By Susan Freiss, Wisconsin State Journal, June 12, 2024
Sunday marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Daniel Ellsberg, the acclaimed whistleblower who risked spending his life in jail when he released the Pentagon Papers and instead sparked a national crisis of conscience about the Vietnam War.
Ellsberg remained an activist throughout his life, calling out the dangers of the nuclear era, wrongful U.S. interventions and the urgent need for principled whistleblowing. He did not flinch from speaking what was left unspoken, including that the U.S.’s use of nuclear weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki set a precedent for their further use.
We are in a time when yet another crisis of conscience is underway. Honor Ellsberg’s legacy by acknowledging and calling out the blatant fallacy that ever-advancing military technology makes anyone safe. Honor his legacy by demanding that the U.S. cease military funding for Israel and call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Palestine, along with the opening of Gaza’s borders for desperately needed aid.
Honor each and every whistleblower now and into the future who is willing to risk personal security for difficult and essential truth-telling.
Susan Freiss, Madison
