ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Ellsberg, a patriot or a traitor?

Updated on October 9, 2014

When the Pentagon Papers affair splashed the government, the whole foundation of one of the pillar of the U.S. ideology, freedom, freedom of speech and information collapsed.
In 1975, an employee of the Pentagon revealed to the American Public the historical facts of the Vietnam war. The document, the United-States-Vietnam relations, 1945-1967 : A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, denounced the falsifications of the U.S. politico-military involvement in the Vietnam war.


Ellsberg, the whistleblower of the affair was at the time in charge of writing factually whether the Vietnam war was humanly and budget wise viable.


When the affair exploded the president in power was Nixon.


What originally titillated my criticism was the presence in the equation of a man tormented in delivering the truth because the documents he possessed had the seal of classified “top secret”. An American citizen torn apart between being a patriot (to his nation, to the people) and being a betrayer in the eyes of the highest authority of the nation, the government. As he chooses his side, the truth, he will use the NY Times to communicate his message, to divulge the truth.


In its article 1, section 6, the U.S. constitution brags (in its first amendment) : “For any Speech or Debate in either house, [a Senator or Representative] shall not be questioned in other place”. Consequently, Ellsberg sees in the senators his legitimate voice to outcry publicly the truth that otherwise would be gagged by a treason trial by the government if exposed! The opportunity of introducing the papers as congressional records would give the Senate omnipotence over the government.


It is interesting and revealing to know that none of the senators he encountered was willing to oppose the government in the name of the truth, in the light of the controversial content, and the classified “top secret” nature of the document! Which fear was undermining the senators at the moment? Wasn’t America a democracy?


Allegedly, constitutional chambers, because of their pluralism are the organs that constitutionally oppose the executive from any outburst, abuse, that carry the legal power to counterweigh absolutism, why did they remain deaf to Ellsberg's SOS?


Aware of Ellsberg’s move (to the NY Times), the government tried unsuccessfully to cease the publication with a federal court injunction. It escalated to the Supreme Court in a challenging trial “NY Times v. United-States”. By the failure of the government to demonstrate the “burden of proof”, by proving the unconstitutional behaviors of successive presidencies and their violation of their oaths, Ellsberg was absolved and gained the U.S. public support.


In an authoritarian society, the first move implemented by the dictatorial regime is to shut down the freedom of press, so as to conform to the highest sphere thinking. By suppressing one fundamental right instituted by the constitution, the government alters and redefines the constitutionality and the constituency of the former democracy.


Installed by a democratic majority “by the people” to represent its interests, the executive branch definitely disconnects itself from its constituents “for the people” while striving against the right of information.


By suing the NY Times, the U.S. government dissociated itself as an individual entity to the rest of the nation. In standing in the way of any constituent by illegitimating Ellsberg belonging to the same group of people, by denying his identity (as an American), by identifying him as a “traitor”, the government rejects the ability of any being to think individually, to exert one’s freedom of speech.


According to the NY Times, the Pentagon Papers were “historical” documents stating by this allegation as being part of the American history, heritage, culture, therefore a part of you, the people.


By hiding national documents, by not allowing the people to access “Top Secret” documents in formatting them as archives sleeping for at least a quarter of a century, the government assesses itself as an independent cell. As a result, why wouldn’t Ellsberg, X, Y or Z, when truth matters, be others independent cells living and evolving in the same environment (same nation)?


The time has come where the “territorial” government and the people unit as one! The move belongs to the government!

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)