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Film Brings Nixon-Era Agitator's Bravery to a New Generation
LOS ANGELES -- Four decades after he stunned the United States by leaking the top-secret Pentagon Papers study of the Vietnam War, Daniel Ellsberg walks the halls of the past in his dreams.
Daniel Ellsberg speaks during an interview in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept 23, 2009. Over the decades, Ellsberg, 78, hasn't been welcome at Rand Corp. He committed the most startling breach of security in the company's history, walking out on Oct. 1, 1969, with the first briefcase full of classified documents destined for public release.
(Photo/Nick Ut) In his sleep, he imagines that he still works as a researcher at the Rand Corp., advising Pentagon officials on policy, handling classified documents, studying the science of war.
"Being at Rand was the ideal life for me," Ellsberg says, almost as an afterthought. "In my dreams, I am doing classified work, trying to solve social problems."
Over the decades, Ellsberg, 78, hasn't been welcome at Rand. He committed the most startling breach of security in the company's history, walking out on Oct. 1, 1969, with the first briefcase full of classified documents destined for public release.
That bold move -- and the actions that followed to get them published -- are the subject of a new documentary film, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.
The movie had its West Coast premiere only a few blocks from Rand. Ellsberg, ever the agitator, sent college students with flyers to headquarters to urge his former colleagues to attend the screening and try to understand why he did what he did.
None came. Ellsberg acknowledges that some wounds never heal. At a Rand reunion several years back, no one would shake his hand. When he tried to visit Rand, a non-profit think-tank providing analysis of public issues for government agencies, he was escorted out by security guards.
He had read the 7,000-page study of the Vietnam War known as The Pentagon Papers and became convinced that the history of U.S. involvement dating back to 1945 was a study in lies. He wanted to end the war and, although to this day he does not take credit for that, he says his actions and those of other anti-war activists helped shorten the conflict.
Triggered scandal
The film by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith suggests his actions triggered the Watergate scandal and drove President Richard Nixon from office. There are audio tapes of Nixon railing against Ellsberg as a traitor in conversations with Henry Kissinger, who called Ellsberg "the most dangerous man in America."
The release of the classified study in The New York Times and in other newspapers triggered one of the most important First Amendment legal battles the country has ever seen and led to a powerful U.S. Supreme Court ruling for freedom of the press.
Both Nixon and Kissinger were convinced that Ellsberg had more secret documents he planned to release and they launched an offensive that included a break-in at his psychiatrist's office and culminated in his espionage trial in Los Angeles.
The charges were dismissed and a mistrial declared because of "outrageous governmental misconduct," including the break-in and disclosures that the judge had met with Nixon during the trial and was offered the job of FBI director.
All of it is depicted in the film, which is billed as a combination political thriller and love story. Early reviews have been positive.
At Ellsberg's side is his wife, Patricia, his greatest ally in his long political odyssey.
"Many people come up to me and say, 'Your husband is my hero,"' she says. "I can say after almost 40 years of marriage, he is my hero. He embodies patriotism and a higher loyalty than to an institution or a policy."
Ellsberg has been arrested for acts of civil disobedience 78 times and she has also been taken off to jail for demonstrating, she says.
"The transformation Dan went through is the transformation our society needs to go through," she says during a question-and-answer session after a screening.
Ellsberg travels the country speaking, protesting and urging others to do what he did -- leak important information that reveals government untruths. He talks about the American involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, saying the latter has the potential to become "Vietnamistan" if the U.S. increases troops there.
Ellsberg remains a study in contradictions: He is a former Hawk on the war who risked everything for peace; a Marine battalion commander who turned against the war; a man capable of waxing nostalgic about his days at Rand but also giving notice that he plans to soon release more classified documents about the nuclear threat.
The complexity of the man intrigued Ehrlich and Goldsmith, the documentary filmmakers who decided to resurrect Ellsberg's story for a new generation.
"This was a subject close to both of our hearts," said Ehrlich. "We focus on people driven by conscience to act at great personal risk. What could have more resonance than the story of Dan Ellsberg?"
Ehrlich's films have included Those Who Refused to Fight It, about Second World War conscientious objectors. Goldsmith's Everyday Heroes was about the domestic Peace Corps.
They began their quest to make the Ellsberg movie four years ago, raising money from a long list of contributors credited at the end of the film. Their interviews with key figures in Ellsberg's story includes a rare appearance by his co-defendant in the espionage case, Anthony Russo, who died shortly after telling his story on camera. The film is dedicated to him.
Ehrlich and Goldsmith raced to finish it in time for Academy Awards qualifications and wrapped it just two weeks ago, in time for the Toronto Film Festival and screenings in New York and Los Angeles.
Its future distribution plans are uncertain and fundraising continues. At a party after the Los Angeles premiere, one donor announced she would give $50,000 to keep the momentum going.
"To young people, it's a fresh story," said Goldsmith. "I would like them to see that it's possible to dissent and not be a traitor."
As for Ellsberg, who spent months copying the top-secret study on a Xerox machine, he now has his own website and is posting his opinions across the Internet in various forums. He notes that it took The New York Times three months to review the Pentagon Papers study and decide to publish it.
"If that had happened today," he said, "I would have posted it directly on the Internet."
Linda Deutsch covered the Pentagon Papers trial for The Associated Press.
25 Comments so far
Show AllThe article fails to mention that Ellsberg is one of many high-profile figures who has called for a new, independent investigation into the events of 9/11.
If we ever needed American heros at one time....we need them NOW. Everyday we are now watching every public "trust" being privatized from toll roads and state owned-captial buildings (like in AZ) to public services (snow removal in Chicago) and now even our public state buildings are considered for sale in Arizona to make up for the tax base that is dwindling because people can't find work thanks to corporations (incl. banks) that keep offshoring jobs and practicing preditory consumer actions on us like the sub-prime mortgages and rising interest rates and late fees from our bank and credit card accounts.
No one is watching out for the interest of us, the American citizen, so we need some heros to come forth and blow the cover on the fraud being perpetrated on us...and ultimately themselves or their children. Don't be fooled into thinking you can earn enough money by engaging in preditory practices and then buy your children's troubles away. It won't work. They will end up retaliating against you when they realize what you did...or didn't do...in the face of greed and self-preservation.
The young will devour the old....and who can blame them?
Secrets + Lies = FEAR.
This is the prescription the ruling class has used for centuries to control the masses, and they're still using it today. Watch what happens in the next few weeks with these new 'disclosures' about Iran.
Daniel Ellsberg is one of the most courageous people I can think of - in my lifetime, anyway. Would that we had a few like him to come forward today and expose all the dirty little secrets and treacherous lies in a way that would help the majority of people understand how they are being manipulated.
"Daniel Ellsberg is one of the most courageous people I can think of - in my lifetime, anyway."
In mine as well, Amitola. He is genuine in his mission to expose the political, economic and ideolical nature of past and present truths.
Daniel Ellsberg and Mike Gravel are two of the true war heroes.
They stopped one.
Glad to see this celebration of Daniel Ellsberg and his comments on
"Vietnamistan."
Americans need to be reminded often of the lie of Vietnam and how it was pulled off.
"... but also giving notice that he plans to soon release more classified documents about the nuclear threat."
And to look more clearly at the fear-mongering re Iran and nuclear weapons.
Thanks also to Ellsberg for helping to wake up America re 9/11 and the official lies.
.
"According to all myth, the female - not the male -- gives life"
"To young people, it's a fresh story," said Goldsmith. "I would like them to see that it's possible to dissent and not be a traitor."
The documentary opened here in NYC at the Film Forum a couple of weeks ago, and Daniel Ellsberg, along with his wife and the filmmakers, attended the night I sat in the audience. Although I didn't actually meet him, I felt honored just to be in his presence. The film makes a powerful statement. I remember reading everything I could find on the subject of the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg and Watergate as the events unfolded in real time.
When I returned home from the Film Forum, I told my son, who is in his second year of post-graduate studies, about the film, and he didn't know what The Pentagon Papers were, or who Daniel Ellsberg is. However, he had heard of Watergate, but wasn't really familiar with the details. Of course, both of my sons were born after these events took place, but I would have thought that the subject might have turned up in one of his history classes. I guess not! Still, I have countless books on my shelves about those years, and those events, and I can't imagine that I didn't mention the events to my sons as they were growing up. Therefore, I have to accept some of the blame in this scenario.
"He is genuine in his mission to expose the political, economic and ideolical nature of past and present truths." -- Gail
I agree, and he is one of my heroes as well.
Most meaningful insight I have discovered so far in the 21th Century....from Patricia Ellsberg:
"The transformation Dan went through is the transformation our society needs to go through." (For starters, I'll settle for right-thinking CD readers using their considerable intellectual powers to become more creative, risk-taking activists.)
The US "education"--read indoctrination--system means that none of the younger folks know squat about history.
That same system is being used in Mexico to erase history from the program entirely.
Keep 'em ignorant, barefoot and pregnant has always been the totalitarian tango.
Those who believe our Government lies and otherwise practices deception need to get a copy of one or, better, two books. They are both big. First, Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the U.S." and Ralph Nader's recently published "Only the super-rich can save us." I've only reached page 195 of Nader's 700+ page book but it outlines the exact problems and only conceivable solution. There have got to be enough really rich and elderly folks who know they can't take it with them and thus one hopes they'll be inspired to do what is right for the country and go into the history books as benefactors of the top tier.
Bring America Back !!!!
****/We need this lesson to remember Heros like Daniel Ellsberg, and also like Deep Throat Mark Felt. We need the memories and documentations, and the New Gen XX needs to learn the facts of the past.
****The realities of fact are that Ellsberg's Rand Corporation, and Felt's FBI have NOT changed. Rand Corp is still part and parcel of the military industrial think tank, and the FBI still follows illegal, unconstitutional orders from war criminal leadership.
***Let us go to the movie when released, learn these lessons, but not with the naivate that much has changed !
The only thing the Neocons learned from Nixon and Watergate was how to do it better===and get away with it !!!
***Remember the famous 15minutes erased from the NIxon Tapes, well now the Vice Prez just destroys all the Emails, or outright refuses to turn over evidence of any kind.
Have you not heard, the Vice Presidency is the 4th Branch of Government !! Not responsible to anyone or anything !! And our Team Obama just refuses to remember anything of the past 8 years, and / or to look backwards in the mirror !!
Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it !!!!
It's fascinating to watch the intellectual icons of the past, being re-discovered by today's youth: Howard Zinn,
Noam Chomsky, Chalmers Johnson. Some of our greatest heroes of the recent years past have just been workers with integrity, something perhaps always in short supply. Had the privilege to watch Bunny Greenhouse testify during a congressional hearing televised on C-span. Robert Shetterly's portraits of Americans Who Tell the Truth is a great source of inspiration. Check it out at:http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/
Found myself literally starving for anything outside of mainstream media that would take a stand against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and fortunately stumbled on to Tom Engelhardt and his TomDispatch. As he describes on his website, Tomdispatch.com is for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of our post-9/11 world and a clear sense of how our imperial globe actually works. From Tom's Dispatches, I've been introduced to many, many heroes of today, working steadfastly for a better, more just world.
Bunny Greenhouse should, by rights, have been placed in charge of overseeing all pentagon contracts when Obama got elected. The fact that she wasn't was further proof that Obama is business as usual.
In June 2005, I watched Bunnatine Greenhouse testify before a Democratic committee, and you're right, she should have been put in charge of dispensing defense contracts.
Her testimony was detailed and damning!
Bring America Back !!!!........! Engelhardt is commendable reading on post-9/11, but if He only had an understanding of that very day Sept 11, 2001; for He still subscribes to the fantasy party line that a cave=dwelling boogieman and 19 airline pilot school flunkouts pulled off the genius which was 9/11 !
****TomDispatch does not know much about the smoking gun of 9/11==Building 7,
World Trade Center, its occupants up to that day, or its owner Larry Silverstein, and his history and direct recorded statements !!
****Recognizing this denial gap of Engelhardt, I personally find it hard to draw
any faith in his "imperial globe" lessons, as does this post.
****Last week, Engelhardt professed his belief that Orwell's "1984" view of the future fell short of realization. Someone needs to tell Tom that Big Brother gained control of all 3 branches of Govt, and that the ministry of Doublespeak
has controlled mainstream media for many a year. Big Brother also learned how to
demolition three hugh skyscrapers in NYC, blaming it all on, you guessed it, Fire !
This is the way a real Marine would act when he realizes the futility, wrongness and immorality of war. Unfortunately most of them and most of us keep rationalizing our cowardice.
I suggest that we all write the White House, nominating Ellsberg for the Medal of Freedom.
email http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
US Mail Washington DC 20500
Sam Abrams
mas.smarba@gmail.com
In 2004 President Bush Gave the Medal of Freedom to George Tenet and Paul Bremer. Seeing that Medal used in such an obviously political manner was troubling. But of course, honoring Ellsberg in such a way might strengthen the backbones of some of the many in government and the defense industry who have much to expose.
Ellsberg justifies dragging the word "hero" into a new age.
Here we are on commondreams commemorating a movie about an individual who took a bold step speaking the truth and didn't just support a 'winner,' something that commondreams failed to do the last election.
Many readers will not understand why his act of courage was extraordinary, that he was one of the few individuals who saw the truth that was hidden by the government, and brought it to the public light. Others knew the truth, but didn't speak because they didn't want to upset the apple cart.
commondreams does that. They support the commonest of dreams instead of the highest dream of what we could achieve if we spoke up instead of staying dumbed down.
And there are many people today who have evidence that the truth is hidden, but most are silent, just like our mainstream media.
commondreams failed to challenge the status quo, and allowed the truths to be hidden when they failed to give a voice to third party candidates that spoke to truth. There is a time and place and sometimes you don't get a do-over, and commondreams (and most of the voting public) conveniently forget this lessons when it counts, during the vote. Acting after the horses are out of the barn (or the foxes are in the hen house) is as act of futility. They can publish Nader all they want now, but it is too late for that message. The time has passed.
If you are truly committed to peace, justice, and basic human rights for all, you can't support either corporate party.
"Single payer or single term."
End the illegal war/occupation.
And a heartfelt Thank You to Mr. and Mrs. Ellsberg.
For the years of the Bush administration, I kept wondering, "Are there no Daniel Ellsbergs?" Apparently, not.
Perhaps the institutions have become better at compelling secrecy and at subsuming moral integrity. It seems we are far less noble than we used to be, or far more down-trodden and discouraged.
What we have witnessed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Wall St. scandals and rip-offs, the health care fiasco, and innumerable other minor scandals of finance or character amongst our elected officials seems to be an indication that the public has been sufficiently anaesthetized that nothing penetrates the haze.
Are you forgetting about Sybl Edmunds, Coleen Rowley, Katharyn Gunn, Wendel Porter?
They are out there. Let us not forget them.
I never med Daniel Ellsberg, but I met Anthony Russo his co defendant at a conference on different kinds of research held in suburban LA back in 1977, It was an honor and pleasure, and he was giving a presentation on how a punitive LA county policy on public drunkenness was a failure and how a rehabilitative policy worked better and cost the taxpayers much less. He was using as I remember it a multi variate regression analysis for his methodology. "just imagine' someone that great trying explain something this type to someone of a hillbilly and working class background such as myself. Why "don't people such as myself, blacks, and other people of color and gays just know "our place" here. i mean the very nerve. Hell, I may be from the same European tribe as Poppy, but I'm working class, which means we "just need to stay in our place" and go along with the program, aren't we? How dare we throw with the Italians, Jews, Arab, Irish, and all kinds of other "terrible Communist loving, terrorist sympathizing types." Yeah, I guess I'm a bit like my paternal grandfather who always remembered where he came from, and that absolutely is something the super rich, limousine riding, Lear Jet flying far right US power elites can't stand. Why it's 'just terrible."
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I never med Daniel Ellsberg, but I met Anthony Russo his co defendant at a conference on different kinds of research held in suburban LA back in 1977, It was an honor and pleasure, and he was giving a presentation on how a punitive LA county policy on public drunkenness was a failure and how a rehabilitative policy worked better and cost the taxpayers much less. He was using as I remember it a multi variate regression analysis for his methodology. "just imagine' someone that great trying explain something this type to someone of a hillbilly and working class background such as myself. Why "don't people such as myself, blacks, and other people of color and gays just know "our place" here. i mean the very nerve. Hell, I may be from the same European tribe as Poppy, but I'm working class, which means we "just need to stay in our place" and go along with the program, aren't we? How dare we throw with the Italians, Jews, Arab, Irish, and all kinds of other "terrible Communist loving, terrorist sympathizing types." Yeah, I guess I'm a bit like my paternal grandfather who always remembered where he came from, and that absolutely is something the super rich, limousine riding, Lear Jet flying far right US power elites can't stand. Why it's 'just terrible."
AD
I don't know why I got another preview message, but I guess that preview message dawg just loves this 'good old boy" and "Communist loving proletarian WASP."
I never med Daniel Ellsberg, but I met Anthony Russo his co defendant at a conference on different kinds of research held in suburban LA back in 1977, It was an honor and pleasure, and he was giving a presentation on how a punitive LA county policy on public drunkenness was a failure and how a rehabilitative policy worked better and cost the taxpayers much less. He was using as I remember it a multi variate regression analysis for his methodology. "just imagine' someone that great trying explain something this type to someone of a hillbilly and working class background such as myself. Why "don't people such as myself, blacks, and other people of color and gays just know "our place" here. i mean the very nerve. Hell, I may be from the same European tribe as Poppy, but I'm working class, which means we "just need to stay in our place" and go along with the program, aren't we? How dare we throw with the Italians, Jews, Arab, Irish, and all kinds of other "terrible Communist loving, terrorist sympathizing types." Yeah, I guess I'm a bit like my paternal grandfather who always remembered where he came from, and that absolutely is something the super rich, limousine riding, Lear Jet flying far right US power elites can't stand. Why it's 'just terrible."
AD