Ellsberg then surrendered to the FBI and was charged as a spy. The charges were eventually dropped because of governmental misconduct, and it was revealed that Nixon, then president, had ordered his "plumbers" to break into Ellsberg's psychoanalyst's office to try to get information to make him appear crazy. It was for this and other acts, such as illegal (at the time) wiretaps that Nixon then resigned in disgrace in order to avoid impeachment.
Ellsberg was recently interviewed about our current situation. He has been outspoken in opposition to Obama's ordering military action against Libya without Congressional authorization, saying this is an unconstitutional misuse of presidential power and an impeachable offense. In March 2011, at age 79, he was arrested along with others in front of the White House for protesting the imprisonment of Bradley Manning, the serviceman who is charged with the leaks of secret documents that became "WikiLeaks."
Ellsberg states that, under the Patriot Act and other laws since 9/11, everything that Nixon did would be legal today.
INTERVIEWER: These days, when you find yourself thinking about Richard Nixon, what comes to mind?The Patriot Act has always struck me as over-reacting to the post-9/11 fear and hysteria. I have been dismayed when Obama has supported continuing some policies -- but then there are just too many bad things going on to worry about, and this one hasn't deprived me of my rights directly, so . . .
ELLSBERG: Richard Nixon, if he were alive today, might take bittersweet satisfaction to know that he was not the last smart president to prolong unjustifiably a senseless, unwinnable war, at great cost in human life. (And his aide Henry Kissinger was not the last American official to win an undeserved Nobel Peace Prize.)He would probably also feel vindicated (and envious) that ALL the crimes he committed against me–which forced his resignation facing impeachment–are now legal.
That includes burglarizing my former psychoanalyst's office (for material to blackmail me into silence), warrantless wiretapping, using the CIA against an American citizen in the US, and authorizing a White House hit squad to "incapacitate me totally" (on the steps of the Capitol on May 3, 1971). All the above were to prevent me from exposing guilty secrets of his own administration that went beyond the Pentagon Papers. But under George W. Bush and Barack Obama,with the PATRIOT Act, the FISA Amendment Act, and (for the hit squad) President Obama's executive orders. they have all become legal.
There is no further need for present or future presidents to commit obstructions of justice (like Nixon's bribes to potential witnesses) to conceal such acts. Under the new laws, Nixon would have stayed in office, and the Vietnam War would have continued at least several more years.
But, still . . .
Ralph
Ellsberg's main point, which I skipped over here to focus on the Nixon exoneration, is that the problem is not corrupt or despotic leaders who misuse the powers of the presidency.
ReplyDeleteIt is that anyone in office wants to retain power. And the Founding Fathers had it right in giving Congress the power to declare war -- and we should respect that and stick to it.
Ever since Viet Nam, at least, presidents have found ways around that, or they have deceived congress (Bush and WMD's), so that Congress has not exerted its proper role.
Of course it becomes political, as it is now when Republicans are challenging Obama's military intervention in Libya without consulting them.
But Ellsberg is not being political. He says presidents from both parties have done it. He is saying that Congress must assert its right to declare war -- or not.