Tim F. wanted to know if they thought Elizabeth Warren would make a good third party candidate. Ellsberg said that Warren or Russ Feingold would probably not risk the wrath of the Democratic Party by running. He liked the idea of former Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson, but conceded that few knew who he was.

Michael Moore had two words: “Matt Damon.”

Which immediately drew a chorus of “here here’s” from the participants in chat. Moore said that it’s time we learned something from the GOP who understood there was value in running actors for office, and that if we were interested in winning rather than just making a statement, it was something we should consider.

In closing, Moore said that this was an important conversation to start having, and he thanked Dan and the FDL community for initiating it.

Watch this shocking video of dozens of Virginia State riot police using far excessive force against peaceful protestors at Quantico Marine Base rallying for humane treatment of Bradley Manning. Starting around 7 minutes into the video, you can see and hear Ret. Col. Ann Wright screaming in pain as police are putting on handcuffs,. One officer in particular crushes Col. Wright with his riot shield. Daniel Ellsberg goes to the ground before he is picked up and arrested.

VIDEO: Eighty year-old Daniel Ellsberg was arrested on Saturday in front of the White House when he refused to leave at the request of police. He was one of 113 people who were arrested, handcuffed and taken to the police station on March 19, 2011 for protesting President Obama’s continued torture of Bradley Manning.

Daniel Ellsberg, Kevin Zeese, Margaret Flowers, David Swanson, Medea Benjamin, Mike Malloy and over a hundred others were arrested in front of the White House today to protest President Obama’s torture of Bradley Manning.
All photos by twolf.

The director of operations at Quantico Marine Base issued a “threat advisory” last weekend in advance of tomorrow’s rally in support of accused WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning. Hundreds of people are scheduled for a peaceful protest at the base, including Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. Here is the text of the advisory: Subject: Possible threat [...]

Today I joined with Michael Stipe, Viggo Mortensen, Daniel Ellsberg, Roseanne Cash, Tom Morello, Jesselyn Raddick, Shepherd Fairey and others to demand that President Obama and Secretary of Defense Gates investigate the degrading treatment that Bradley Manning is being subjected to at the Quantico brig.

David House: “Through WikiLeaks we have been given direct evidence that the White House openly lies to congress and the American people in order to achieve political ends. Richard Nixon, in an attempt to stifle government transparency, once called Ellsberg “the most dangerous man in America” and accused him of “providing aid and comfort to the enemy.” Today we see the Obama administration continuing the legacy Nixon started by declaring whistleblowers as enemies of the state. It is a sad and dangerous day for transparency advocates everywhere.”

Daniel Ellsberg, the former US military analyst who released the pentagon papers in 1971, appeared on MSNBC today with Dylan Ratigan.  He said he fears for the safety of Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, who is reportedly on the verge of leaking secret State Department cables.  The Daily Beast reports that Assange is currently being [...]

I spent the day at the New School listening to Glenn Greenwald and Daniel Ellsberg speak on “The Recurrence on Limits of Knowledge.” Joining them was Chris Capozzola of MIT and David Barstow of the NYT, subbing for Eric Lichtblau.

As amusing as it would’ve been to see Glennzilla scrap with Litchtblau, I loved hearing Barstow speak. He broke the Pentagon Generals story, one of the best pieces of investigative journalism in recent memory, and advocated for government contractors being subject to FOIA requests.

I have to say, I like that suggestion a lot.