Reality Leigh Winner.
Air Force veteran with 6 years of service, a linguist who speaks Pashto, Farsi and Dari. Someone who signed their life on a blank check to the nation, who swore to protect the US Constitution and citizens against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Obviously she’s very intelligent, and has zero criminal background. Until now, she has been the ideal American citizen warrior.
So, when confronted with a report giving clear and unmistakable proof of hacking and tampering with the US election, she released the document to a news organization.
I choose to believe that Winner made an ethical decision, a conscious choice, to sacrifice herself to help protect the nation. I think back to the woman I was at 26, a veteran with one year less in service, living not terribly far from where Winner resides. I think I can say I would have taken a similar path. I certainly hope I would have had that sort of courage.
I hope the very best legal minds are rushing to help her. They’re certainly all salivating over what she provided to the public knowledge. She may not have blown the whistle the proper way, but that whistle sure needed to be blown.
I know it’s terribly overused, but WaPo has the right quote: Democracy dies in darkness. Thank you, Reality, for shouldering a burden on your strong young back for so many of us, and bringing this to the light.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/05/politics/federal-contractor-leak-prosecution/index.html
