Thomas Tamm: American Hero

Tonight I heard whisleblower Thomas Tamm interviewed on Rachel Maddow's show. This was his first television interview and it was exceptionally powerful. This is a man who is definitely following in the courageous footsteps of Daniel Ellsberg, who of course was the whistle-blower who first revealed the Pentagon Papers. When we look to heroes in our midst, Thomas Tamm is certainly among them. Please go here for the video interview with Thomas Tamm called "Truth and consequences": http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/28120228#28244931

For other pieces, please go here:
-- Thomas Tamm to Vaughn Walker: They Knew It Was Illegal
And there's Mark Bradley, who told Tamm,"This may be [a time] the attorney general gets indicted."
-- NSA Domestic Surveillance Whistleblower Revealed
Tamm agonized over what to do. He tried to raise the issue with a former colleague working for the Senate Judiciary Committee. But the friend, wary of discussing what sounded like government secrets, shut down their conversation. For weeks, Tamm couldn't sleep. The idea of lawlessness at the Justice Department angered him. Finally, one day during his lunch hour, Tamm ducked into a subway station near the U.S. District Courthouse on Pennsylvania Avenue. He headed for a pair of adjoining pay phones partially concealed by large, illuminated Metro maps. Tamm had been eyeing the phone booths on his way to work in the morning. Now, as he slipped through the parade of midday subway riders, his heart was pounding, his body trembling. Tamm felt like a spy. After looking around to make sure nobody was watching, he picked up a phone and called The New York Times.
-- The Whistleblower Who Exposed Warrantless Wiretaps Newsweek ...
The story of Tamm's phone call is an untold chapter in the history of the secret wars inside the Bush administration. The New York Times won a Pulitzer Prize for its story. The two reporters who worked on it each published books. Congress, after extensive debate, last summer passed a major new law to govern the way such surveillance is conducted. But Tamm—who was not the Times's only source, but played the key role in tipping off the paper—has not fared so well. The FBI has pursued him relentlessly for the past two and a half years. Agents have raided his house, hauled away personal possessions and grilled his wife, a teenage daughter and a grown son. More recently, they've been questioning Tamm's friends and associates about nearly every aspect of his life. Tamm has resisted pressure to plead to a felony for divulging classified information. But he is living under a pall, never sure if or when federal agents might arrest him.

This is the address for Thomas Tamm's Legal Defense Fund:
Thomas Tamm Legal Defense Fund
Bank of Georgetown
5236 44th Street
Washington, DC 20015.
For more, please go here: The Thomas Tamm Legal Defense Fund

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One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. ~ Maya Angelou