We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, April 12, 2013

Wikileaks Releases Kissinger Cables and Two Decisions in Manning Trial

Click here if you wish to access the original posting of this interview with Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights on The Real News Network. (Note: the website did not provide a transcript of the interview.)

 There are two parts of this interview: the first relates to the great significance of the recent release of declassified government document by Wikileaks, and the the second provides an important update on the latest news about the Army's pre-trial hearings on Bradley Manning.

 In the first part Ratner explains that Wikileaks has organized the documents in a very convenient searchable index. And in this part Paul Jay appeals to the public to use the new database to find information for The Real News Network to use in future programming. 

In this second part Ratner, among other observations, cites a "military spokesperson" who at the recent hearing claimed that the public's right to know about what their government is doing is now a "privilege not a right".
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