “The Warlock” — both as a play off his name and because of the magic he works. Time and time again during the behind-the-scenes work to put on this Whistleblower Film Series we encountered major hurdles; and every time the Warlock responded, “No problem,” and worked it out.

So after way too many staff hours and complications we couldn’t even make up let alone foresee — for instance, they wouldn’t allow us to show Mr. Smith Goes to Washington in the Capitol Visitor Center because it’s considered a “commercial” film — we concluded the film series last night.

We averaged about 60 folks in attendance at screenings for The Pentagon Wars, The Whistleblower, Silkwood, and The Insider, with — in true POGO bipartisan fashion — Democrats and Republicans staffers were at each film. We had Representative Van Hollen — who, along with his incredible staff, did yeoman-like work to help advance this dream — and Senator Akaka speak at the screening for The Whistleblower; POGO’s Peter Stockton and POGO Board member David Burnham spoke at the Silkwood screening about their investigations into Karen’s case; and Col. Jim Burton, Jeffrey Wigand, and Daniel Ellsberg each spoke at the film they inspired.

Last night at the Washington premiere of The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, the filmmakers, former Washington Post Managing Editor Leonard Downie, and Danielle also participated in a post-film panel in addition to Ellsberg himself. (There were also some folks who had been involved with the Pentagon Papers in the audience, including former Senator Mike Gravel, reporter Hedrick Smith, and Morton Halperin.) It was extremely rewarding to have about 500 people in attendance — so many people showed up, we had to show the film in two theaters at the same time! As one long-time follower of POGO said last night, “This might be the best event you guys have ever done.”

So happily it appears that whistleblower awareness was increased. The Warlock thinks this should be an annual event. However, being such a time-suck and with no financial support, we’ll have to see. For now, Danielle’s dream became a successful reality, and we’re happy with that.

— Keith Rutter

Be sure to check out the photos in the slideshow below (may take a few seconds to load). Do you have any thoughts or feedback about the Whistleblower Film Series? Favorite quotes or questions?  Films you would like to see next time?  Leave us a comment!

October 29th, 2009

Last week, Dr. Jeffrey Wigand joined us in a second-story Rayburn hearing room for the fourth installment of the Whistleblower Film Series. The evening’s film, The Insider, told the story of Dr. Wigand’s struggle to unveil the truth about the tobacco industry’s internal knowledge on the addictive nature of cigarettes.

Dr. Wigand had worked as Vice President for Research and Development for Brown & Williamson, one of the tobacco giants that claimed they believed that cigarettes were not addictive. In fact, not only was Dr. Wigand’s employer aware of the addictive properties of nicotine, but they deliberately tried to enhance these properties in order to create a product with a higher “impact” on its customers. This practice contradicted testimony by Brown & Williamson’s own CEO at a congressional hearing.

Like most of the whistleblowers highlighted in the film series, Dr. Wigand faced a difficult road: death threats, the prospect of losing health insurance for a daughter with acute asthma and the rest of his family, a potential stint in jail, and a news magazine program with cold feet — not to mention the emotional stress put on the Wigand household — might have a silenced others in his shoes.

During the question and answer period that followed the screening, Dr. Wigand encouraged any potential “persons of conscience” (preferring that term to “whistleblowers”) to stand up for what they believe in, even if it means going up against a seemingly unbeatable foe (after all, he was eventually eventually able to conquer the odds).

But while Dr. Wigand’s  vigor and courage are truly inspiring, his experience once again underscores the need for increased whistleblower protections. At another point in the discussion, Dr. Wigand mentioned that were it not for help from an outstanding team of attorneys, his chances for success would have been much lower. Unfortunately, not every person of conscience has a “perfect storm” of legal assistance to sling at their Goliath. And until we implement stronger whistleblower protections we can hardly expect every person of conscience to take Dr. Wigand’s advice and go for it.

We’ll learn more tonight, as the Whistleblower Film Series culminates 6:30 P.M. with the Washington, D.C. premiere of The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers at the Capitol Visitor Center. Earlier in the week, we asked attendees to RSVP — unfortunately, due to overwhelming interest, we have a full house and there are no longer any empty seats.  We’ll let you know how it goes.

— Bryan Rahija

October 28th, 2009

“But I have always rejected the notion that we have to waste billions of dollars of taxpayer money to keep this nation secure. In fact, I think that wasting these dollars makes us less secure…There’s still more waste we need to cut. There is still more fights that we need to win. Changing the culture in Washington will take time and sustained effort.”

— President Barack Obama, upon signing the National Defense Authorization Act

October 21st, 2009

Last week’s Whistleblower Film Series event was our best yet. After a screening of the movie Silkwood, POGO’s Peter Stockton — a congressional investigator of the Silkwood incident — and POGO Board Member David Burnham —  the New York Times investigative reporter referenced in the film — fielded questions from the audience.

POGO Director of Operations Keith Rutter was on the scene as well, keeping an ear to the ground and a finger on the pulse of the crowd.  Here, he lists choice comments overheard throughout the course of the evening.  According to Keith, they are presented “in no particular order, with the names left out to protect the innocent . . . and the guilty.” Take it away, Keith:

• Nowadays this film would have been cut down to 90 minutes and you probably wouldn’t have missed anything.

• This movie might have had its problems, but it is a must-see film.

This week we’re showing The Insider on Thursday October 22, at 6:30 P.M. in room 2247 of the Rayburn House Office Building.  After the screening, there will be a discussion with Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, the whistleblower who took on the tobacco industry and is the protagonist of the film.  We hope you’ll join us!

— Bryan Rahija