Do you remember Bunnatine "Bunny" Greenhouse? At one time she was the top-ranking civilian employee at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, overseeing billions of dollars in contracts.
Last year she blew the whistle on Halliburton subsidiary KBR's abuse of non-competitive contracts it received for "work" in Iraq. She was rewarded with a demotion, but she continues to speak out. She was on PBS' "NOW" program tonight, and she is feeling some sense of vindication after the Army announced this week that it is discontinuing those exclusive contracts with KBR.
In 2005, Greenhouse testified before Congress that the contracts awarded to KBR represented the "most blatant and improper contract abuse" that she had witnessed during her 20-year tenure working for the government. In a 2005 interview for NOW, Greenhouse says she was told by government counsel that testifying before Congress would not be in her best interests. But as Greenhouse saw it, the Corps reports to Congress and is accountable to the public, so how could she not testify? "I am a civil servant," Greenhouse told NOW in a 2005 interview.
On August 27, 2005, as Katrina was striking New Orleans and many more exclusive government contracts were about to rain down on more Bushco cronies (including KBR), Greenhouse was rewarded for upholding her duty as a civil servant by being demoted (Greenhouse is a native of Louisiana, by the way). She was removed from the senior executive service corps and demoted to "a program manager with no programs," as she puts it. In tonight's NOW interview, she said the demotion was "humiliating," but she shows no signs of defeat or remorse. She appears determined to continue speaking out on government abuses of taxpayer dollars, and she was clearly elated by the government's decision to discontinue its contract with KBR. "I hope it's not window dressing," she said.
Watching the interview with Greenhouse tonight I was inspired by her courage, and a tad reassured that there are still some decent, hardworking, competent and responsible people in government positions who are trying to fight the good fight against Bushco's wave of incompetence, cronyism and corruption. I'm still angered, of course, by all of the wasted taxpayer dollars, and by the Bushco incompetents who are getting wealthy off the backs (and deaths) of U.S. soldiers and innocent civilians in Iraq, but watching Greenhouse tonight I couldn't help but also have some hope.
I couldn't find tonight's NOW interview with Greenhouse on the PBS website. But I encourage you to view Greenhouse's 2005 NOW interview, if you haven't seen it before. Bunny Greenhouse is one amazing American!