Delicious
Digg
StumbleUpon
Newsvine
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
TechnoratiOf the Democratic presidential candidates, Sen. Mike Gravel is probably the least well recognized. His dark-horse candidacy may be the butt of jokes on the late-night comedy shows, but that doesn't faze former Pentagon analyst Daniel Ellsberg: "Here is a senator who was not afraid to look foolish. That is the fear that keeps people in line all their lives."
The famed whistle-blower joined Gravel this past weekend on a panel commemorating the 35th anniversary of the publication of the Pentagon Papers by the Beacon Press, a small, nonprofit publisher affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association. It was this publisher that Gravel turned to in 1971, after dozens of others had turned him down, to publish the 7,000 pages that Ellsberg had delivered to Gravel to put into the public record.
The story of the leak of the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times is famous, but how they got published as a book, with Gravel's face on the jacket, reads like a John Grisham novel.
Ellsberg was a military analyst working for the RAND Corp. in the 1960s when he was asked to join an internal Pentagon group tasked with creating a comprehensive, secret history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Ellsberg photocopied thousands of documents and leaked them to The New York Times, which published excerpts in June 1971.
President Richard Nixon immediately got a restraining order, stopping the newspaper from printing more. It was the first time in U.S. history that presses were stopped by federal court order. The Times fought the injunction, and won in the Supreme Court case New York Times Co. v. United States. Following that decision, The Washington Post also began running excerpts. Ellsberg gave the Pentagon Papers to the Post on the condition that one of its editors, Ben Bagdikian, deliver a copy to Gravel.
Gravel recalled the exchange, which he set up at midnight outside the storied Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C.: "I used to work in intelligence; I know how to do these things." Gravel pulled his car up to Bagdikian's, the two opened their trunks and Gravel heaved the boxes personally, worried that only he could claim senatorial immunity should they get caught with the leaked documents. His staff aides were posted as lookouts around the block.
Thwarted in his attempt to read the Pentagon Papers into the public record as a filibuster to block the renewal of the draft, Gravel called a late-night meeting of the obscure Subcommittee on Buildings and Grounds, which he chaired, and began reading the papers aloud there. He broke down crying while reading the details of Vietnamese civilian deaths. Because he had begun the reading, he was legally able to enter all 7,000 pages of the Pentagon Papers, once top-secret, into the public record.
Though ridiculed by the press for his emotional display, Gravel was undaunted. He wanted the Pentagon Papers published as a book so Americans could read what had been done in their name. Only Beacon Press accepted the challenge.
Robert West, the president of the Unitarian Universalist Association at the time, approved the publication. With that decision, he said, "We started down a path that led through two and a half years of government intimidation, harassment and threat of criminal punishment." As Beacon weathered subpoenas, FBI investigations of its bank accounts and other chilling probes, Gravel attempted to extend his senatorial immunity to the publisher. The bid failed in the U.S Supreme Court (the first time that the U.S. Senate appeared before the court), but not without a strongly worded dissent from Justice William O. Douglas: "In light of the command of the First Amendment we have no choice but to rule that here government, not the press, is lawless."
Which brings us to today. Sitting next to West and Gravel, Ellsberg repeated the plea that he is making in speeches all over the United States: "The equivalent of the Pentagon Papers exist in safes all over Washington, not only in the Pentagon, but in the CIA, the State Department and elsewhere. My message is to them: Take the risk, reveal the truth under the lies of your own bosses and your superiors, obey your oath to the Constitution, which every one of those officials took, not to the commander in chief, but to the Constitution of the United States."
Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on 500 stations in North America.
© 2007 Amy Goodman. Distributed by King Features Syndicate
28 Comments so far
Show AllYes, it would be good to have new Pentagon Papers disclosures given the arrogant stonewalling of Bush and Cheney. It seems like we went through those Nixon years learned our lesson about the evils of government stonewalling and set safeguards in place to prevent future Nixon type White Houses. A law was put in place in regaurd to White House transparency, and now we are seeing how easily sociopaths like Bush and Cheney can simply declare that they are above the law. Anyone missing the huge irony here? The same guys that want to put normal Americans under surveillance without warrants and tap into all phone calls and all e-mails are completely against their own internal communications being made public.
With all respect to Poet, I would be careful about labelling the USSR's ability to blow up the world a useful counter-balance to the US. I have no idea whether the Rosenbergs or anyone else "gave away nuclear secrets." I am opposed to the death penalty. I still remember walking back to the train station with my father after seeing a ball game at Shibe Park, seeing a photo of the Rosenbergs' execution, and vomiting. But none of that means that it is in anyone's interest for more countries to have nuclear weapons. Not Pakistan or India, not Korea or Japan, not Iran or Syria or Israel -- and sure as hell not the USSR of the post-War years.
I love you, Amy Goodman! And I so miss Molly Ivins. She really had a gift for ironic sarcasm mixed with humor. I realize the difficulty of seeing humor in what's going on now; but I, personally, have to see something comically tragic, lest I descend into abject depression. Yes, people are dying for Schrub"s vanity, yes, our standing in the world has done a nosedive, but we'll always have Paris.
I admire Gravel, as I admire Ellsberg and Amy Goodman. I think that the Washington Post's actions in the Pentagon Papers' publication actually deserve more credit than Amy Goodman's piece gives them. The United States asked the District Court for the Southern District of New York to enjoin the NYTimes from publishing the Pentagon Papers. The District Court refused. The United States appealed the District Court's order to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which reversed the District Court. The Times was thus enjoined from publication, and appealed the order of the Court of Appeals to the United States Supreme Court. The Second Circuit's order stopped the NYTimes from publishing; it did not stop the publication of the Pentagon Papers. The Washington Post, unaffected by the order of the Second Circuit, but clearly well aware of the United States' success in the Second Circuit, took up the publication where the Times had left off. The United States asked the District Court for the District of Columbia to enjoin the Post. The District Court refused. The United States appealed the D,C. Circuit. The D.C. Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the District Court. The United States appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court combined the two casess and stayed publication pending its decision. So it is not the case that the Post waited until after the Supreme Court had given it a safe harbor within which to publish. It began publishing what the United States had already succeeded in enjoining in the Second Circuit. It was a very gutsy move. And the Supreme Court's per curiam opinion is a VERY powerful example of the economy and potency with which the rule of law can operate to maintain an ordered society. The ENTIRE OPINION, deciding a case in which the United States contended that the safety of the United States and its abiity to act in a world with adversaries armed to the teeth with nuclear missiles was under threat, contains 235 words, including the page numbers in the cases cited. No essays had to be written. The authority of the Court was unquestioned. The grounds for its order were three cases already decided by it. In stark contrast to the present Court, precedent mattered. Those days in June 1971 were extraordinary.
The "Pentagon Papers" are being produced by Congress as we speak. The Citizens must continue to do our part.
Many people have bad mouthed Conyers approach for not going directly for impeachment, but it's working - the Occupants of the White House are now supoenaed. This is a huge step.
The Occupants castle of lies cannot stand - but the Citizens must do their part. The call to IMPEACH must come from the Citizens, not like the political ploy against Clinton.
For those looking for an IMPEACH ACTION email Evansdadop@aol.com : we're creating a one page SHOUT OUT with a call to IMPEACH. Looking for a rolling editorial board to break down the neocon lies of the week and mantra the Just word, distributors to download and post at 1-5 bulliten boards and pass out on the street, others and all to create a down line and forward...oh and a political Cartoonist.
Choose this option or another - BUT DON'T MISS OUT ON THE GREATEST ACT OF CIVIC DEMOCRACY IN THE HISTORY OF HUMANITY!
"MetalDog June 27th, 2007 4:50 pm
I realize that impeaching either or both of them could assist the undetermined Republican presidential nominee, but potential political outcomes should not be a consideration when it comes to seeking justice and forcing accountability on the sociopaths in the White House."
Actually I think it would hurt the Republicans in 2008. If the voters were to see blind party allegiance regardless of the egregousness of the offenses to keep Bush and Cheney from being convicted it would be bound to hurt them. Especially if the Dems were to run their campaign against the lawlessness of the current administration. Congress now run by the Dems has an approval rating of 14%, and it is my firm belief that their refusal to even attempt to impeach the chief lawbreakers in charge is at least partly because of their failure to take action to do so. If they continue to refuse I further believe that it is they, rather than the Republicans that will suffer in 2008. The electorate is mad and the Dems better pay attention if they want to hold onto and expand their majority. Serving up pap such as a vetoed stem cell research bill, raising the minimum wage (although worthy) and simular nibbling around the edges while ignoring the elephant in the room that is sitting on their shoulder with it's ears flapping, is not going to mollify the masses this time.
Lobo Gris
Here are the faces of the "insurgents" in Iraq being killed by the Anglo-American Darkness.
Look at them and weep, for from their souls is emerging a cry the Universe will not ignore. a reckoning with the Light is coming soon.
When I said several days ago that the underlying decency of millions of American mothers would be shocked out of its apathy by pictures such as these, my idea was dismissed as too shocking for the white person's sensibilities. But the Light has responded to what I believe will make every decent American mother cry and bring this abominable war to a close and its war criminals to justice.
http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/3277/IRCO_Nearly_25M_Iraqi_Ref...
Aymon
Would anyone read the "new pentagon papers" who isn't already aware of the atrocities commited in our name. For that matter, I wonder how many copies of the Beacon Press book sold to "patriotic" war supporters back in the 70s. Perhaps a better approach would be to televise the daily carnage just like a live football match and broadcast it into the family rooms of every complacent citizen of this nation. We need to wake up the sleeping neighbors as Thoreau reminds us so well.
Ellsberg and Gravel: at least two of US patriots true. How About YOU?!
I stand corrected regarding Arabic versus Farsi (Parsi), I know that but also know that about 40% of the current words in use in Iran are Arabic in origin... and in written form, most Americans wouldn't know Farsi from Arabic.
My point is that the supposedly captured weapons they have been showing on the U.S. TV news have ENGLISH words stenciled on them, not the typical cunieform-style letters used in Farsi and Arabic!
As a retired newsman myself, I have been amazed by the sad state of the American news media, much of which I attribute to the FCC ridding us of that troublesome "Fairness Doctrine" that required broadcast entities to give BOTH sides of a political question instead of just the administration's side.
Even Ted Turner spoke out about that in 2004 in an article in Atlantic Monthly whrere he said:
"Naturally, corporations say they would never suppress speech. But it's not their intentions that matter; it's their capabilities. Consolidation gives them more power to tilt the news and cut important ideas out of the public debate. And it's precisely that power that the rules should prevent."
Quick note to provoice. I don't know if your assertion is correct or not. However, be advised that most Iranians may be Muslim but they are not Arabs. I believe that they distinguish themselves as Persian and they speak Farsi.
Nevertheless, we could sure use the break to which Amy is referring. However, this administration has learned from past mistakes of abusive administrations and their secrecy is unprecedented.
Furthermore, with the control of the mainstream media in the hands of a few corporations, it acts like a fourth branch of government and, most likely, wouldn't broadcast or print anything that rises to the level of the Pentagon Papers.
And, there is a good chance that this Supreme Court would exonerate for any wrongdoings, anyway.
Over the past several years I have raised the name Daniel Ellsberg more than once as an example of how Americans fought long and hard for privacy rights against a government that was more than willing to do illegal searches and seizures.
Ellsberg's office and files were illegally burgled by the Nixon Gestapo and caused a whole new generation of Congressional oversight where the FBI and CIA were concerned. Under Bush, many so-called "American Patriots" were willing to throw those rights and protections out the window for the sake of security from the terrorist boogeyman.
Bush and his evil minions were very quick to use their lies and word tricks to whip people into the shape they wanted... JUST LIKE THEY ARE DOING NOW.
Has anyone noticed that the word "insurgent" has all but disappeared from the Pentagon Press Releases... now everyone our soldiers kill in Iraq are proclaimed to be "al Qaeda".
Has anyone noticed that despite the fact that the poor planning and inadequate numbers of U.S. troops immediately following "Mission Accomplished" allowed hundreds of tons of Saddam's high explosives to fall into the hands of the Iraqi resistance, we are being told constantly that the weapons being used against our troops are being manufactured in IRAN? (If that is the case, why are the ones they have been showing us all marked in ENGLISH instead of Arabic?)
Has anyone noticed that the phrase "illegal alien" has been determined politically incorrect and even "undocumented workers" is being labelled as "racist"? Nowadays, the correct term is "hard-working pre-citizens" I suppose.
Like it or not, despite getting caught in countless lies and distortions, the administration IS CONTINUING to mold public opinion with their little parlor tricks... and even the most jaded news people are falling into the trap.
The fact that the Unitarian Beacon Press published the Pentagon papers was something I, as a Unitarian Universalist, did not know. It is another point of pride for me as a member of this small liberal religious organization. It is so difficult not to feel totally defeated by the radical right and the limp left these days. Gravel may be the butt of jokes, but he stands up for what he believes in and doesn't flinch! If only there were more legislators like him and Dennis Kucinich. Aren't the Democrats tired of "compromising" themselves away yet?
I wholeheartedly concur with Jaded Prole. The case for impeachment has already been written (more than once) by teams of lawyers. We have everything we need (and more) to impeach Bush and Cheney. Sadly, thanks to the Democratic 'leadership', that option is 'off the table'.
I realize that impeaching either or both of them could assist the undetermined Republican presidential nominee, but potential political outcomes should not be a consideration when it comes to seeking justice and forcing accountability on the sociopaths in the White House.
As a nation, we are so dumbed down that we just accept all of the criminality and venality of the government and the corporations and switch the channel to American Idol, or what have you.
About the only mistake Cheney/Bush could make would be to ban American Idol, or professional sports broadcasting. That would get them in trouble. Otherwise, anything goes.
Poet: With all due respect, according to Louis Nizer's powerful book, "The Implosion Conspiracy" (which I read many moons ago), Julius and Ethel were framed. Her brother David Gold (I believe) may have done something not especially kosher, but the Rosenbergs were the fall guys. The whole McCarthy thing was rev'd and spies were needed to maintain that all-important fear of a boogyman to keep US military doing its thing after WW II.
I sincerely hope that someone will have the courage to do what Mr. Ellsberg and Mr. Gravel did. But, the Pentagon Papers exposed information that the public didn't already know, and it is not what ended the war in Vietnam. So, calling for, and even getting, a new Pentagon Papers really won't change anything. A new Pentagon papers would only confirm and verify what the majority of the American public already knows. Changes in White House policy don't come from exposure to the truth or because of our system of justice. Change in White House policy happens when the White House fails to make its political party happy.
We got out of Vietnam when it was financially no longer worth it to finance the war effort. The masters of war weren't getting their profits so they wrote a new business plan. We stay in Iraq for exactly the same reasons. The war makes financial sense, at least to those in power. The Republican Party, aka big business, is quite happy with the economic side of the war. They got the American people to foot the bill, and the profits of course, go to themselves. Smedley Butler was correct when he wrote "War is a Racket".
Hoa binh
Declassifying the CIA's "family jewels" is insufficient? This is not yet ancient history, and is sure to add to the number of people opposed to US imperial hubris.
Gravel has the experience. He has studied the issues here listed and concluded that the best way to address them is with:
http://www.nationalinitiative.us/
The sad truth is that as many whistleblowers as there have been, it makes no difference. It took one expose of lies to bring Nixon down. The far more extensive crimes of Cheney/Bush have been repeatedly revealed in detail but Congress seems unwilling to impeach. I don't know what it would take at this point. It seems corruption and cowardice have reached an all time high. Without massive popular demands for justice even to the poing of shutting this country down it seems justice is just a fantasy.
I will take Amy Goodman's wish one step further-what we need is another couple like Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. They gave away secrets of nuclear weapons development in order to keep tue US from becomming the imperialist meddler it has morphed into today. It worked for about 45 years. Until the collapse of the Soviet Union America was restrained somewhat in a way they are not today.
As the U.S. plans for the next generation of nukes or space-based weaponry go ahead full steam, another Julius and Ethel Rosenberg might be a helpful assist to keep the rest of humanity from being under the thumb of a beast-like imperialist US.
"Family jewels" my butt. All of what I've seen so far is old news. Do you really think the CIA would air their really dirty and private wrongs? They are a top secret organization, Skull and Bones, with government powers. These releases aren't new news except to younger citizens. The real news is what the powerful are able to keep out of the news. http://www.projectcensored.org/ Even if the story surfaces once or twice in national news, it can still be put to sleep and never mentioned again until it feels safe for those who are professionally covert to "come clean" with superb humility and great fanfare. I've been struck recently by the number of times people whose knowledge I admire have said to me, "As bad as you think it is....., it's far worse."
Comments above suggested that current times are more dangerous then were the times when Gravel, Ellsberg, Bagdikian and others conspired to release the Pentagon Papers. Courage is courage whatever the times. Mike Gravel feared for his life, he told me so. That didn't stop him, and it shouldn't stop any of us from doing what we know is right.
They don't have to be thrown in jail or assassinated by a lone gunman ( all the rage in the 60's, remember?). All the corporatocracy has to do is shut them up and shut them down.
Postal regulators have accepted a proposal from media giant Time Warner that would stifle small and independent publishers in America. The plan unfairly burdens smaller publishers with higher postage rates while locking in special privileges for bigger media companies. Congress did nothing to intervene and it passed.
Now they're raising the rates up to 1200% on small independent radio broadcasters for royalty rights on songs played.
See Mondays "democracy now" site for details.
The power brokers are attempting to fly under the radar as they steadily chip away at "alternative" news sources, and silence the voice of the unwashed masses.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/25/1421206&mode=thread&...
gravel is one of the few heros in american politics in the last 40 years. and look how he was treated then, & nothing has changed today. another problem is the press of today would not touch a pentagon papers type release. times have changed.
and the national security apparatus of today is much more well developed than 40 years ago. finally, undoubtedly people who could reveal national secrets have more reason to fear for their lives.
Yes, they might get thrown into jail, or ridiculed, or worse.
But I bet they'll do it anyway. There are still a lot of red-blooded 'merkins out there who don't take kindly to being lied to by their leaders.
Excellent article! Noble politicians are so few and far between. It is unfortunate that those who thirst for power above all else have such a decided advantage in our system of "democracy." Thank God for politicians like Gravel, Kucinich and Nader and for journalists like Amy Goodman. My greatest fear is that we are too few and too poorly organized to stop the momentum of our destructive civilization.
Yes, having a new Pentagon Papers would be wonderful, Amy. But if someone like Gravel were to rise on the floor of the Senate to read them, Ihave no doubt they would be arrested and thrown in a military brig as a enemy combatant. This is the lawlessness we face today, thanks to the Patriot Act, the Homeland Security Act, the Military Commissions Act, a compliant Congress, and an ideological rightwing Supreme Court.
Hector:
Thanks for the fascinating piece of history. I doubt, as you do, that the current Supreme Court has the intellectual calibre or integrity of that 1971 court.