In this episode, we discuss the new book, edited by Rachel Bruhnke, "Cold War Truth Commission Putting the US Cold War on Trial, A Project of Testimony, Education and Action" A book of U.S. Cold War testimonials.
The Cold War Truth Commission was a day of online lectures and discussion in 2021, in essence it was a trial about the origins of the Cold War, and the millions of human lives it took, mainly from US invasions and proxy wars. Sponsoring organizations included Witness for Peace Southwest, School of the Americas Watch, Code Pink, KPFK Radio, Project Censored and others.
Compiled from that webinar, Rachel's new book features 54 vital testimonials from respected people including, whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, national director of RootsAction.org Norman Solomon and cofounder of Code Pink Medea Benjamin, as well as everyday people who shared how they were personally affected by the U.S. Cold War.
For nearly a decade Rachel has been raising awareness about the US Cold War. In 2017, she started the Cold War Truth Commission, after the presidential election. She noted, the reason she started this work was because, during the aftermath of the 2016 election, Rachel juxtaposed Senator Bernie Sanders to Donald Trump and what she called the two dynamics; the voice and the movement of Sanders, and the idea that it could not be accepted.
Rachel asks, how is it possible that something like FDR's economic New Deal could be almost the law of the land, from a supremely popular four-time elected President, and yet, Bernie Sanders was basically saying the same thing, an economic New Deal, and it wasn't even possible for it to be on the Democratic ticket?
What had happened, politically, to cause that sea change in our culture and our politics and what we thought was possible in the very definition of the United States and who we think we are?