Thread:Comments:Boston Globe criticised for outing FBI informant/Whitey is No Threat: Releasing Informant's Name Won't Jeopardize National Security

Whitey Bulger is not your average wiseguy mafioso. He lived by the code of a federal informant who could dime out his competition at the drop of a hat to get an edge and kill anyone else he wanted out of the way. For the last 16 or so years between indictment and capture Whitey lived in fear of being caught and dragged back to Boston to face his victims and those he betrayed to maintain his rat status. Nobody is coming to this guy's aid and looking to intimidate or injure the individual who gave him up to the feds. That woman is a saint to both the criminal element and the general public. As for whether revealing her name puts other potential informants in any position where they are afraid to come forward, I call bull. This is not a typical informant who would have to worry about being targeted for providing her tips to the authorities. If Whitey was the purported head of an Italian crime family notorious for murdering witnesses, then keeping her name out of the press would make sense. He's not. He's a bum. Most of those who once stood by him are now standing against him. Even his right hand man and surrogate son is ashamed of the old man. As for making the FBI look bad, they SHOULD LOOK BAD. They never should have signed on to get in bed with Whitey in the first place. Their top-echelon informant program backfired in a big way, and it's not the first time a high-level crook had official government backup during their worst crime sprees. This case called attention to the flaws of that program that needed to be exposed so they can be fixed. The Globe was right to publish the informant's name, and they aren't putting anyone in danger. Those who say different just don't know the facts of the story, facts the Globe was the first paper to fully discover and quantify.