Wow.
Rarely have I felt moved by the courage of the American politician facing the "Establishment" controlling the Congress and tell nothing but the truth in his quest to stop the protracted & pointlessly bloody Vietnam War by divulging the lengthy texts of the leaked "Pentagon Papers" into the Congressional record for permanent posterity, end the mandatory draft and bring home the troops.
Let the first short intro video speak for itself.
One-man Congressional hearing in 1971 (4 min)
Longer video running close to 30 minutes
Lengthy interview on Democracy Now! "How the Pentagon Papers Came to be Published by the Beacon Press: A Remarkable Story Told by Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, Dem Presidential Candidate Mike Gravel and Unitarian Leader Robert West"
In my opinion, Mike Gravel deserves an addition to John F Kennedy's 1956 best-selling nonfiction "Profiles in Courage" in an update overseen by JFK's surviving offspring Caroline, the Pultizer Prize (Biography) winning book. Mike ought to be the deserving recipient of "Profile in Courage" award.
Mike Gravel was a great statesman and for this he should receive the high degree of respect in this present time -- something he did not have because he was thoroughly marginalized by the corporate media to ensure his campaign die a quiet and obscure death.
He ended the draft as a one-man filibuster, and he paid the price having to endure the ridicule from the ignorant public (mostly; even DailyKos look him down with considerable contempt as the "fringe presidential candidate" of the Democratic Party similar to Ron Paul) and the corruptly compliant media. Because the draft was removed, there is no mandatory service to fight the gargantuan bullshit called War on Terror, having to sacrifice life and limb for Neoconservative-Neoliberal fantasies in oil [1], dollar hegemony, war profiteering, geopolitical military-economic supremacism and Israel (Gravel lambast AIPAC for negative influence on Washington body politic in Newshour interview on PBS).
Senator Mike Gravel will be remembered with reverence for his heroic service to the constituency in advocacy for the People and resisting the Establishment's oligarchic grip on the Congress.
Edit: If you admire Mike Gravel for his courage as documented in this diary, please consider nominating Senator Gravel as the future recipient of Profile in Courage award by writing the letter, snail or email. I will. Your effort is appreciated!
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From the shadows (2 min)