I happened upon this TruthDig radio podcast embedded in a post titled:
"Daniel Ellsberg: ‘Obama Would Have Indicted Me"
http://www.truthdig.com/...
"on Truthdig Radio in association with KPFK: Robert Scheer interviews the godfather of principled leakers about Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning, Edward Snowden and President Obama’s “unprecedented campaign against whistle-blowing.”
The podcast lasts about 45 minutes; so get yourself a drink, have a seat and listen to Daniel Ellsberg in his own words talk about Manning, Snowden, Julian Assange and how he thinks the Obama administration would have treated him.
Many in the Corporate Media and within the vastness of the world wide web (www.) have compared Manning and Edward Snowden to Daniel Ellsberg. When referring to Snowden or Manning they ask if they are "traitor or whistleblower"? The MSNBC "Replacement Liberals" without exception refer to both Manning and Snowden as "leakers" and not whistleblowers. Alternatively, both the Corporate Media and the world wide web regularly pronounce that Daniel Ellsberg was the quintessential Whistleblower. In the podcast Ellsberg himself addresses this inconsistency by unequivocally declaring both Manning and Snowden Whistleblowers. Ellsberg went on to say that the very same corporate media called him a "traitor" during his trial.
During Manning's trial Daniel Ellsberg, sitting directly behind the young private, reached up and tapped Manning on the shoulder attempting to offer words of encouragement, but before he could get out two words federally employed goons grabbed Ellsberg, dragged him out of the court room. They (the Goons) told Ellsberg that it was against regulations for him to speak to the prisoner. Ellsberg had the audacity to ask, "show me where talking to the prisoner is against regulations"? They could not.
This tap on the shoulder of one history making patriotic Whisleblower to another in my opinion should have the "stuff" real reporters live to witness! It was akin to the Mahatma Gandhi sitting behind Martin Luther King (if they lived during the same era) during his multiple brushes with the Southern court system, tapping him on the shoulder and whispering in his ear "you go". The propaganda value for the left would have been a windfall, but no one in the Corporate Media took notice. Not one of the MSNBC "replacement liberals" or their endless parade of "talking heads" mentioned this history making moment?
During the podcast Ellsberg mentioned that the judge was offered a “job” by the government during his trial; the warrantless wire taps…
At one point the interviewer mentioned that Ellsberg as once called “one of the best and the brightest”, commenting on how by contrast the Corporate Media portrayed the Harvard educated Ellsberg to the lesser narratives they created for Manning (the emotional basket case) and Snowden (the GED high school drop out). Ellsberg responded, “we were smart, but we lacked wisdom and foresight”.
Daniel Ellsberg, like Edward Snowden worked for a government contractor (the RAND corp.). Snowden worked for Booz Allen Hamilton who’s parent company is the Carlyle Group: which has extensive ties to the Bush family and Saudi Arabia.
Ellsberg went on to say that Obama has prosecuted more Whistelblowers then all other presidents in US history combined (7). He also mentioned that Carl Levin admitted that Obama asked him to take out Whisleblower protection added to an appropriations bill. Ellsberg clearly stated that he had no doubt that this administration would not hesitate to lock him away for life for what he revealed.
Lastly, Ellsberg put forth that there should be a legal challenge to the part of the The Espionage Act that deals with government leaks (I am talking to you ACLU). Ellsberg called it "Facially' Unconstitutional" ; and went on to say that it "chilled" free speech just by it's existence.