Transcripts For RT The 20240704

A form of pseudo reality because making the claim ukraine is when it is untenable. Daniel ellsberg probably the most famous and most highly revered National Security was of lower and american history. Died in june at the age of 90 to 4 months before his death, then sent an email to his friends, telling us that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. And that his doctors have given in 3 to 6 months to live. The email was upbeat and positive. Dan said that he had had a good long and productive life and that he would spend his remaining day speaking out and fighting against Nuclear Weapons. Thats exactly what he did with dignity and then zone terms. Im john curiosity and this is the whistle blowers the. 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 in 1970, Daniel Ellsberg provided a Great Service to the American People, the importance of which cannot be overstated. He leaked something called the pentagon papers. They were thousands and thousands of pages of classified analysis that he had prepared for the Rand Corporation proving that the white house and the Defense Department had been lying to the American People about the war in vietnam. The next administration and the Johnson Administration before it had been saying for years that the United States was winning the war in vietnam, that was simply not true. Ellsberg discreetly made copies of the pentagon papers and sent them to trust a journalist at the New York Times and the washington post. He also provided the documents to senator mike rebel, a democrat from the state of alaska, the times and the post published stories based on the pentagon papers and sen. Brookville submitted the document into the congressional record automatically de classifying it. The Nixon Administration was outraged the f. B. I quickly identified ellsberg as the source of the leak, and he was arrested and charged with the espionage National Security advisor, henry kissinger, called him the most dangerous man in the world. His potential punishment for the espionage charges was 150 years in prison. But the next in white house overplayed his hand. President nixon had ordered aids to break into ellsberg psychiatrists office to steal his medical records and to link them to the press to discredit them. But they were caught and the operation backfired. In the end, a federal judge dropped all of the charges against galesburg. It was then the Daniel Ellsberg became a lifelong activist. He was not the typical anti work crusader. He was a republican. He was a marine corps veteran. But his new mission in life was to work against war and especially against Nuclear Weapons and nuclear proliferation. Were going to speak with 2 of Daniel Ellsberg, personal friends, randy credit go a long time comedian and social justice activist. The former director of the william m counselor fund for social justice and host of the radio show live on the for why wheelchairs every friday afternoon in new york and armand county, hes a former, Colorado County commissioner and executive director of a National Youth Sports Charity. Gentleman, welcome to the show. Id like to begin by asking both of you how you met dan ellsberg for all of us who knew him. It was a memorable event. Certainly, randy, i think you and dan went back pretty far. How did you meet . Actually, we didnt seem like it because i met them. Uh, i called them up, but i think about 3 years ago to do. One of my shows on julia decides in his 2021 mid 2021. And we had a great conversation. He knew all the people that i knew of william counselor, for example, and we got into a lot of stories by phone. And then he did a show by himself for an hour and a half. And then then suing a couple of years, he did it 9 times and including the last time i spoke to him, he put it on so he interviewed me and do that was like 4 or 5 weeks ago. And that was it. And so, you know, thats my history with Daniel Ellsberg and on almost immediately after meeting den ellsberg, you spent some real quality time with him. Tell us about that. Yeah, in march of the thing was march of 2015. I flew up to new york. There was a conference, the 72nd anniversary of the dropping of the on time with the bomb on japan. And there were some, there was a survivor there. There were people from japan. Dan was one of the keynote speakers and i flew out there because he was a here of mine from when i was a young. Im glad in 8th grade. And i wanted to meet him, and i walked up to him after he had spoken induced myself to him, lied to him, said i was a blogger, and asked if i could interview them. And we went into a, a quiet room and i interviewed him and then we went to lunch. I asked him if he had any lunch plans. They said no, we went to lunch and then ill get into this later. But i ended up spending 10 days with him at his house in may of 2015. Help him with the book of the doomed a machine that was just in its final drafts and interviewed them for 40 hours and how america has liked to go to war. Randy, youre a close friend of julian assigned someone for whom den ellsberg had a great deal of respect. Tell us about dance commitment to julian and about the relationship between the 2 of them. Well, i, i dont think all the people have been doing that. Assign shells since the 2016 account down to freedom and, and i, ive had you on many times at john pilcher and the craig murray and so many others that are close to us on. But i gotta tell you, dan ellsberg those 9 times. Each time he was different, each time he was poetic, each time you can see that commitment and the never spirit himself when i said im going to be doing a show on a saw just as im in. Uh so uh that guy at east and he was like just in for him. He was in for daniel hale and for you and for a jeffrey sterling and so many other a whistle blowers and but that, that assigned case really got to him. And he spent so much time we had conversations. So once a week i call him on his phone and say that al squared year speak up. So i speak up and act and we have, we just love the conversations. We are serious guy, a very serious guy. We did have a sense of humor, and we have diesel, a lovely chat. But the assigned case, like i said, nobody was more zealous and fervent and eloquent. Then Daniel Ellsberg on, i want to ask you about that quality time that you spent living with Daniel Ellsberg and with his family. This was during the period when dan was experiencing Writers Block of all things in trying to complete his epic work on the history of Nuclear Weapons. Tell us about that and about how he was able to break through and complete that book. Well i 1st id say just spending 10 days with dan and patricia in their home that um was a life changing for me. And i was uh, it was a week of my 56 birthday. And dan is a very, very present man. He, without questionnaires, may be, was, may be one of the greatest intellect. So of our time a last of the mohicans. And we would sit in his office and studio in library with a 1000 books on war and american history. And the 1st or 2nd day that i was there, and just in his presence and with all these books, i was just and, and he would, he can talk, you would ask a question and he could go on one time in our interview, i asked him a question and i think he went for almost 4 hours without getting up going the bathroom or drinking any water. He, he had a mind that was just theres no words to explain it. And he did this with a, as randy and said, with a great presence and a great kindness. And a great mindfulness for the person who was asking the questions. One of my favorite stories is i think on the 3rd or 4th night there patricia and dan are sitting there. Were having dinner and patricia says to dance. So dan, how was that uh, working with r and dances. Ive never had anyone who could do it on those and i said, mom, dad and at the dinner table and we laughed and patricia turns to me and says, how do you do it . And i said, well, dan has at least 10 stories going simultaneously. Any waves them together with a conclusion and creative ending. Hes a sort of, uh, its it, you just have to group this into a certain way and, and he would annotate the New York Times as he was reading that. And for breakfast i, id be sitting there and hed be, hed be taking notes. He had a photographic memory, he had the ability to constantly over his life time to be reviewing every thing that was coming out from freedom of information. And at one point i said to him, how come no one is talking or writing about this. He said, because this information has only come out in the last 5 years. So what dan was able to do was give this oral history of how america has essentially liked to go to war over 50 years. Because he started out in this field with the ran institute when he graduated, harvard with a doctorate degree and followed all along the way. And he made himself available to anyone. You saw this. And when people were remembering him how they met him at protests, if it was 30 years ago 20 years ago, and the time he gave them in order to make them feel like what they were doing was so important to our society. Thank you. Randy credit co and armand county for talking to us about your friend, the great whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. Were going to continue discussing the legacy of Daniel Ellsberg after a short break and stick around to hear how he dedicated his final years to stopping the proliferation of Nuclear Weapons state to. 2 2 the hi, im executive and im here to plan with you whatever you do, you do not watch my new show. Seriously. Why watch something thats so different. Little opinions that he wont get anywhere else. Welcome to please or do you have the state department c, i a weapons, bankers, multi 1000000000 dollar corporations. Choose your fax for you. Go ahead. I changed and whatever you do. Dont watch my show state main street because im probably going to make you uncomfortable. My show is called stretching time, but again, you probably dont wanna watch it because it might just change the way you the, the most reason is munoz carlos and not if you speak russian, keep your voice down while out and about. So were talking about the kinds of products perspective still dont put your human symbols on display, the decision space to guide. So you guys dont talk to strangers. 7 void, noisy gatherings and was wondering for sure why she didnt rely on get them in and what actually these new colleagues and perhaps also your friends think youre guilty because your russian let you know the phone. So what can i do . Im the was mindset from it, so id be glad to reduce the team that does the style is being abt of by need. So the exception to parties specific silver shortly concerning the. 2 welcome back to the with the floors. Im going to reaku. 2 were speaking with comedian and social justice activist, randy critical and was former Colorado County commissioner and youth Sports Charity director arman coney about their friends. The great whistleblower. Daniel ellsberg. Gentleman, thanks again for being with us. Randy. One of the things that dan devoted a great deal of energy on, especially in the last decade and a half of his life was the repeal of the espionage act. Dan always believed that the espionage act was unconstitutionally broad and vague. And he wanted many whistle blowers including Chelsea Manning and jeffrey sterling to appeal their convictions. When that didnt happen just 2 years ago, dan leaked more classified information and asked the Justice Department to arrest him and to charge them with espionage. But that didnt happen. Tell us about that as well. You know, dan, of course, was very daring guy and he was dedicated to repeal of the espionage act which came in 1917, basically as a tool everybody knew and congress when they voted for that it had nothing to do with ferreting out the german spies and everything to do with repressing any descent of the entry into world war one. Thats what it was all about. And almost all but 9 people who were arrested and convicted under that espionage act. All but your fucking were were non german, super 9 german sap were read. Were rounded up over that period of time. And then of course it was used during the 1st red scare. Uh, but uh, but dan knew all about it. It was, it was illegal. It was an archaic long, it had no purpose. And he said that what it was being used for it was, uh, you know, it was like, you, official secrecy is act a secrecy act in britain. Thats what it had be come. Thats what it was. A tool of to do what the breast do and, and it would totally separate the 1st amendment. And he was obsessed with it. And i just wanted to say add on what i was saying about nuclear war and is obsession with that. The last time i spoke to him last time i spoke to him, i have just gotten back from dont ask in the oval and mosque out. And he wanted to get a feel on what it was like there. Because he was very pessimistic about the future. He thought that nuclear war was coming, and so he said, do me a favor. Lets get off the phone. Lets talk about assume, and thats what we talked about. What i was sharing from commanders in a dont ask about the use of a nuclear weapon. And she said everything that you told me confirms what i believe. And so he did that was, it does deduce a book out when we talked about that that goes what was it the tuesday and yeah. Machine. Yeah. So we talked about that, and that was that i think was one of the last shows i had him and scott ritter on his book and dan, talking about nuclear war. So it was assigned to the 1st amendment, the espionage jackie was obsessed with trying to get repealed and the, the possibility of probability of a, a nuclear paula cass holocaust. So dan was so passionate and its in my keep this buried himself into everything that he did that he was committed to really did. And he was definitely a voracious reader and up to date on everything. And, and a very, a genteel individual and unselfish. I mean, really an incredible role model, the fact that he buried himself into these issues, even at this late stage in his life, it reminds me of, i am stone at age 80, going to greece chandler x out of sweet, ancient greek, to write the book, the trial oclock or takes on i want to ask you about something that dan devoted his final years to that was the fight to stop the proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. He was passionate about this topic. Tell us about that. I think this is what mixed dan, such a fascinating hero of our time, is that he never wavered in his commitment to bringing speaking truth to power. And he is, you were asking about his Writers Block. I, you could say it that way, but dance intellect was one that no one could hold a candle to. So he was a perfectionist by my terms, and i upset after reading the draft of the book, this is done. What do you need more of an order to do . And it took another couple more years to finish it. But he always made himself available. Obviously, as he got older, it became more difficult for him to travel around, but he would go to washington. You go to other places, he was always on there. When he passed away, all of the main stream media was trying to bring the story back to what happened in 1971 when he released the pentagon papers. But in fact, what he was trying to talk about was, where are we now and what is the danger of how close we are to ending the world . And he says this in his book and to simplify. Its not just one person in the us or a russia that has the ability to make the call and releasing a nuclear bomb. This is handled all the way down stream. And then if anyone makes a mistake, if any one was to make a call in different countries, i believe its 9 or 10 countries that have Nuclear Weapons that we could, we could be a just such a difficult time and a game changer and an ending and so he kept wanting to put this out and it kept understanding that the media wanted to do the story of what the highlight was. And this is how we started our relationship in terms of me asking them questions. He said, how do you understand all of this so, so why was always fascinated on how the newspapers wanted to cover the injunction and them rather than the contents of the pentagon paper. And i would implore every one this book is out of print. But secrets should be a book that is required reading in every high school in america, because it really gives you a d n a about how, how an empire called the United States. It would make a plan in order to go into a new illegal war. Randy, what do you believe the legacy of Daniel Ellsberg will be able to grow and in stature . Uh, you know, for an ever more i did. The fact is the man was very dedicated. Do you mean he was what . Uh uh. Melville called, uh, john brown. Uh, you know, a bd, theres a receipt every so often in life and he was one of those either so dedicated willing to go to jail. He was willing to go to jail and 7170 to do what get to say it was more important and he go to jail a then can not do what he did. So in any spot for all of his life, from that point on that to do the right thing and, and to support the, just to, to fight against a military adventure. And the people who were unjustly jailed uh, you know, and, and thats it. And he just just wants them to which then never flinched. And its so even all the way and show he was 91 years old, 91. 00 plus the guy never met the never, never subsided. His it never. So id subside or the energy and dedication that going put out there. And so its an expiration because he was so selfless and that its inspiration if he can do it at that age. You know, cuz i know patricia, you say wait a 2nd. I gotta show the due date. I got 3 tomorrow. I, i much patricia is gonna kill me. 58. Know. But he always, always wanted to get out there and get to work out a very wise person. And he disseminate that information. As i said, uh, you know, uh, without hesitation and very selflessly was he dedicated to, to his slice work . So i think dan ellsberg 50 or so now the world is still here in, in a, b, m e. And what are you called just the actual liberties . Not in the, in the, in the east river like it was on the planet or the x, the charlton heston. We will, we will, which we will. She will be bigger than ever. Theyll look back at this man if society the grows in the right direction. And on, dan was a major figure in my life and in yours, i want to believe that our children and their children and will learn about him and about his bravery in school. Do you think that will be the case . I know because he was so advanced. I had 24th of july, so ago i was in california with my children who are now almost 19 and 17. And i called dana ben. We went by his house for an hour and a half and i had to prime them and explained to them what the vietnam moore was and the release of the pentagon papers. And that was of, for People Like Us who are dedicated to what is happening with our governments and societies we take for granted that their gender are our childrens generation are barely getting an understanding of what has happened in our lifetime. What i would liked in to be remembered for by those who have had the chance to look up to them. The anti war active is like myself and, and the others is that dan was a north star for us in so many different ways. One is i spoke to, i dont think there are many intellects like him who could retain the, the volume of information. We have to think of the, the arc of his work and what he was able to do and, and talk about and that he is as and randy said, who was on wavering and the fight. He has shown us that speaking truth to power as the true ethics in life. You can only really think of a couple of heroes who would be willing to give up their life for the cause if its a now samantha dela, if its a Martin Luther king, john, youre a hero of mine. If it wasnt for dad meeting daniels burge, id never meet you and weve become close friends. Theres only a handful of people if its julian assange. If its edward snowden, that has taken on this cause to reveal the lives of our government. And so as people who are or understanding getting out of under this rock or pushing away the cloud and the misinformation and the gas lighting of our educational system of our think tanks or of our media stand will always be someone that someone should and could discover and thats what you will be known for as somebody who revealed that after world war 2 that america lied to go to war and kill millions of people and we did it again and again in the last 50 years. Thank you. Randy credit co and armand county for joining us. And thank you to our viewers. As i said at the start of the show, it is impossible to overstate the importance of Daniel Ellsberg in National Security was a blowing. Ive called him the godfather of all whistle blowers, without dan ellsberg and his courage there would never have been an edward snowden, a chelsea man and a tom drake. Or even a john curiosity. Ill be forever grateful to stand for his friendship, his guidance, and his sacrifice. My life was richer because dan ellsberg was in it. Im john to reaku. Thank you for watching the whistle blowers until next time. 2 2 2 the mostly, the equations, the program shit, so banks call on equity for you to boast and you have to bill for the accident. Pizza would also try your soul to boston where you have to go over, you know, 15 to sell the code for getting them. Yes. Donor for me to meet them. What does it mean . Its close to enough to lift the heavy stickle morning. The stucco soon us probably. The majority of one of the last old is a be now . Yes, the top with finality goes ok. Yeah. Bush, thats good unless we done this is a go out a political point. My adults like sort of us a lot of body. Boeing or basel. Id be calling them just lama for a buick. Know pretty a be here to do own pretty at the thats what but it was plain clothes, siobhan suddenly like, shut about 2 hours that seemed pretty into it till ever continental the we have this boom on tenderness in the United States really exported it now to the world because of Multi National corporations and weve been damaged to believe that the babys needs to be nurtured in care for and love. And, and so youve got a whole bunch of traumatized people all over the world with post Traumatic Stress disorder. I dont know how to keel the a started in 1983 session with my father on a young man. The site met all exactly the same as a kid does when he goes out in the lake and the communities isnt for parentage with a rod and reel families and allocation for a really long time. My mom was pregnant with me still long winding. And i grew up on long line session since probably 1970 was my 1st year that i seriously pointed to the explainable biomass is near historical levels. Growth rate have dropped falling when its done and its worse form has of leveling effect. And it has a tendency to really just sort of strip away everything thats there. The way fisheries are changing. Its the way our countrys changing. Its increasingly hard for Small Businesses to make it abundant. Stocks are important. I mean, who wants to fish the last this, the message i would leave to you is the importance of not giving up the importance of working together. And also the importance of taking care of your corner of the ocean. The, the, the headlines go, launches out the key at the latest attempt to terror attack. So mc, find me in bridge. Would you be repelled by russian as offensive thousands of you have any say to the streets condemning the presence and the military activities of the u. S navy, which deployed 3000 military personnel and the red sea. It is my message to the aggressors. And the red sea is this pulled back your navy fleets. Now, because by the will of outlaw your ships and fleets will be destroyed and will sink into the red sea, this is your last warning. Class the past due slot functions will nisha as low