The Emerging American Police State

(This 2006 image of Daniel Ellsberg is by Jacob Appelbaum.)

Dr. Daniel Ellsberg is a personal hero of mine. Back in 1971, while he was working as a military analyst at the Rand Corporation, he released a secret military study on Vietnam (which became commonly known as the Pentagon Papers) to newspapers, including the New York Times. His action was very similar to those of modern whistleblowers Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning.

Ellsberg turned himself in in June of 1971. He said:

"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."

He was put on trial for espionage in 1973. But when it was learned that the federal government had wiretapped Ellsberg, and refused to submit those wiretaps to the court (saying they had "lost" them), the judge dismissed all the charges. He determined that a fair trial could not happen without all the evidence -- including the evidence the government didn't want the court to have.

Ellsberg's actions were very similar to those of modern whistleblowers Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning. He was just lucky there was a large and growing anti-war movement at the time, and that he got a judge who actually believed in justice. And Dr. Ellsberg has spoken out for Snowden and Manning recently.

But he has gone even further, telling The Huffington Post that he sees the United States morphing into a "police state". I think he is right, especially considering the massive spying operation the federal government is currently engaging in against American citizens. Here is how Dr. Ellsberg puts it:

"We have not only the capability of a police state, but certain beginnings of it right now. And I absolutely agree with Edward Snowden. It's worth a person's life, prospect of assassination, or life in prison or life in exile — it's worth that to try to restore our liberties and make this a democratic country."


"When people understand that their every conversation of every kind on phones, email, chat logs whatever, is being recorded and can be retrieved, that will certainly curtail people's freedom of speech over any digital means."

"It gives the government blackmail capability over the population at large . . . With the digital stuff alone, we have a surveillance capability that outmatches any police state in the history of humanity."