An Exclusive Interview with Senator Mike Gravel

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/7622

An Exclusive Interview with Senator Mike Gravel
by Timothy Gatto | May 22 2007


The following is a transcript of my interview with Senator Mike Gravel, who is running for President on the Democratic ticket. I know he has peaked some interest with liberals and progressives. I’m happy to have asked some of the questions that you gave me. Enjoy.

Gatto: I want to thank you for giving me the time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions that liberal/progressives have asked me to ask you, after I mentioned that I had obtained an interview with you. We received so many responses that we had to narrow them down so that we wouldn’t keep you here all day. Ready?

Senator Gravel: Let’s go.

Gatto: Senator Gravel, would you have gone to jail over the release of The Pentagon Papers?
Those were good likelihoods that it would happen. When the attorneys and I were working on the details of how to release them, and what was involved, they did not have any idea, since there were no precedents. The attorneys had no idea what would happen to me, so I was scared stiff. I thought that the possibility that I would go to jail were very real, the least of what would happen to me would be censure in the Senate, but that never happened. The case did go to the Supreme Court and The Supreme Court ruled that I could release all kinds of information in the confines of the Senate, but if I published outside, which I did with Beacon Press which is what I was doing, I would be subject to indictment. What happened was that Nixon and the Watergate break-ins had taken place and Nixon was getting overwhelmed and running for election so they never bothered to pursue the indictments of me and Dr. Rothberg and The Beacon press in 1972. So it’s interesting that neither I nor Ellsberg went to jail, but three of the people in the justice department Woodrow, Bonian (sic?) and another whose name escapes me did go to jail. All three of those people went to jail.

Gatto: Those must have been some times. Do you think the chances of your Iraq Withdrawal Bill will pass the committee phase?

Senator Gravel: I don’t know, that’s a problem. The Withdrawal Act means just that. If the leadership, Pelosi and Reid, and of course the Democratic candidates that say they are running for President, want to be leaders for the nation and can’t even show any leadership inside of The Senate, the likelihood is that there will be not be much of a change in “politics as usual if” one of them gets elected. The hope is that Pelosi and Obama and Dodd, and the Chair of the Committee would exercise their influence as honorees to bring the call the bill up, to introduce the bill, it’s guaranteed …it’s guaranteed, to end the war by September, the test is…Do the Democrats really have the gumption, the leadership, the strength of character to do something about it? That’s a big question mark. All we know is that’s why the Democrats have turned around and passed a non-binding resolution and now what they’ve done, is force symbolic votes, but they are going backwards. Rather than strengthen the leadership to force Bush to get us out of Iraq, there’s not much we can do otherwise.

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[pberq]

1. Gravel speaks like a true Democrat