On this special episode of CounterPunch Radio, Eric pays tribute to former Senator Mike Gravel who passed away this week at the age of 91. The interview was recorded March 5, 2013 just hours after the news of the death of Hugo Chavez. Gravel was a man of principle who used his position in the US Senate to fight against the draft and the War in Vietnam, and who famously used used his filibuster to read the Pentagon Papers into the congressional record, thereby making the revelations about US crimes in Vietnam US historical fact, rather than something consigned to history books. Mike was an anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist though he never used those terms. He cared deeply about ordinary working class folks, and he believed it was his duty to help regular people understand that democracy is the goal rather than something already existing.

Rest in peace Mike. We will continue the fight. More