Daniel Ellsberg, Who Leaked the Pentagon Papers, Is Dead At 92 (nytimes.com) 23
Daniel Ellsberg, a military analyst who leaked what came to be known as the Pentagon Papers, died on Friday at the age of 92. The cause was pancreatic cancer. The New York Times reports: The disclosure of the Pentagon Papers -- 7,000 government pages of damning revelations about deceptions by successive presidents who exceeded their authority, bypassed Congress and misled the American people -- plunged a nation that was already wounded and divided by the war deeper into angry controversy. It led to illegal countermeasures by the White House to discredit Mr. Ellsberg, halt leaks of government information and attack perceived political enemies, forming a constellation of crimes known as the Watergate scandal that led to the disgrace and resignation of President Richard M. Nixon. And it set up a First Amendment confrontation between the Nixon administration and The New York Times, whose publication of the papers was denounced by the government as an act of espionage that jeopardized national security. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the freedom of the press.
Mr. Ellsberg was charged with espionage, conspiracy and other crimes and tried in federal court in Los Angeles. But on the eve of jury deliberations, the judge threw out the case, citing government misconduct, including illegal wiretapping, a break-in at the office of Mr. Ellsberg's former psychiatrist and an offer by President Nixon to appoint the judge himself as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "The demystification and de-sanctification of the president has begun," Mr. Ellsberg said after being released. "It's like the defrocking of the Wizard of Oz." The story of Daniel Ellsberg in many ways mirrored the American experience in Vietnam, which began in the 1950s as a struggle to contain communism in Indochina and ended in 1975 with humiliating defeat in a corrosive war that killed more than 58,000 Americans and millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians. [...] Over the years, Ellsberg was mentioned on Slashdot several times. In late 2000, Ellsberg was mentioned in a story about Clinton's veto of what would have been a new law to prevent leaks of classified information.
Ellsberg also expressed his support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2010 and called Edward Snowden the "greatest patriot whistleblower of our time."
He was also featured in a Slashdot story for his view on the growing role of internet companies in the public sphere. In 2011, Ellsberg said companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter need to take a stand and push back on excessive requests for personal data.
Mr. Ellsberg was charged with espionage, conspiracy and other crimes and tried in federal court in Los Angeles. But on the eve of jury deliberations, the judge threw out the case, citing government misconduct, including illegal wiretapping, a break-in at the office of Mr. Ellsberg's former psychiatrist and an offer by President Nixon to appoint the judge himself as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. "The demystification and de-sanctification of the president has begun," Mr. Ellsberg said after being released. "It's like the defrocking of the Wizard of Oz." The story of Daniel Ellsberg in many ways mirrored the American experience in Vietnam, which began in the 1950s as a struggle to contain communism in Indochina and ended in 1975 with humiliating defeat in a corrosive war that killed more than 58,000 Americans and millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians. [...] Over the years, Ellsberg was mentioned on Slashdot several times. In late 2000, Ellsberg was mentioned in a story about Clinton's veto of what would have been a new law to prevent leaks of classified information.
Ellsberg also expressed his support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2010 and called Edward Snowden the "greatest patriot whistleblower of our time."
He was also featured in a Slashdot story for his view on the growing role of internet companies in the public sphere. In 2011, Ellsberg said companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter need to take a stand and push back on excessive requests for personal data.
Why would they want to cut off a customer with (Score:4, Informative)
bottomless pockets?
In 2011, Ellsberg said companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter need to take a stand and push back on excessive requests for personal data.
We know all the TLAs are buying corporate data to bypass the 4th amendment. Guess who's selling it? [nytimes.com]
Leak physical evidence (Score:2)
R.I.P. Daniel Ellsberg (Score:5, Informative)
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More context on him can be found in the book "A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam". His life wasn't just about a leak.
Please fix title spelling: it should be Ellsberg (Score:3)
Please fix title spelling: it should be Ellsberg--not Elssberg.
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It's a shame. (Score:5, Insightful)
Ellsberg also expressed his support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in 2010 and called Edward Snowden the "greatest patriot whistleblower of our time."
And what became of the two destroyed lives of these two gentlemen? Nothing. And that's a shame. Americans' attention span for the material these heroes released to the public is about as much of a fruit fly. Mind you I'm a naturalized U.S. citizen and the hypocrisy in that is very evident to me. We probably paid more attention when Notre-Dame burned down.
You can get in a lot of trouble telling the truth (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: You can get in a lot of trouble telling the tr (Score:3, Interesting)
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Learn about Les Gelb (Score:5, Interesting)
A shortcut may be this indispensable interview:
https://www.wnycstudios.org/po... [wnycstudios.org]
The truly dispiriting part of Ellsberg's valiant effort to expose the incredibly significant findings of the Pentagon Papers is that the wars we fought in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 00s amply demonstrate that we learned none of the lessons that were clearly and meticulously documented in the Pentagon Papers.
Ellsberg was a very significant but very minor figure in this saga. He did perform a great service to the nation.
Now that's some fucking revisionism. (Score:3)
Might as well say that it was Nixon who is "well, actually" responsible for "All the President's Men".
After all, without his "work" there'd be nothing for Woodward and Bernstein to write about.
Similarly, had not McNamara asked for a secret fucking study of US fuckups in Vietnam, while doing said fuckups as Secretary of fucking Defense, then hiring Gelb who was also doing his part in planning said fuckups as director of fucking Policy of fucking Planning and fucking Arms Control for fucking International fuc
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Might as well say that it was Nixon who is "well, actually" responsible for "All the President's Men". After all, without his "work" there'd be nothing for Woodward and Bernstein to write about.
Similarly, had not McNamara asked for a secret fucking study of US fuckups in Vietnam, while doing said fuckups as Secretary of fucking Defense, then hiring Gelb who was also doing his part in planning said fuckups as director of fucking Policy of fucking Planning and fucking Arms Control for fucking International fucking Security Affairs at the Department of fucking Defense, to lead the project doing the top fucking secret study - there'd be no top secret fucking study for Daniel Ellsberg to fucking leak.
So yes, indeed, Ellsberg did far less regarding Pentagon Papers. He just leaked them. McNamara and Gelb created the contents of the papers. In all ways possible. Valiant effort indeed.
The single most insightful post I have seen on Slashdot in years. RIP Ellsberg, you will be sorely missed.
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Your sentiment is justified, but McNamara's intent, accordin
Pancreatic cancer? (Score:2)
Another Hero (Score:1)
Free Assange & Snowden (Score:3)
But Assange must be freed before it's too late for his health.