"The Most Dangerous Man in America"

Ithaca College and the Park Center for Independent Media were honored to have been in the presence of Daniel Ellsberg Wednesday, the man who Henry Kissinger deemed “the most dangerous man in America.”

Ellsberg’s apprehension about the Vietnam War led to his leak of the 7,000 page Pentagon Papers to the press, a decision that would ultimately change the course of history.

As shown in the powerful documentary, when he was asked by a reporter whether or not he was concerned with the possibility of going to prison for his actions he replied, “wouldn’t you go to prison to help end this war?”

Sad thing is, it seems like very little have that mentality anymore.

What I found interesting during the Q&A with Ellsberg was just how many people contain top-secret documents, and how little action people take towards them. Ellsberg commented on this and explained the risks people would have to take in order to be involved in a leak.

Ellsberg said, “There always were people that had information, but we don’t hear it when there’s a chance to say it.” Why is that? Because people’s careers, income and marriages are at stake. The cost is “too great.”

Ellsberg didn’t play it safe. He risked everything for the public’s right to know, and his loyalty to truth in a time of lies. It was the actions of one man sticking up to authority that had the power to change history. Where are the Ellsbergs of today?

Well, it was ironic for Ellsberg to be at Ithaca College on the eve of when whistle blowing website WikiLeaks would leak more Iraq war logs. However, there are differences between the role Ellsberg played, and the role of WikiLeaks today.

WikiLeaks has changed the role of whistle blowers by use of the Internet, being able to reach a vast audience. But the question is will Julian Assange, the founder of the site, be paralleled to what Ellsberg did in 1971? 

I guess only time will tell.