The most dangerous man in America

Saw this movie last night. For those that don't know, it's a documentary about Daniel Ellseberg and the events surrounding what were known as the Pentagon Papers. These were top secret documents released by Ellsberg in 1971 as part of his opposition to the Vietnam War. I must say that my memories of this period lean more towards being away from home for the first time, college freshman, and my only thought about the war was related to making sure I wouldn't be participating.

The Pentagon Papers were a secret study commissioned by the government that detailed the deliberate increase in military commitment to Vietnam at a time when the government was saying that the plan was to reduce the U.S. presence. Today the fact that the government was lying doesn't sound like big news but I guess those were gentler times. I, like a lot of people today, immediately assume our government is lying or at least covering up the truth on a regular basis.

It's an interesting and at times entertaining movie. I suppose Ellsberg should be proud to be on the list of people that irritated President Nixon enough to be termed an S.O.B on tape. There does seem to be some revisionist history going on though. The film makes it seem like Ellsberg was pretty much responsible for bringing down Nixon. Watergate gets only a brief mention and that only because the "plumbers" were also responsible for breaking into Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office and stealing his files. I think a more balanced view would be to give Ellsberg credit for great courage in exposing the government's duplicity and credit him with being a major force in Nixon's downfall but he was definitely not the whole show.

The venue for the film was the Marines Memorial Club in the City. Ellsberg and former Representative Pete McCloskey were present and there was a brief discussion after the movie moderated by Robert Rosenthal. McCloskey was notable at the time for his opposition to the war and he was one of several congress members that Ellsberg had tried to give the papers to before going to the New York Times. The Times started publishing but was stopped by government injunction. The Washington Post then took up the publication until they were stopped. In all, it took 14 newspapers to get the complete 7,000 pages published as each one was shutdown by the government. The venue played an interesting role, Ellsberg and McCloskey had been Marines before their later careers. The M.C., a retired Marine general, recognizing the military sponsorship, cast the discussion in terms of their military experience. Ellsberg mentioned the inherent conflict between his Marine training of following orders and his sworn oath to protect the constitution. I was surprised to hear how well accepted was doing the right thing despite the fact that it was against the current government policy. Maybe Marines can be people too.

I wonder if we could have an Ellsberg today or do we even need one? We are lacking any strong newspapers (or media of any type) that would be willing to stand up against the government to protect the truth. The internet media that has replaced the traditional system is only interested in the sensationalism that generates click through revenue. Our world today is full of leaks engineered for political gain and no one really pays that much attention. And we are all so used to government lying that there would be no great reaction if more is revealed. That's the thing about the Pentagon Papers, although most didn't read them or even know the details, it was a major shock to the society that our government carried on a purposeful deception over the course of four presidents. We carry that legacy forward today in our distrust of all politicians and government pronouncements. At least I do.