June 28, 2021– A few words for today. The papers carry word of the passage of former Alaska senator Mike Gravell. He played a key role in bringing to light the Pentagon Papers, the 50th anniversary of the leak of which we’ve recently been celebrating. For decades the most authoritative version of the Pentagon Papers was one published by Boston’s Beacon Press in 1972. That edition was made possible by Gravel, who used his post as chairman of a Senate subcommittee on buildings and grounds to call a hearing which no one attended, and then use the fact of being in session to read into the record the huge leaked study. Beacon Press used the resulting version in the Congressional Record as the basis for its four volume publication.

Much more recently Senator Gravel undertook an initiative for which he should also be remembered. This was to create a system for direct voting. He thought of this at first as a mechanism to pass laws, but think how valuable it would have been in last year’s presidential election. No tinkering with state voting regulations or electoral votes, no delay for mail-in or other ballots. In particular, no way to dispute the outcome of the election. Voters go up or down on buttons connected to their televisions, telephones or other electronic devices. That’s it. Vote cast. The outcome would be the outcome.

Mike Gravel could think outside the box. We need more like him.