It hasnt changed my whole political posturing, Gravel said. Ive been very active in the last month or so over the torture debate. And Ill continue to be active with respect to the difficulties that were have in Iran. In November, prior to the release of the executive summary of the Senate Intelligence Committees torture report detailing the horrors of the CIAs post 9/11 detention and interrogation program, Gravel urged Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) to make the report public on the Senate floor. The move would have been similar to the one Gravel himself made with the Pentagon Papers. In 1971, Gravel began an epic filibuster where he read the Pentagon Papers, first released by Daniel Ellsberg, during a meeting of his Senate Buildings and Grounds Subcommittee . Gravel was able to enter the remaining thousands of pages from the Pentagon Papers into the congressional record -- thereby ensuring they would be public before the Supreme Court could rule on whether or not the controversial documents could be published in the press. Steve Kubby, chairman of the board at Cannabis Sativa, called Gravel a true American hero who brings invaluable perspective to the company. “Senator Gravel stood up to Nixon, stood up to the Pentagon, and now he is standing up to those in power who would keep the healthful benefits of cannabis from those who need them, Kubby said in a statement. KUSH Vice President and COO Michael Pickens told HuffPost that Gravel has been a very active and outspoken member of the Cannabis Sativa board of directors. I specifically requested to work with him for his track record of taking action and holding people accountable in government, and now he gets to use those skills to advance another worthy project, Pickens said.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 22:02:54 +0000