Whistleblowers – Part 11
Being a whistle blower has a great deal of responsibility surrounding it. Many are considered martyrs for their cause. Whistle blowers find unjust situations that they find deeply unethical and want to correct the situations.
Alford states that “Filling one’s ego ideal with cultural values not only requires the ability to recognize one’s imperfection, it also requires the ability to sustain a heightened sense of imperfection….) this made sense to me.
Take for instance Linda Tripp, a former White House staff member who disclosed to the Office of Independent Counsel than Monica Lewinsky committed perjury and attempted to suborn perjury, and President Clinton committed misconduct, by denying the Clinton-Lewinsky relationship in the Paula Jones federal civil rights suit. Now Ms. Tripp did get a lot of publicity, going so far as to have some facial surgery. This whistle blower was in my opinion using her status to entice Lewinsky into a situation that was used by Tripp to gain credibility for her. Not only did she lose her reputation, she lost her job. She did come out on top, so to speak, since she sued the government and won. This whole incident was messy and confirmed to the nation that trust in our government is weak. Did Tripp realize her imperfections as she recorded Lewinsky’s conversations? Did the responsibility she took on come from an ethical background or was she just trying to make herself look good.
This statement could be debated for years, but the clandestine way in which Tripp set traps had nothing to do with ethics. She saw that a legal situation had risen and she wanted to be certain she was not caught in her own trap.

Alford also states that,”The ability to tolerate this heightened experience of imperfection, coupled with the recognition that time and work may lessen but never eliminate the gap, is the best definition of the distinction between mature and immature narcissism.”
Tripp is just one example of an immature narcissist. I am certain there are others. When disclosing negative information about government, companies, etc., a whistle blower needs to have very thick skin in order to shield them from retaliation. Tripp did have this. She was fired.
Presidents have a tremendous amount of power and have most likely for year’s hidden affairs. Of course John Kennedy was notorious for womanizing. No whistle blowing there. The ingrained deceit an lies that are used to cover up affairs makes me wonder, how does this affect running our government?