The effect of that is to poison the flow of information to the President himself and to create a situation where a President can be almost, to use a metaphor, psychotically divorced from the realities in which he is acting.
Daniel EllsbergRead
Only we, the public, can force our representatives to reverse their abdication of the war powers that the Constitution gives exclusively to the Congress.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The public has the power to hold their elected officials accountable for their constitutional responsibilities.
This quote emphasizes the vital role of the public in maintaining democracy and ensuring that their elected representatives do not neglect their duties regarding war powers. It highlights that citizens must actively participate in the political process to enforce constitutional adherence and prevent the erosion of government accountability.
Themes
PublicWar PowersConstitutionAccountabilityDemocracy
In practice
Example use cases
During a town hall meeting, a citizen could quote this to urge the audience to take action on war-related policies.
More from Daniel Ellsberg
All quotes βThere should be at least one leak like the Pentagon Papers every year.
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I felt that as an American citizen, as a responsible citizen, I could no longer cooperate in concealing this information from the American public. I did this clearly at my own jeopardy and I am prepared to answer to all the consequences of this decision.
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I see Edward Snowden as someone who has chosen, at best, exile from the country he loves-with a serious risk of his assassination by agents of his government or life in prison (in solitary confinement)-to awaken us to the danger of our loss of democracy to a total-surveilla nce state
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EVERY attack now made on WikiLeaks and Julian Assange was made against me and the release of the Pentagon Papers at the time.
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If there's another 9/11 or a major war in the Middle-East involving a U.S. attack on Iran, I have no doubt that there will be, the day after or within days an equivalent of a Reichstag fire decree that will involve massive detentions in this country.
Daniel EllsbergRead
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