Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr
Watch the videos below
“In this series, Daniel Ellsberg and Paul Jay explore Ellsberg’s latest book, The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. In the introduction to the book, Ellsberg writes:
“No policies in human history have more deserved to be recognized as immoral or insane. The story of how this calamitous predicament came about and how and why it has persisted over a half a century is a chronicle of human madness. Whether Americans, Russians, and other humans can rise to the challenge of reversing these policies and eliminating the danger of near-term extinction caused by their own inventions and proclivities remains to be seen. I choose to join with others in acting as if that is still possible.””
The Doomsday Machine: The Big Lie of the Cold War – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (1/13)
TheRealNews on Oct 29, 2018
On Reality Asserts Itself, Daniel Ellsberg tells host Paul Jay that US intelligence agencies knew that Stalin was not planning to invade Western Europe or seek world domination, but based on the myth, the world came close to nuclear war – and it’s all happening again.
Hitler Wouldn’t Risk Doomsday, But The United States Did – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (2/13)
TheRealNews on Oct 31, 2018
Hitler ended the German nuclear weapons program in 1942 when told it could end life on Earth—the Americans were willing to take the risk; since the end of WWII the Cold War was to a very large extent, from beginning to end, a marketing campaign for subsidization of the aerospace industry, says Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay.
Truman Delayed End of WWII to Demonstrate Nuclear Weapons – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (3/13)
TheRealNews on Nov 1, 2018
To intimidate the Soviet Union and prove to Congress the nuclear program should be funded, Truman dropped nuclear weapons on Japan to end the war; no scientist came forward to warn of the dangers to life on earth, says Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay.
The Largest Act of Terrorism in Human History – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (4/13)
TheRealNews on Nov 4, 2018
The British bombing of Hamburg in 1942, and the American firebombing of Japan in March 1945 that killed as many as 120,000 people in one night, created the conditions for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which were considered mere extensions of the firebombing tactics, says Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay.
Russian “Doomsday Machine” an Answer to U.S. Decapitation Strategy – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (5/13)
TheRealNews on Nov 4, 2018
The U.S. military still thinks that a nuclear war can be won by targeting Russian leadership in a bizarre Dr. Strangelove logic; it’s a recipe for unmitigated catastrophe, says Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay.
U.S. Planned Nuclear First Strike to Destroy Soviets and China – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (6/13)
TheRealNews on Nov 9, 2018
U.S. cold-war nuclear plan called for all out attack on China, even if it was not involved in the war, says Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Itself with Paul Jay.
U.S. Refuses to Adopt a Nuclear Weapon No First Use Pledge – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (7/13)
TheRealNews on Nov 12, 2018
Every President since Truman has used a nuclear first strike threat as leverage in U.S. foreign policy; it’s institutional insanity says Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay.
Once Fired, There’s No Calling a Nuke Back – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (8/13)
TheRealNews on Nov 15, 2018
There are many fingers on the nuclear missiles trigger and once an attack begins, even the President can’t order it reversed, says Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay.
The Discovery That Should Have Changed the Cold War – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (9/13)
TheRealNews on Nov 18, 2018
In 1958 President Kennedy claimed there was a “missile gap”, saying the USSR was far ahead in ICBM weapons; when satellite photos showed the astounding true number, it meant the USSR did not have plans for global domination, but it remained a secret, says Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay.
A Strategy of War Crimes, Killing Civilians to Win a War – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (10/13)
Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay on Jul 8, 2021
This is an episode of Reality Asserts Itself, produced November 21, 2018.
General Curtis LaMay, who directed the firebombing and nuclear attacks on Japan said, “War is killing people, when you kill enough of them, the other guy quits” – quotes Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay.
The Doomsday Machine and Nuclear Winter – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (11/13)
TheRealNews on Nov 23, 2018
An H Bomb first strike will create firestorms and smoke that ends most human life; this is a fact ignored by military planners and by the Trump administration which doesn’t believe in climate science – says Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay.
Dismantle the American Doomsday Machine – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (12/13)
TheRealNews on Nov 27, 2018
Congress should hold hearings into nuclear winter and eliminating the hair-trigger and obsolete ICBM’s – says Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay.
Convert Military to Green Production, or Perish – Daniel Ellsberg on RAI (13/13)
TheRealNews on Nov 29, 2018
A massive reduction in ICBM’s and transforming the economy away from the military-industrial complex are prerequisites for our survival – says Daniel Ellsberg on Reality Asserts Itself with Paul Jay.
From the archives:
Regulating Apocalypse by David Swanson
Cold War 2.0 Just As Stupid As Cold War 1.0 by William Blum
Top 10 Ways to Stop Trump Nuking Anybody by David Swanson
The Great American Perpetual Motion War Machine by Greg Maybury
Dandelion Salad 
Pingback: Deterrencelessness: Nuclear Threats Neither Credible Nor Viable, by John LaForge – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: What I Would Tell A Future Generation About Us On This Tiny World, by Kenn Orphan – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: The Hard Work of Creating a Last Resort War on Iran, by David Swanson – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Helen Caldicott: Why This Is More Dangerous Than the Cuban Missile Crisis, by Finian Cunningham – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Daniel Ellsberg: Nuclear War and Ukraine – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Apocalypse Given a Bad Rap By Liberal Media, by David Swanson – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Larry Wilkerson and Paul Jay: Ukraine and the Doomsday Machine – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Chris Hedges and Paul Jay: The Profits Of The Arms Industry Are What Drives These Conflicts – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Chris Hedges: Oppenheimer and the Bomb Culture – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: To Send Weapons and Troops to Ukraine You’d Have to Be a Stupid Son of a Biden, by David Swanson – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: David Swanson and Daniel Ellsberg: The Most Dangerous Missiles – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Hiroshima Is A Lie, by David Swanson – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Will Griffin: Exporting Capitalism to Outer Space – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Medea Benjamin: Are Progressives Ignoring Foreign Policy? – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: 100 Seconds To Midnight: The Dissonance and Madness of Our Time, by Rainer Shea – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Vijay Prashad: The Democratic Party and the War Machine – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Nuking Itself… How Russophobia Led the U.S. to Bomb its Own Citizens, by Finian Cunningham – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Another Hiroshima is Coming Unless We Stop It Now, by John Pilger – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: David Swanson, Alice Slater and Bruce Gagnon: Obstacles to Nuclear Abolition – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Roger Waters: Threat of Nuclear War is Real + Two Suns in the Sunset – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: From Open Skies to Open Season for Nukes, by Finian Cunningham – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Will Griffin: Schools of Mass Destruction + A Veterans Counter-Recruitment Presentation – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Chris Hedges: The Kings Bay Plowshares 7 — Putting the Nuclear Arsenal on Trial – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: David Swanson: Nukes–What Are They Good For? + Flash Mob Blocks Nuclear Submarine Base! – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Christian Sorensen: War Industry Muster–Why Work for the War Industry? + Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab is a Part of the War Industry – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: Chris Hedges and Stephen Cohen: The New Cold War with Russia – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: 10 Reasons Assange Should Walk Free by David Swanson + Daniel Ellsberg On Assange’s Arrest: The Beginning of the End For Press Freedom – Dandelion Salad
Pingback: What Should We Do Instead Of Bombing Yemen? Not Bomb Yemen! by David Swanson – Dandelion Salad
Brilliant! and thank you!… maybe if we expose these devils they will scurry back to hell like roaches when the lights get turned on. Aloha
Aloha, Tyler. Thanks for your comment.
This a most impressive set of videos; I’d say best to absorb the content slowly. I already have a copy of the book.
The actual bombing of Hamburg was in July 1943. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-43546839
Thank you, David.
Thank you Lo; I’ve finally managed to hear the entire thing, & so far, all I can add is this ~ we must do everything in our power to reconfigure our global, indeed, planetary priorities. This can only be achieved through education, wise counsel and consensual imagination. A vision of reality that encompasses all possible ‘sane’ realities.
It is one thing to climb the mountain, altogether another to return to base-camp.successfully and contemplate further possibilities. No seasoned climber in their right mind would elect to jump off the summit, in the vain delusion that they could fly even higher…..we have these gigantic technologies, but only relatively speaking, as we are miniscule life-forms compared to the scale of the perceived universe.
Thanks for watching the entire series, David. Perfect analogy.