In the spring of 2010 the Carnegie Corporation issued a glowing report on their favorite government watchdog Project on Government Oversight (POGO). The report was meant to justify and showcase the large grants given to POGO by the corporation over the last few years. In 2008 and 2009 alone the corporation had given over $700,000 to this pet-project (lap-dog aka watch-dog). After reading the report one can’t help but wonder at the miscalculation that went with this report’s intention. What was intended to be a glowing report ends up being a major indicator as to the real nature of this corporate-foundation funded government watch-dog turned lap-dog. Allow me to explain further:

Real government watchdogs, if they are doing what they are supposed to be doing, if they are engaged in what they say they are engaged in, become the object of the government’s wrath and hatred. There is no way around this. No way. The executive branch agencies would be up in arms against them: digging their graves as ferocious and as fast as they can; overtly and covertly. And this includes the office of the United States President; the White House.

The legislative branch would be extremely wary of real government watchdogs. After all, real separation of powers ceased to exist a long time ago. Not only that; the last thing the US Congress wants is the existence of whistleblowers in their own backyard. Considering the level of corruption in Congress (think foreign lobby influence; think various methods of going around campaign finance laws; think campaign donors and conflicts of interest when it comes to the congressional decision and legislation making process) how many whistleblowers have we had coming out of congressional offices with reports of corruption, bribery, and other related misdeeds? I believe I have made the case here; suffice to say, Congress has never liked whistleblowers or genuine watchdog groups, evident by their resistance to providing real protection for whistleblowers, holding real hearings on legit whistleblower cases, and holding the executive branch accountable based on proven reports provided to them by whistleblowers.

I’ll go even further: The corporate mainstream media has never been very kind to government whistleblowers, and they usually perceive a genuine watchdog group as a real threat exposing their own cover-up or biased-filled reporting tainted by their masters in corporate and government. I mean, come on, what happens if a genuine watchdog group issues a report exposing illegal wiretapping by the government, when a giant media group, per order of their bosses, chooses to bury and sit on that same revelation? You see what I mean? The reason for the dislike goes beyond a ‘competitive’ relationship; way beyond it.

Now what should be the first thing, first inference, first conclusion, to come to mind (a rational mind that is) when one comes across a self-proclaimed tax-exempt mega corporation-funded watch-dog that happens to be adored by mega corporations, intensely liked by the Congress, truly liked by the executive branch including the White House, and very much admired and complemented by the tainted corporate media? Do you see something extremely disturbing yet very revealing with this picture? Then, with that in mind, let’s read the glowing report issued by the mega corporation, Carnegie Foundation, on their favorite watch-dog, POGO: Read more È

Last month, the EyeOpener investigated the “transparency award� that was bestowed on Obama this past March by a bevy of government watchdog NGOs who are ostensibly advocating for more government openness. As we saw in that report, dozens of high profile government whistleblowers and organizations have launched a petition at takeawardback.org calling on these NGOs to rescind the award in light of the Obama Administration’s abysmal record of government secrecy and unprecedented levels of whistleblower prosecution.

 In response to the petition, one of the NGOs named in our report posted a reply defending its decision to honor Obama on the transparency issue and questioning the motives of those opposing that decision. In the rebuttal, Danielle Brian of the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) wrote:

“It is undeniable that the Obama administration has achieved more openness than any other recent president,� adding that “Public debate and disclosure is often healthy. But there is so much to be done to safeguard our rights and expand openness – our community just doesn’t have the luxury to waste time on distractions.�

A new investigation into the funding sources of the very NGOs who are supposed to be holding the government’s feet to the fire reveals some alternative explanations for why these organizations are so reluctant to call out the Obama administration for its egregious expansion of government secrecy.

The new series on Project on Government Oversight (POGO) and Corporate-Foundation Sugar Daddies looks further into corporate-foundations and Watch-Dogs turned Lap-Dogs. Here are the first two parts in our series:

Part I. The Tentacles of Megas: Reaching from the Government to the Emasculated Watchdogs

Part II. The Journey from Watch-Dogs to Lap-Dogs

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A Classic Story of Government Watch-Dogs Turned Corporate-Foundation Lap-Dogs

I am not a big fan of ‘one size fits all.’ I do not subscribe to ‘everything is either black or white.’ I usually refrain from hasty labeling and categorization based on too few facts. With that said, and with no hesitation, I am about to tell you a classic story applicable to most, if not all, multi-million dollar profitable nonprofit  watchdog organizations with mega corporate-foundation sugar daddies. It is a sad story, but more importantly, it is a highly troubling pattern successfully disguised by the corporate media and corporate-foundation backed quasi alternative media. Because without seeing this pattern, without looking at the entire picture with all the pieces in place, people tend to chase their own tails or run around like headless chickens thinking they are engaged in some kind of active citizenry. Some groups exhaust themselves by futilely targeting elected officials, whether White House or Congress. Other groups burn out chasing after corporate-run media. Other people stumble upon each other protesting and screaming about mini scandals as they pop up at a bewildering rate. It is as if the ‘real culprits’ have put out these mock targets for people to waste their time chasing, targeting, and attempting to shoot.

The real culprits, the megas, hand pick political candidates and finance their election campaigns. They own the media. They fund and control any grassroots or watchdog NGOs that exhibit the tiniest sign of success, visibility and or viability. They foresee we the people’s easily foreseeable reaction and possible restlessness or dissent, and make sure it is properly misinformed, misguided, channeled, and diverted. Thus, the small minority of active citizens continues to become exhausted, burned out, and never gets anywhere. Then, the cycle repeats itself; again, again, and again.

Okay, back to the classic story of government watch-dogs turned into lap-dogs. Read more È