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Editor’s Note: We’ve gotten a flurry of reactions to the speech by Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. Below is a selection of the comments:
A very good speech but I would point out that the actual coup was carried out in Florida in 2000. It's isappointing that Ellsberg made no mention of this watershed event. The last 6 years have been the result of the 2000 coup. The Democrats made it clear that they had no intention of stopping the coup when they so publicly abandoned Al Gore. The Democrats have also made it clear that they have no intention of putting a stop to Bush the thief's reign of terror having spent the last 6 years doing absolutely nothing to stop him. No wonder Al Gore says he has no plans to run in 2008. I can't say that I blame him. I think he's the only one that can get our country out of this disastrous nightmare but I'll understand if he doesn't run. Our country will be down the tubes if he doesn't run but maybe that's the price that should be paid for doing nothing to help him stop the 2000 coup in Florida. Nancy Kuhn -- Regarding the Daniel Ellsberg speech you printed, "A Coup has occurred", I think Mr. Ellsberg has nailed down the origins and nature of the current Congressional cowardice. To quote Mr. Ellsberg..."this is the time for them (Congress) to uphold the oath, to preserve the Constitution, which is worth struggling for in part because it’s only with the power that the Constitution gives Congress responding to the public, only with that can we protect the world from mad men in power in the White House who intend an attack on Iran" Yes! And repeal the Patriot Act. And insist that ANY congressional testimony be under oath. And fix the FCC. We cannot hope for much with the giant media monopolies like those created by Rupert Murdoch and Clear Channel undermining the truth, all caused by rolling back FCC regulations. -- Another fine article, this one the edited speech by Ellsberg. What is needed is very clear to millions of Americans. The what is not the question - it is the how. It has recently occurred to me that, should I run into one of my 'representatives,' I might be frustrated enough to be moved to commit assault and battery. Not armed assault, of course, but an old-fashioned humping. This is a difficult thing for a long-time believer in non-violence to confront about himself, but, unfortunately, it is true. We know what must be done. We know we need to push our 'representatives' to act - but how? Just recently, I read an update of the case of nine people who went to Senator Pete Domenci's (NM) office last September to submit a copy of the "Declaration of Peace" - and they were arrested. They included John Dear, a Jesuit priest. (When did the Jesuits become a subversive organization? How did I miss that?) There had been a long, fruitless negotiation with the office manager, who wanted to allow only three - then the nine decided they would all go up. They were accosted by a policeman as they entered the elevator, and he shut down the elevator. Eventually SWAT teams, the FBI, and the director of Homeland Security came onto the scene. The upshot of it all was, they were cited, tried, and found guilty of disrupting business in a federal office building and shutting down an elevator. Many people have demonstrated, many have been arrested - but how much gets media coverage? When it does, the coverage is minimal and the photos used suggest that the turn-out was dismal and the participants were more than a little 'kooky'. Protests are trivialized, if they are covered at all; the members of the anti-war movement are marginalized and ridiculed; the issues are blocked from mainstream media coverage; and 'representatives' reply to your letters of protest with form letters, filled with nonsense about how he shares your concerns, and, yes, your issues is troubling (or difficult, or worrisome), but... What is worse, I worry about the growing levels of frustration. Somebody far more prone to violence than I could ever be may one day go berserk with an automatic weapon and actually kill a few people, say, on the Capitol steps, perhaps at the site of that idiotic arm-linking, singing display of six years ago. He might even hit a member of Congress. Or perhaps someone will try to bomb Congress - who knows? Then - presto! - martial law. (I say 'Congress' because getting near the White House is supposed to be impossible, though I wouldn't know, as I've never felt the inclination to give it any consideration; my inclination is rather the opposite: never to go anywhere near any of them under any circumstances or for any reason whatever. Besides, I still fantasize about them being hauled off, first to trial in the Senate, and then on to the main feature in The Hague.) At any rate, I repeat my query: How do we get these bastards in Congress to move on anything?! Sharing your frustration, -- Please let Daniel Ellsberg know that it's great he finally woke up to the fact a coup has occurred but it was patently obvious to many of us in November 2000. 12/12/00, not 9/11, was the date our fate was sealed and Bush immediately began dismantling our government in January of 2001. So, if all of the rest of you had been on the streets with us since November 2000 (and we were dogging Bush nonstop, to no media attention) we might still have had our country. -- Good article. Thank you. To comment at Consortiumblog, click here. (To make a blog comment about this or other stories, you can use your normal e-mail address and password. Ignore the prompt for a Google account.) To comment to us by e-mail, click here. To donate so we can continue reporting and publishing stories like the one you just read, click here. |
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