( In what was to be the 900th hearing in the current year, an over-worked committee now had the awkward Paisley " Pongo" Pantopod to deal with , an obstinate but deeply conscientious and moral man. He was being charged, as a former committee member, with breach of confidentiality, when he decided to broadcast to all and sundry the committee's plan to set up and " frame" undesirable members simply to get them banned from the club. Unfortunately for Pongo, the architect of this dastardly plan was Bigot -Johnson, who elected himself to chair this meeting. An extract from the hearing's transcript appears below. )
B-J : You Pongo ought to be ashamed of yourself.......how could you as an acting committee member breach this sacred duty of confidentiality ?
Pongo : I believed I was acting in accordance with a higher duty... being one of a conscientious whistle blower, who felt obliged to expose malpractice within the committee...... I was unfortunately a member of at the time
B-J : You betrayed us you two-faced Judas !
Pong0 : I faced two dilemmas....balancing my right to free speech and independence ( as an ordinary member ) .....with the moral obligations of confidence and respect owed to the committee to whom I was elected to serve
B-J : But you turned out to be nothing more than a dirty rotten squealer.....
Pongo : And besides the real fear of victimisation resulting from my disclosures, the fundamental dilemma involves of course the conflicting loyalties between the desire to follow one's conscience and moral beliefs, exposing malpractice.........AGAINST a desire to conform to a culture of loyalty and confidentiality......albeit displaced....
B-J : The simple fact is this, Pongo..... you're an informer.....and a despicable traitor....
Pongo : The motives for my whistle-blowing broadcasts were purely to draw your attention to the committee's failings, primarily to avert a great harm being done to the club. No doubt you all saw it as morally unjustifiable on the presumption that it violates the obligations to stay loyal and to adhere to a duty of confidentiality. Yet I maintain that whistle blowing is essential, if it reveals genuine wrongs were being committed against innocent people, born out of personal agendas and/or vendettas.
B-J : We, on this committee, hate any kind sneak...snake in the grass.....and stool pigeon.....such as you
Pongo: Sadly, in all social clubs, and especially this one, there is this culture of misplaced loyalty, where committees feel that loyalty is owed to them first and foremost. Indeed, there is an automatic condemnation of those who are prepared to expose the truth. Not surprising therefore that every committee member is put under considerable pressure to only voice their dissent within the meeting ....but never to a wider audience.....such as other interested parties ...and those with sympathetic ears. Yet this would mean turning a blind eye to malpractice which in itself is morally wrong.........
B-J : I 've heard enough of this pontificating clap trap...because as I see it you are without doubt the biggest blabbermouth I've ever come across.....
Pong0 : Confidentiality rules have their purpose and place in committee affairs.....data protection is now firmly established as law of the land. Moreover, sensitive information which could harm or adversely affect an individual and or his/her reputation...... should never be made public. I agree....there has to be confidence in equity...... but there's no issue in broadcasting information concerning improper procedures and/or immoral practices, because this makes the opposite hold true ...there can be no confidence in inequity.
B-J : You sir...are a fool....but worse than that ....a tell-tale snitcher....a rat.....a renegade, who we have got no time for....... what still concerns us was your total lack of loyalty to the cause.
Pongo : Those innocent members who you were prepared to kick out by foul means had a right to know what plots were being hatched against them .... so where was to the committee's loyalty towards them ?
B-J : They were disruptive elements within the club who had to be slung out...... and the ends will always justify the means. We chose to ignore your idiotic and dissenting remarks.....and you should have respected the majority view.....and stayed dumb.....but oh no......you had to rock the boat.....and now it's payback time !
Pongo : In defence of my whistle blowing I would like to say I did not act in bad faith....I believed that what I did was right....I was trying to protect innocent people from being set up.....moreover, I didn't disclose what actually took place for any personal motive or gain.....merely to stop a serious wrong being carried out.....since all my attempts to achieve this on the inside had failed...
B-J : We not listening...... anyway the decision has already been made weeks before ......you've been on our list for sometime now....and as from from today you're banned..........and that's the end of it........now bugger off and join the other three thousand and ninety-three rejects !
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