Truth To Power | Daniel Ellsberg's Legacy | Freedom of the Press | July 7, 2023

On this week's Truth to Power, we bring you a tribute to the life of Daniel Ellsberg, with Forward Radio programmers, Jim Johnson (Solutions to Violence); Brian Barnes (Critical Thinking For Everyone); Justin Mog (Sustainability Now!), and K.A. Owens (On The Edge) reflecting on Ellsberg’s legacy. Ellsberg spoke Truth To Power throughout his long life, but first came into the public consciousness in 1971 as the whistleblower from within the RAND Corporation who leaked the Pentagon Papers containing the secret history of the U.S. war on Vietnam to the press.

Daniel Ellsberg died of pancreatic cancer on June 16, 2023. Those of us at WFMP feel we owe a great debt to Ellsberg, an economist and political activist. In 1971, he was working as a military analyst in the Pentagon. The Vietnam War was raging. College students and clergy were leading antiwar protests across the country. Both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon boldly claimed that the U.S. was winning the war. After Ellsberg read documents by military elites, he understood that the U.S. military and its South Vietnamese allies were in fact losing the war and had been for some time. Johnson and Nixon had been lying to the American public. Ellsberg initially handed partial copies of the Pentagon Papers to Senator William Fulbright, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, as well as others in Congress. All refused to act.

As a result, in 1971, Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times and later the Washington Post, knowing that such an action could lead to a long prison sentence; a demonstration of integrity and courage.

The documentary “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” tells the story of the Supreme Court trial and the landmark decision which found government efforts to halt publication of the Pentagon Papers represented a violation of the First Amendment to the constitution and freedom of the press. The case, the U.S. vs. the New York Times, delivered an affirmation for freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. The Pentagon Papers exposed the fact that the U.S. was losing the Vietnam war and that exposure resulted in Nixon’s decisions to pull U.S. troops out of Vietnam. As we know now the U.S. and its South Vietnamese allies lost the Vietnam war.

The publication of the Pentagon Papers is an example of journalism exposing government corruption and forcing government to reverse course. We believe that a free press is essential to the preservation of a democracy and a free society. We here at WFMP are grateful for Ellsberg's courageous actions. We believe that the Supreme Court decision that found in favor of the press' right to publish the Pentagon Papers, is one of the reasons WFMP and other independent and commercial media are free to criticize the government, expose government corruption, discuss controversial political issues and shed light on issues we feel are in the public interest.

All of us at Forward Radio are volunteers. We are here for one reason; we want to deliver a message that supports truth, fairness, justice, a sustainable environment and peace. Daniel Ellsberg’s courageous decision to leak the Pentagon Papers and the Supreme Court’s decision protects our rights as journalists. So, on behalf of Forward Radio, we want to deliver a sincere shout out to the late, great, Daniel Ellsberg and the 1971 Supreme Court for delivering an affirmation of free speech and a free press.

On Truth to Power each week, we gather people from around the community to discuss the state of the world, the nation, the state, and the city! It's a community conversation like you won't hear anywhere else!

Truth to Power airs every Friday at 9pm, Saturday at 11am, and Sunday at 4pm on Louisville's grassroots, community radio station, Forward Radio 106.5fm WFMP and live streams at http://forwardradio.org