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All the people that say the movement,
the revolution is over.
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They ought to see what's going on right here,
'cause it doesn't look over to me.
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This is like a dream,
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seeing 15,000 people in one place
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demanding freedom
for John Sinclair.
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I was sentenced
to 91/2-10 years
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00:01:06,092 --> 00:01:08,322
in July of 1969
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for giving two joints
to an undercover policewoman.
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All this time that John Sinclair
has been in jail
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because of his opposition
to the government,
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that government has dropped
21/2 Hiroshimas a week
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every week since July 1969,
when John was imprisoned.
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And all that time,
14
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Richard Nixon was trumpeting,
"The war is winding down."
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We had this concert,
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and it was broadcast
all over the state.
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It was the biggest thing that
ever happened in Michigan.
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Stevie Wonder, Bob Seger,
19
00:01:46,098 --> 00:01:48,293
Rennie Davis, Jerry Rubin,
20
00:01:48,367 --> 00:01:50,130
Bobby Seale
of the Black Panthers.
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All power to the people.
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Thank you very much.
Right on.
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Power to the people.
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The stage was set
to make a big impact.
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"If we can make
this concert be huge..."
26
00:02:02,348 --> 00:02:06,512
And then Jerry Rubin talked
John Lennon and Yoko Ono
27
00:02:06,585 --> 00:02:08,883
into coming and playing
at our concert.
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We had no idea
that there were FBI agents
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00:02:36,682 --> 00:02:38,946
writing down the lyrics
in the audience.
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That's when the FBI
began to see
31
00:02:41,787 --> 00:02:46,121
the beginning of the power
of John and Yoko.
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00:02:46,192 --> 00:02:49,286
The power structure, especially
during the Nixon administration,
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00:02:49,362 --> 00:02:52,820
which began in 1968,
was extremely paranoid
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00:02:52,898 --> 00:02:56,800
about anyone who they perceived
to be counter-culture,
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00:02:56,869 --> 00:02:59,133
counter-administration, antiwar,
36
00:02:59,205 --> 00:03:02,140
and, of course, John Lennon
fell squarely in that arena.
37
00:03:02,208 --> 00:03:04,642
When somebody in show business
38
00:03:04,710 --> 00:03:08,476
comes and participates
in a political rally,
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00:03:08,547 --> 00:03:12,313
he or she is doing something
40
00:03:12,385 --> 00:03:16,651
that is a very great
personal sacrifice,
41
00:03:16,722 --> 00:03:18,212
and even a personal risk.
42
00:03:19,892 --> 00:03:26,627
Certainly, they feared what a figure
like John Lennon represented.
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00:03:26,699 --> 00:03:31,136
Anybody who sings about love
and harmony and life
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00:03:31,203 --> 00:03:34,661
is dangerous to somebody
who's singing about death
45
00:03:34,740 --> 00:03:38,836
and killing and subduing.
46
00:03:38,911 --> 00:03:41,345
He was making friends
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with a lot of people
that our government
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00:03:44,917 --> 00:03:46,350
wanted to put in jail.
49
00:03:46,419 --> 00:03:49,513
He was a high-profile figure,
50
00:03:49,588 --> 00:03:52,580
so his activities
were being monitored.
51
00:03:56,929 --> 00:03:58,863
I think they wanted me
to know to scare me,
52
00:03:58,931 --> 00:04:00,762
and I was scared, paranoid.
53
00:04:03,102 --> 00:04:06,765
He believed all of his telephone conversations
were being monitored.
54
00:04:06,839 --> 00:04:10,206
"He believed that he was being followed
around New York City.
55
00:04:10,276 --> 00:04:13,211
He believed that friends that he
had thought were friends
56
00:04:13,279 --> 00:04:16,715
were secret informants for different
intelligence communities.
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We were just shocked,
58
00:04:18,451 --> 00:04:20,385
and we were really scared.
59
00:04:22,121 --> 00:04:24,885
Another effect
of the Sinclair thing
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00:04:24,957 --> 00:04:28,518
was it probably
further alerted the FBI,
61
00:04:28,594 --> 00:04:30,926
John Mitchell, Haldeman,
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00:04:30,996 --> 00:04:35,194
Ehrlichman, and Nixon
as to this threat to them,
63
00:04:35,267 --> 00:04:38,065
that something
needed to be done
64
00:04:38,137 --> 00:04:40,503
to neutralize John Lennon.
65
00:05:27,019 --> 00:05:31,285
Childhood was something
that, um...
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00:05:31,357 --> 00:05:32,790
he couldn't shake it.
67
00:05:32,858 --> 00:05:34,655
It was there all the time.
68
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And at night
when we were in bed,
69
00:05:37,196 --> 00:05:40,290
he would be talking about it,
his mother...
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00:05:40,366 --> 00:05:42,766
Especially his mother.
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00:05:42,835 --> 00:05:44,803
He was an orphan, really.
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00:05:44,870 --> 00:05:46,633
He was abandoned
by his father,
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00:05:46,705 --> 00:05:48,138
and to all intents
and purposes,
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00:05:48,207 --> 00:05:49,367
abandoned by his mother.
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00:05:49,441 --> 00:05:51,966
Can you imagine growing up
76
00:05:52,044 --> 00:05:54,137
and realizing that neither
your mother nor your father
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really wanted you?
78
00:05:55,548 --> 00:05:58,483
So it's no wonder
he turned out a rebel.
79
00:05:58,551 --> 00:06:00,985
Being born working class,
it was a natural...
80
00:06:01,053 --> 00:06:04,318
I knew... I was taught to hate
and fear the police,
81
00:06:04,390 --> 00:06:06,153
hate and fear the establishment,
82
00:06:06,225 --> 00:06:08,318
and to fight it.
83
00:06:08,394 --> 00:06:11,386
He had a chip on his shoulder
for anybody who would tell him
84
00:06:11,463 --> 00:06:14,489
how to live his life and what to do
85
00:06:14,567 --> 00:06:16,899
and when to talk
and when not to talk.
86
00:06:16,969 --> 00:06:18,163
I was always in trouble.
87
00:06:18,237 --> 00:06:20,671
Every school I went to,
I was thrown out.
88
00:06:20,739 --> 00:06:23,503
Everything I got involved in,
I was always in trouble,
89
00:06:23,576 --> 00:06:26,067
so I was always
against the wall.
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00:06:53,305 --> 00:06:55,034
This is Doug Layton
and Tommy Charles
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00:06:55,107 --> 00:06:58,907
reminding you that our fantastic
Beatle boycott is still in effect.
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00:06:58,978 --> 00:07:01,446
We have not forgotten
what The Beatles said.
93
00:07:01,513 --> 00:07:04,038
The Beatles made a statement
in all the newspapers
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00:07:04,116 --> 00:07:07,677
that they're getting more better than,
uh, Jesus Himself.
95
00:07:07,753 --> 00:07:09,050
Originally, I was...
96
00:07:09,121 --> 00:07:12,716
I pointed out that fact
in reference to England,
97
00:07:12,791 --> 00:07:15,885
that we meant more
to kids than Jesus did
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00:07:15,961 --> 00:07:18,054
or religion at that time.
99
00:07:18,130 --> 00:07:19,529
I wasn't knocking it
or putting it down.
100
00:07:19,598 --> 00:07:20,860
I was just saying it.
101
00:07:20,933 --> 00:07:25,063
I think simply on the basis
of statistics and fact,
102
00:07:25,137 --> 00:07:26,900
his statement is untrue.
103
00:07:26,972 --> 00:07:29,133
No one is more popular
than Jesus.
104
00:07:29,208 --> 00:07:32,075
I just didn't mean what
everybody thinks I meant.
105
00:07:32,144 --> 00:07:34,578
I'm not anti-Christ
or anti-religion
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00:07:34,647 --> 00:07:35,807
or anti-God.
107
00:07:35,881 --> 00:07:40,250
So many people have built buildings
in the name of Christ,
108
00:07:40,319 --> 00:07:42,412
and what have people
done for The Beatles?
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00:07:42,488 --> 00:07:43,785
What have they done for us?
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00:07:43,856 --> 00:07:46,416
I'm not saying that
we're better or greater
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00:07:46,492 --> 00:07:49,586
or comparing us with Jesus Christ
as a person,
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00:07:49,662 --> 00:07:51,755
or God as a thing
or whatever it is.
113
00:07:51,830 --> 00:07:54,264
I just said what I said
and it was wrong
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00:07:54,333 --> 00:07:55,425
or it was taken wrong,
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00:07:55,501 --> 00:07:56,593
and now it's all this.
116
00:07:56,669 --> 00:07:58,762
We urge you to take
your Beatle records,
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00:07:58,837 --> 00:08:00,099
pictures, and souvenirs
118
00:08:00,172 --> 00:08:02,436
to the pickup points
about to be named,
119
00:08:02,508 --> 00:08:04,601
and on the night of the Beatles'
appearance in Memphis,
120
00:08:04,677 --> 00:08:06,110
August 19,
121
00:08:06,178 --> 00:08:08,908
they will be destroyed
in a huge public bonfire
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00:08:08,981 --> 00:08:10,312
at a place to be named soon.
123
00:08:30,035 --> 00:08:32,299
It doesn't matter about people
not liking our records
124
00:08:32,371 --> 00:08:35,465
or not liking the way we look
or what we say.
125
00:08:35,541 --> 00:08:37,133
They're entitled to not like us,
126
00:08:37,209 --> 00:08:40,474
and we're entitled not to have anything
to do with them if we don't want to,
127
00:08:40,546 --> 00:08:42,810
or not to regard them.
128
00:08:42,881 --> 00:08:44,678
We've all got
our rights, you know?
129
00:08:44,750 --> 00:08:47,878
Clearly, Lennon already
was thinking about
130
00:08:47,953 --> 00:08:50,581
this thing of being
the lovable mop tops
131
00:08:50,656 --> 00:08:53,147
is not really their goal
in life anymore.
132
00:08:53,225 --> 00:08:56,058
Lennon in particular
is more willing
133
00:08:56,128 --> 00:08:58,995
to take on a critical stance,
134
00:08:59,064 --> 00:09:00,531
a rebellious stance.
135
00:09:00,599 --> 00:09:02,999
This, I think,
is the beginning,
136
00:09:03,068 --> 00:09:05,502
where Lennon
sets out on the path
137
00:09:05,571 --> 00:09:08,005
that's going to bring him
into direct conflict
138
00:09:08,073 --> 00:09:10,906
with the Nixon administration
six years later.
139
00:09:31,029 --> 00:09:32,360
The thing the '60s did
140
00:09:32,431 --> 00:09:37,164
was show us the possibility
and the responsibility that we all had.
141
00:09:37,236 --> 00:09:38,396
It wasn't the answer.
142
00:09:38,470 --> 00:09:41,871
It just have us a glimpse
of the possibility.
143
00:09:52,785 --> 00:09:56,619
We intend to convince
the communists
144
00:09:56,688 --> 00:10:02,183
that we cannot be
defeated by force of arms
145
00:10:02,261 --> 00:10:04,252
or by superior power.
146
00:10:04,329 --> 00:10:06,263
I have today ordered to Vietnam
147
00:10:06,331 --> 00:10:09,732
the Air Mobile Division
and certain other forces
148
00:10:09,802 --> 00:10:11,736
which will raise
our fighting strength
149
00:10:11,804 --> 00:10:17,970
from 75,000 to 125,000 men
almost immediately.
150
00:10:24,650 --> 00:10:27,744
I joined the Marine Corps
out of high school
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00:10:27,820 --> 00:10:30,414
in September of 1964,
152
00:10:30,489 --> 00:10:33,652
and I volunteered
to go to Vietnam.
153
00:10:33,725 --> 00:10:38,594
They could not have sent
someone more dedicated.
154
00:10:38,664 --> 00:10:41,599
They could not have sent
someone who was willing
155
00:10:41,667 --> 00:10:44,465
to follow their policy
more than myself.
156
00:10:44,536 --> 00:10:48,097
While leading my squad
across an open area,
157
00:10:48,173 --> 00:10:51,267
I was shot to the right shoulder.
158
00:10:51,343 --> 00:10:53,777
It went through my right lung,
collapsed my lung,
159
00:10:53,846 --> 00:10:57,782
hit my spine,
and severed my spinal cord,
160
00:10:57,850 --> 00:11:02,116
paralyzing me
from my mid-chest down.
161
00:11:16,368 --> 00:11:22,000
Vietnam was not an easily accepted war
on the part of the population.
162
00:11:22,074 --> 00:11:24,975
It didn't have a 9/11 that we had.
163
00:11:25,043 --> 00:11:26,806
It didn't have a Pearl Harbor.
164
00:11:26,879 --> 00:11:30,474
It didn't have
the motivating factors
165
00:11:30,549 --> 00:11:34,485
that would have encouraged
a high degree of patriotism.
166
00:11:34,553 --> 00:11:36,714
So it was an unpopular war,
167
00:11:36,788 --> 00:11:40,315
and got to be more and more unpopular
as it lingered
168
00:11:40,392 --> 00:11:42,155
and as people doubted
more and more
169
00:11:42,227 --> 00:11:43,717
that it had any real purpose.
170
00:11:43,795 --> 00:11:48,255
Some 2 million Vietnamese
died in that conflict.
171
00:11:48,333 --> 00:11:52,326
That did not show life, liberty,
172
00:11:52,404 --> 00:11:56,067
and the pursuit
of happiness at its best.
173
00:11:57,409 --> 00:11:59,172
...2, 3, 4!
174
00:11:59,244 --> 00:12:00,802
We don't want
to fight your war!
175
00:12:00,879 --> 00:12:01,868
1, 2, 3, 4!
176
00:12:03,248 --> 00:12:04,681
We don't want
to fight your war!
177
00:12:04,750 --> 00:12:07,310
The ferment was considerable,
178
00:12:07,386 --> 00:12:09,684
with a leading role played
by young people throughout.
179
00:12:09,755 --> 00:12:12,349
People who were normally
supposed to be apathetic
180
00:12:12,424 --> 00:12:14,358
and obedient and passive
181
00:12:14,426 --> 00:12:17,156
were actually entering
the political arena
182
00:12:17,229 --> 00:12:20,926
to press their own demands
and organizing to do something about it.
183
00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:23,192
In this age of protest,
184
00:12:23,268 --> 00:12:25,862
one of the most recent
finds 4,000 Londoners
185
00:12:25,938 --> 00:12:29,101
decrying British support
for U.S. Action in Vietnam.
186
00:12:31,443 --> 00:12:34,037
There were a few
minor scuffles, but no arrests.
187
00:12:34,112 --> 00:12:36,205
The demonstrators were
stopped from approaching
188
00:12:36,281 --> 00:12:38,772
Prime Minister Wilson's
Downing Street home.
189
00:12:41,620 --> 00:12:46,216
The whole culture
had become radicalized,
190
00:12:46,291 --> 00:12:51,888
and it's in this atmosphere
that The Beatles
191
00:12:51,964 --> 00:12:54,762
were being forced
to engage with the world.
192
00:12:54,833 --> 00:12:56,323
Do you mind being
asked questions?
193
00:12:56,401 --> 00:12:58,733
For example, in America people keep
asking you questions about Vietnam.
194
00:12:58,804 --> 00:12:59,896
Does this seem useful?
195
00:12:59,972 --> 00:13:02,907
It seems a bit silly to be in America
and for none of them to mention Vietnam
196
00:13:02,975 --> 00:13:04,237
as if nothing was happening.
197
00:13:04,309 --> 00:13:06,243
But why should they ask you about it?
You're successful entertainers.
198
00:13:06,311 --> 00:13:07,608
That is the thing...
199
00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:10,079
It's because Americans
always ask showbiz people
200
00:13:10,148 --> 00:13:11,410
what they think about this sort of...
201
00:13:11,483 --> 00:13:12,415
The British, you know...
202
00:13:12,484 --> 00:13:14,247
"Showbiz,"
you know how it is.
203
00:13:14,319 --> 00:13:15,445
But, I mean, you've got to...
204
00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:16,919
You can't just keep
quiet about anything
205
00:13:16,989 --> 00:13:19,924
that's going on in the world
unless you're a monk.
206
00:13:19,992 --> 00:13:21,425
Sorry, monks,
I didn't mean it.
207
00:13:21,493 --> 00:13:22,585
I meant, actually...
208
00:13:22,661 --> 00:13:24,458
The thing you have to
understand,
209
00:13:24,529 --> 00:13:27,589
which people don't understand
necessarily about John,
210
00:13:27,666 --> 00:13:31,602
is that his thought processes
were shifting.
211
00:13:31,670 --> 00:13:34,138
He was in a process
of evolution.
212
00:13:34,206 --> 00:13:37,767
Our society is run
by insane people
213
00:13:37,843 --> 00:13:39,777
for insane objectives.
214
00:13:39,845 --> 00:13:41,472
If anybody can put on paper
215
00:13:41,546 --> 00:13:44,276
what our government
and the American government,
216
00:13:44,349 --> 00:13:46,943
et cetera,
and the Russian, Chinese...
217
00:13:47,019 --> 00:13:49,783
What they are actually
trying to do
218
00:13:49,855 --> 00:13:52,119
and how with what
they think they're doing,
219
00:13:52,190 --> 00:13:54,283
I'd be very pleased to know
what they think they're doing.
220
00:13:54,359 --> 00:13:57,123
I think they're all insane.
221
00:13:57,195 --> 00:14:01,291
I'm liable to be put away as insane
for expressing that,
222
00:14:01,366 --> 00:14:02,799
that's what's insane about it.
223
00:14:02,868 --> 00:14:04,631
He was engaged with the world,
224
00:14:04,703 --> 00:14:07,638
and what was happening in the world
would change him.
225
00:14:07,706 --> 00:14:08,798
And then, you know,
226
00:14:08,874 --> 00:14:10,774
something quite
dramatic happened.
227
00:14:22,387 --> 00:14:25,652
It's sort of hard to describe Yoko
because she's completely unique.
228
00:14:25,724 --> 00:14:28,318
She had developed
quite a good reputation
229
00:14:28,393 --> 00:14:29,758
as a conceptual artist.
230
00:14:29,828 --> 00:14:33,889
In fact, she used to call her stuff
"Music of the Mind."
231
00:14:43,575 --> 00:14:46,339
With my presentation
of performance art,
232
00:14:46,411 --> 00:14:49,175
I was always aware that I
wanted to inspire people
233
00:14:49,247 --> 00:14:52,444
and stir people
so that they can wake up.
234
00:14:52,517 --> 00:14:53,745
She once told me, like,
235
00:14:53,819 --> 00:14:57,118
"If half the people don't get up and leave,
I haven't done it right,"
236
00:14:57,189 --> 00:14:58,747
because she wanted
to really affect people,
237
00:14:58,824 --> 00:15:01,190
and affecting people sometimes
gets them very upset
238
00:15:01,259 --> 00:15:04,524
if they're not used to being aware
of their feelings.
239
00:15:04,596 --> 00:15:07,030
She suddenly makes them feel something,
they get angry,
240
00:15:07,099 --> 00:15:09,363
and they get angry at her
for making them feel something.
241
00:15:09,434 --> 00:15:12,198
I always had this dream of meeting
an artist woman, you know,
242
00:15:12,270 --> 00:15:13,965
that I would fall
in love with and all that,
243
00:15:14,039 --> 00:15:15,199
even from art school,
you know?
244
00:15:15,273 --> 00:15:17,537
And then we met
and we were talking and that,
245
00:15:17,609 --> 00:15:19,042
and then I don't know
how it happened.
246
00:15:19,111 --> 00:15:21,045
You just realize that she knew
everything I knew
247
00:15:21,113 --> 00:15:22,375
and more, probably,
248
00:15:22,447 --> 00:15:25,382
and it was coming out
of a woman's head.
249
00:15:25,450 --> 00:15:28,544
It just sort of bowled me over.
250
00:15:28,620 --> 00:15:30,679
I believe
that when he met Yoko
251
00:15:30,756 --> 00:15:33,623
he found the rest of his voice.
252
00:15:41,133 --> 00:15:44,068
Yoko gave John this sense
253
00:15:44,136 --> 00:15:46,570
or belief that he could
say and do anything
254
00:15:46,638 --> 00:15:49,232
he wanted to say and do
without apology.
255
00:15:49,307 --> 00:15:51,571
We crossed over into
each other's fields,
256
00:15:51,643 --> 00:15:53,907
like people do
from country to pop.
257
00:15:53,979 --> 00:15:56,914
We did it from
avant-garde left field
258
00:15:56,982 --> 00:15:58,950
to rock and roll left field.
259
00:15:59,017 --> 00:16:02,077
We tried to find a ground there
that was interesting to both of us,
260
00:16:02,154 --> 00:16:04,418
and we both got excited
and stimulated
261
00:16:04,489 --> 00:16:06,923
by each other's experiences.
262
00:16:06,992 --> 00:16:09,984
We came from totally
different backgrounds,
263
00:16:10,061 --> 00:16:13,087
but we were very, very similar
264
00:16:13,165 --> 00:16:14,928
in a sense
that we were totally,
265
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,764
fiercely rebellious people.
266
00:16:29,514 --> 00:16:31,311
What are they doing?
267
00:16:31,383 --> 00:16:34,284
This Japanese witch
has made him crazy
268
00:16:34,352 --> 00:16:35,910
and he's gone bananas.
269
00:16:35,987 --> 00:16:38,217
But all she did was take
the bananas part of me
270
00:16:38,290 --> 00:16:40,281
out of the closet more.
271
00:16:40,358 --> 00:16:42,292
It was a complete relief
to meet somebody else
272
00:16:42,360 --> 00:16:44,191
who was as far out
as I was, you know?
273
00:16:44,262 --> 00:16:45,194
That was the real thing.
274
00:16:45,263 --> 00:16:46,958
Would you come out?
275
00:16:47,032 --> 00:16:48,124
No.
276
00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:49,462
Why not?
277
00:16:49,534 --> 00:16:50,967
Because this is a bag event...
278
00:16:51,036 --> 00:16:53,197
Total communication.
279
00:16:53,271 --> 00:16:56,104
Don't you think it's a little bit
out of fashion, what you do?
280
00:16:56,174 --> 00:16:58,768
Do you think it's a fashion
to stay in a bag?
281
00:16:58,844 --> 00:17:00,311
What is it?
282
00:17:00,378 --> 00:17:01,811
It's total communication.
283
00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:03,472
What is total communication?
284
00:17:03,548 --> 00:17:06,312
An invention of John Lennon
and Yoko Ono, or is it...
285
00:17:06,384 --> 00:17:07,510
No. No, it exists.
286
00:17:07,586 --> 00:17:10,987
We're showing you
one example whereby...
287
00:17:11,056 --> 00:17:13,354
- Total immersion?
- Well, that's your version.
288
00:17:13,425 --> 00:17:15,916
If a black man goes
for a job in a bag...
289
00:17:15,994 --> 00:17:19,760
If everybody had to go in a bag for a job,
there'd be no prejudice.
290
00:17:19,831 --> 00:17:23,028
You'd have to judge people
on their quality within.
291
00:17:23,101 --> 00:17:24,500
And we call it
total communication.
292
00:17:24,569 --> 00:17:26,469
When we went to
Austria to show it,
293
00:17:26,538 --> 00:17:28,836
we did a press conference
there in a bag,
294
00:17:28,907 --> 00:17:31,842
and it was great because
all the press came in,
295
00:17:31,910 --> 00:17:33,502
and they never saw us.
296
00:17:33,578 --> 00:17:35,170
We were just both in a bag.
297
00:17:35,247 --> 00:17:36,839
And they interviewed the bag
and they're saying,
298
00:17:36,915 --> 00:17:39,349
"Is it really you?"
And "What are you wearing?"
299
00:17:39,417 --> 00:17:41,681
And "Will you sing a song?"
And that.
300
00:17:41,753 --> 00:17:42,685
"Why us?"
301
00:17:42,754 --> 00:17:44,016
And they said,
"What is this?"
302
00:17:44,089 --> 00:17:45,147
I said,
"It's total communication."
303
00:17:45,223 --> 00:17:47,248
They said,
"But why did you pick on us?
304
00:17:47,325 --> 00:17:48,587
We've never seen a Beatle."
305
00:18:11,116 --> 00:18:15,348
Somewhere I read
of the freedom of assembly.
306
00:18:15,420 --> 00:18:19,379
Somewhere I read
of the freedom of speech.
307
00:18:19,457 --> 00:18:23,553
Somewhere I read
of the freedom of press.
308
00:18:23,628 --> 00:18:27,724
Somewhere I read that
the greatness of America
309
00:18:27,799 --> 00:18:30,734
is the right to protest for right.
310
00:18:32,938 --> 00:18:35,236
It was another kind of atmosphere.
311
00:18:35,307 --> 00:18:39,243
You have to imagine and understand
that we the Black Panther party,
312
00:18:39,311 --> 00:18:42,474
we popped up
right in the middle
313
00:18:42,547 --> 00:18:46,039
of an already ongoing
nationwide protest movement.
314
00:18:46,117 --> 00:18:48,244
Let me tell you something.
315
00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:50,083
Brothers and sisters,
316
00:18:50,155 --> 00:18:52,248
if you wind up
on a poverty gig
317
00:18:52,324 --> 00:18:54,417
and you don't save
half that money
318
00:18:54,492 --> 00:18:56,084
to buy a gun a week,
319
00:18:56,161 --> 00:18:57,093
then you laggin'.
320
00:18:57,162 --> 00:18:58,789
You jivin'.
321
00:18:58,863 --> 00:19:01,593
I think the Black Panther party
probably was dangerous,
322
00:19:01,666 --> 00:19:03,600
but not dangerous in the way
323
00:19:03,668 --> 00:19:06,262
that most people assume
it might have been.
324
00:19:06,338 --> 00:19:08,829
Not dangerous
because people had guns,
325
00:19:08,907 --> 00:19:12,934
but dangerous because of its ability
326
00:19:13,011 --> 00:19:16,174
to provide an example
of the possibility
327
00:19:16,247 --> 00:19:18,647
of standing up to power.
328
00:19:43,341 --> 00:19:44,808
You have to be
more politically aware
329
00:19:44,876 --> 00:19:46,639
in a day and age like this.
330
00:19:46,711 --> 00:19:49,373
It's almost impossible
to close your eyes to it.
331
00:19:49,447 --> 00:19:51,813
And they're afraid of us
because we are...
332
00:19:51,883 --> 00:19:55,319
we are not only a cultural
and political threat,
333
00:19:55,387 --> 00:19:59,323
we are a military threat
to those generals
334
00:19:59,391 --> 00:20:00,619
that are running that war
335
00:20:00,692 --> 00:20:03,160
and controlling young kids'
minds over there.
336
00:20:03,228 --> 00:20:04,661
We're a military threat.
337
00:20:04,729 --> 00:20:07,823
When it gets down to
having to use violence,
338
00:20:07,899 --> 00:20:09,662
then you're playing
the system's game.
339
00:20:09,734 --> 00:20:11,668
The establishment will irritate you,
340
00:20:11,736 --> 00:20:13,328
pull your beard
and flick your face,
341
00:20:13,405 --> 00:20:15,168
to make you fight.
342
00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:17,333
Because once
they've got you violent,
343
00:20:17,409 --> 00:20:19,001
then they know
how to handle you.
344
00:20:56,514 --> 00:21:00,211
The Vietnam War
divided this country
345
00:21:00,285 --> 00:21:03,846
as it had not been divided
since the Civil War.
346
00:21:03,922 --> 00:21:05,719
Fuck you, L.B.J.!
347
00:21:05,790 --> 00:21:07,553
Fuck you, L.B. J!
348
00:21:07,625 --> 00:21:09,388
Fuck you, L.B. J!
349
00:21:09,461 --> 00:21:10,723
Fuck you...
350
00:21:10,795 --> 00:21:13,764
I was with several
paralyzed veterans
351
00:21:13,832 --> 00:21:17,393
in a room at the Bronx
Veterans Hospital
352
00:21:17,469 --> 00:21:19,232
on the paraplegic ward.
353
00:21:19,304 --> 00:21:21,534
And I remember we were
watching the convention.
354
00:21:21,606 --> 00:21:23,574
Mr. Chairman,
355
00:21:23,641 --> 00:21:25,404
most delegates to this convention
356
00:21:25,477 --> 00:21:28,241
do not know that
thousands of young people
357
00:21:28,313 --> 00:21:31,749
are being beaten
in the streets of Chicago.
358
00:21:40,658 --> 00:21:43,855
Perhaps John Lennon
saw the clubs coming down
359
00:21:43,928 --> 00:21:46,761
on top of the heads
of the peaceful demonstrators.
360
00:21:46,831 --> 00:21:50,096
Perhaps John Lennon
heard the chants
361
00:21:50,168 --> 00:21:52,102
of "The whole world is watching.
362
00:21:52,170 --> 00:21:53,364
The whole world is watching."
363
00:21:53,438 --> 00:21:55,429
The whole world is watching!
364
00:21:55,507 --> 00:21:57,134
The whole world is watching!
365
00:21:57,208 --> 00:21:58,607
And perhaps John Lennon
366
00:21:58,676 --> 00:22:00,940
had tears streaming down
his face that night
367
00:22:01,012 --> 00:22:02,502
as I did, too.
368
00:22:21,065 --> 00:22:25,968
I did note the transformation
of The Beatles
369
00:22:26,037 --> 00:22:30,201
when their song
"Revolution" came out.
370
00:22:40,351 --> 00:22:44,151
When I hear the song
"Revolution," even now,
371
00:22:44,222 --> 00:22:45,553
it just chokes me up,
372
00:22:45,623 --> 00:22:47,989
because I remember that...
373
00:22:48,059 --> 00:22:51,153
how hard it was for both of us
at the time.
374
00:22:51,229 --> 00:22:53,663
We were both
ostracized by the world
375
00:22:53,731 --> 00:22:57,497
and by the fans, too,
that we were together,
376
00:22:57,569 --> 00:23:00,595
and also John was
daring to speak out.
377
00:23:21,626 --> 00:23:25,323
When John Lennon argued
378
00:23:25,396 --> 00:23:27,523
that revolution was necessary,
379
00:23:27,599 --> 00:23:30,193
but that it should come about
through peaceful means,
380
00:23:30,268 --> 00:23:34,534
I don't think that he contradicted
381
00:23:34,606 --> 00:23:38,235
what many activists felt
during that period.
382
00:23:38,309 --> 00:23:39,867
It's a mistake, I think,
383
00:23:39,944 --> 00:23:45,007
to assume that revolutions
must be violent.
384
00:23:45,083 --> 00:23:47,381
If I'm a revolutionary,
or we're revolutionaries,
385
00:23:47,452 --> 00:23:50,046
we're revolutionary artists,
not gunmen.
386
00:23:50,121 --> 00:23:53,056
I believe in the Black Panther
original statement,
387
00:23:53,124 --> 00:23:55,388
the ten-point program,
which is not violent,
388
00:23:55,460 --> 00:23:59,897
which says to defend yourself
against attack,
389
00:23:59,964 --> 00:24:02,558
I might consider that,
390
00:24:02,634 --> 00:24:05,228
but anything else I don't consider.
391
00:24:05,303 --> 00:24:08,067
So I'm still for peace,
a peaceful revolutionary,
392
00:24:08,139 --> 00:24:10,903
but I'm an artist first
and a politician second.
393
00:24:10,975 --> 00:24:12,840
He always believed
we had to go about it
394
00:24:12,910 --> 00:24:15,071
in the way that Gandhi did,
for instance.
395
00:24:15,146 --> 00:24:19,378
It was very effective, he felt,
and we could do it that way.
396
00:24:19,450 --> 00:24:20,940
Stay in bed.
397
00:24:21,019 --> 00:24:22,577
Grow your hair.
398
00:24:22,654 --> 00:24:25,214
- Bed peace.
- Hair peace.
399
00:24:25,323 --> 00:24:26,347
Hair peace, bed peace.
400
00:24:48,012 --> 00:24:50,572
They were actually trying
to come up with an idea
401
00:24:50,648 --> 00:24:52,775
to have a honeymoon
like most people,
402
00:24:52,850 --> 00:24:55,444
a secret, romantic place to go to,
403
00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:59,115
but realizing that they were
part of the world media
404
00:24:59,190 --> 00:25:01,522
and that wherever they went
the media would want to go.
405
00:25:19,911 --> 00:25:21,970
We're going to stay in bed
for seven days.
406
00:25:22,046 --> 00:25:24,640
Instead of having
a private honeymoon
407
00:25:24,716 --> 00:25:26,149
it's a private protest...
408
00:25:26,217 --> 00:25:28,981
For the violence
that's going in the world.
409
00:25:29,053 --> 00:25:30,315
To say...
410
00:25:30,388 --> 00:25:31,821
We feel that
instead of making war,
411
00:25:31,889 --> 00:25:34,323
it's better to just...
Let's stay in bed for...
412
00:25:34,392 --> 00:25:35,654
And grow your hair.
413
00:25:35,727 --> 00:25:36,989
For peace?
414
00:25:37,061 --> 00:25:39,291
Let it grow till peace comes.
415
00:25:39,364 --> 00:25:40,831
What the press really wants
416
00:25:40,898 --> 00:25:43,196
is a picture of John and Yoko in bed
on their honeymoon.
417
00:25:43,267 --> 00:25:45,667
And then they turned it
around and said,
418
00:25:45,737 --> 00:25:47,830
"In that case,
let them have a picture
419
00:25:47,905 --> 00:25:51,341
"of John and Yoko in bed on their
honeymoon, but put the word 'peace' in it."
420
00:25:51,409 --> 00:25:54,105
They all thought we were going
to make love in bed, see?
421
00:25:54,178 --> 00:25:56,339
And all the press from all around
the world came,
422
00:25:56,414 --> 00:25:58,143
and we opened the...
Helpers opened the door
423
00:25:58,216 --> 00:26:01,515
and they're fighting to get in like this
with their cameras.
424
00:26:01,586 --> 00:26:02,848
Then their faces dropped.
425
00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,014
We're sitting like angels
saying, "Hello. Peace, brother."
426
00:26:06,090 --> 00:26:08,183
All their faces dropped
and we were just in bed.
427
00:26:08,259 --> 00:26:10,750
- You were wearing...
- We thought it was a great practical joke
428
00:26:10,828 --> 00:26:12,523
that most of the world's
headline newspapers,
429
00:26:12,597 --> 00:26:14,531
especially the European
and British was:
430
00:26:14,599 --> 00:26:16,066
"Married Couple Are In Bed."
431
00:26:16,134 --> 00:26:18,193
There had never
been anything like it.
432
00:26:18,269 --> 00:26:21,705
It was completely original,
433
00:26:21,773 --> 00:26:24,037
the conscious use of one's myth
434
00:26:24,108 --> 00:26:27,669
to project a political
and social poetic goal.
435
00:26:27,745 --> 00:26:29,212
It had never happened before.
436
00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,875
Up to then, people who were
promoting world peace
437
00:26:32,950 --> 00:26:35,714
were kind of like intellectual,
438
00:26:35,787 --> 00:26:37,550
anemic kind of people,
439
00:26:37,622 --> 00:26:40,386
just sort of
passing out pamphlets
440
00:26:40,458 --> 00:26:43,120
that nobody wants to read.
441
00:26:43,194 --> 00:26:44,559
John was saying, "No, no."
442
00:26:44,629 --> 00:26:47,564
That's why we wanted
to do it this way.
443
00:26:47,632 --> 00:26:50,396
And I think we did a great job.
444
00:26:55,139 --> 00:26:58,233
"Please stop this nonsense.
445
00:26:58,309 --> 00:27:00,903
"Go home. We don't like
people like you.
446
00:27:00,978 --> 00:27:02,741
Go to a doctor to be normal."
447
00:27:02,814 --> 00:27:03,906
Are you getting this?
448
00:27:03,981 --> 00:27:06,074
It's great.
449
00:27:06,150 --> 00:27:08,084
Go to the doctor. Be normal.
450
00:27:08,152 --> 00:27:09,744
We're seeing
a psychiatrist today,
451
00:27:09,821 --> 00:27:12,255
so maybe he'll fix us up, then.
452
00:27:12,323 --> 00:27:13,915
Bloody marvelous.
453
00:27:13,991 --> 00:27:16,050
When people are
creative geniuses,
454
00:27:16,127 --> 00:27:17,754
you have to cut them some slack.
455
00:27:17,829 --> 00:27:22,266
You really have to
cut 'em some slack.
456
00:27:22,333 --> 00:27:26,963
England isn't good
at cutting slack for working-class boys.
457
00:27:27,038 --> 00:27:28,938
If it works, it is right.
458
00:27:29,006 --> 00:27:30,439
If it doesn't work, it is wrong.
459
00:27:30,508 --> 00:27:33,944
Nobody's ever given it
a chance before, have they?
460
00:27:34,011 --> 00:27:35,774
Nobody's ever given
peace a complete chance.
461
00:27:35,847 --> 00:27:37,610
Gandhi tried it,
Martin Luther King tried it,
462
00:27:37,682 --> 00:27:38,774
but they were shot.
463
00:27:38,850 --> 00:27:40,112
But nobody's...
464
00:27:40,184 --> 00:27:43,119
But you can't get peace
in a king-size divan
465
00:27:43,187 --> 00:27:45,121
on floor 802 of the...
466
00:27:45,189 --> 00:27:46,451
We don't expect to.
467
00:27:46,524 --> 00:27:49,288
We're talking mainly to the revolutionaries
who think they can get it overnight
468
00:27:49,360 --> 00:27:51,294
by breaking the sy...
Breaking down the buildings.
469
00:27:51,362 --> 00:27:53,455
- They can't get it either.
- They can't get it.
470
00:27:53,531 --> 00:27:54,964
We thought about this for months.
471
00:27:55,032 --> 00:27:58,627
This is the best possible,
most functional and effective way
472
00:27:58,703 --> 00:28:00,796
of promoting and protesting
against violence
473
00:28:00,872 --> 00:28:03,705
that our minds combined
could think of.
474
00:28:03,774 --> 00:28:07,972
That someone of his caliber
had decided,
475
00:28:08,045 --> 00:28:12,141
"Hell, I'm not just going to stand still
and do nothing
476
00:28:12,216 --> 00:28:14,150
"while the world
around me is in flames.
477
00:28:14,218 --> 00:28:15,412
I'm going to do something."
478
00:28:15,486 --> 00:28:18,284
That action
that he and Yoko did,
479
00:28:18,356 --> 00:28:20,483
it was of course
attacked and mocked,
480
00:28:20,558 --> 00:28:23,618
and there were contemptuous articles
written about them,
481
00:28:23,694 --> 00:28:26,993
but on our generation
it had a fantastic effect.
482
00:28:27,064 --> 00:28:30,158
I remember being absolutely thrilled
and saying, "At last!
483
00:28:30,234 --> 00:28:32,566
Well done! Great!"
484
00:28:32,637 --> 00:28:37,665
We didn't think of it as we made
an incredible success in Amsterdam.
485
00:28:37,742 --> 00:28:41,838
We were totally accused
of doing a silly thing, as you know,
486
00:28:41,913 --> 00:28:46,350
and the press, they attacked us,
they slashed us, you know?
487
00:28:46,417 --> 00:28:49,409
But this was our mission
and we had to do it.
488
00:28:56,594 --> 00:28:59,188
We did it again.
We tried to do it in New York,
489
00:28:59,263 --> 00:29:01,026
but the American government
wouldn't let us in.
490
00:29:01,098 --> 00:29:03,157
They knew we'd done it
in Amsterdam.
491
00:29:03,234 --> 00:29:05,031
They didn't want
any peaceniks here,
492
00:29:05,102 --> 00:29:08,503
which is what we heard the department
of whoever controls that said.
493
00:29:08,573 --> 00:29:11,440
We ended up doing it
in Montreal instead
494
00:29:11,509 --> 00:29:14,205
and broadcasting
across the border.
495
00:29:19,283 --> 00:29:20,750
It's a bed-in, folks.
496
00:29:25,489 --> 00:29:28,822
I think they might think I'm going to
hot up the revolution.
497
00:29:28,893 --> 00:29:30,383
I want to cool it down.
498
00:29:30,461 --> 00:29:32,053
If we make people laugh,
that's enough.
499
00:29:32,129 --> 00:29:34,461
Happiness is a good vibe
for peace.
500
00:29:34,532 --> 00:29:36,898
Make love, not war,
that's all we're saying.
501
00:29:36,968 --> 00:29:37,900
Just remember that.
502
00:29:37,969 --> 00:29:39,163
Peace, peace, peace, peace,
503
00:29:39,236 --> 00:29:40,897
peace, peace, peace, peace,
peace, peace, peace.
504
00:29:40,972 --> 00:29:43,065
Peace in your mind,
peace on Earth,
505
00:29:43,140 --> 00:29:45,973
peace at work, peace at home,
peace in the world.
506
00:29:46,043 --> 00:29:47,908
We're selling it
like soap, you know?
507
00:29:47,979 --> 00:29:51,415
You've got to sell and sell
until the housewife thinks,
508
00:29:51,482 --> 00:29:54,417
Oh, well, it's peace or war.
That's the two products.
509
00:29:54,485 --> 00:29:58,751
I remember being invited up
to the Bed-in For Peace.
510
00:29:58,823 --> 00:30:01,257
The Smothers Brothers
were fairly visible at the time
511
00:30:01,325 --> 00:30:04,556
as anti-establishment spokesmen.
512
00:30:04,629 --> 00:30:07,257
I went up there
and had these long conversations.
513
00:30:07,331 --> 00:30:11,267
You don't realize
the state and the control
514
00:30:11,335 --> 00:30:13,428
that exists in
the United States
515
00:30:13,504 --> 00:30:15,938
in the expression
of what you want to say,
516
00:30:16,007 --> 00:30:18,271
to the mildest form of dissent.
517
00:30:18,342 --> 00:30:20,435
There's no space for...
518
00:30:20,511 --> 00:30:22,945
No space or no time
for negative thoughts.
519
00:30:23,014 --> 00:30:25,107
We just have to say,
"Listen, we're going to make it."
520
00:30:25,182 --> 00:30:27,446
That's all.
521
00:30:27,518 --> 00:30:29,042
We have to make it.
522
00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:31,611
What would you say
to people like Richard Nixon?
523
00:30:31,689 --> 00:30:33,782
I'd say, "Do something
positive about it
524
00:30:33,858 --> 00:30:37,453
"and it really is economical
to have peace, Mr. Nixon,
525
00:30:37,528 --> 00:30:40,463
and you would be really
popular if you did."
526
00:30:40,531 --> 00:30:41,793
What should he do?
527
00:30:41,866 --> 00:30:44,892
He should just declare peace.
528
00:30:44,969 --> 00:30:49,633
He reduced it
to these very fundamental,
529
00:30:49,707 --> 00:30:51,971
easy-to-grasp concepts
530
00:30:52,043 --> 00:30:55,444
that some people thought
were Utopian and naive.
531
00:30:55,513 --> 00:30:58,812
I believe sincerely
as soon as people want peace
532
00:30:58,883 --> 00:31:00,475
and are aware
that they can have it,
533
00:31:00,551 --> 00:31:01,950
they will have it.
534
00:31:02,019 --> 00:31:04,487
The only trouble is they're not aware
that they can get it.
535
00:31:04,555 --> 00:31:06,648
Is it naive to wish for peace?
536
00:31:06,724 --> 00:31:09,318
Is it naive to think that
we can change the world?
537
00:31:09,393 --> 00:31:10,826
Sure, probably.
538
00:31:10,895 --> 00:31:12,590
But it's certainly worthy
539
00:31:12,663 --> 00:31:15,632
of the thought process
and the art that comes out of it.
540
00:31:41,092 --> 00:31:44,357
That's all I'm saying.
541
00:31:52,203 --> 00:31:53,397
John once said to me,
542
00:31:53,471 --> 00:31:56,872
"When I sing
'I Wanna Hold Your Hand',
543
00:31:56,941 --> 00:31:59,705
hundreds of millions
of people hear that.
544
00:31:59,777 --> 00:32:04,043
Why don't I sing
'Give Peace a Chance'?
545
00:32:04,115 --> 00:32:07,380
Because hundreds of millions of people
would hear that as well."
546
00:32:15,793 --> 00:32:18,921
All I'm saying!
547
00:32:18,996 --> 00:32:23,228
I thought that was a great phrase.
548
00:32:23,300 --> 00:32:24,562
That's the one that went,
549
00:32:24,635 --> 00:32:30,403
"All we are saying
is give peace a chance."
550
00:32:30,474 --> 00:32:32,408
They'd repeat that
over and over again.
551
00:32:32,476 --> 00:32:34,569
I thought it was wonderful.
552
00:32:34,645 --> 00:32:37,637
Give peace a chance.
Who can be opposed to that?
553
00:32:38,649 --> 00:32:40,810
The administration was.
554
00:32:40,885 --> 00:32:43,649
All right, everybody now!
555
00:32:56,600 --> 00:32:58,090
Keep strong!
556
00:33:03,674 --> 00:33:06,768
They scare people
into fighting wars
557
00:33:06,844 --> 00:33:11,440
which we need not fight,
should not fight...
558
00:33:11,515 --> 00:33:12,607
sometimes must fight,
559
00:33:12,683 --> 00:33:15,447
but by and large not.
560
00:33:15,519 --> 00:33:18,454
Why not go the other way?
561
00:33:18,522 --> 00:33:21,787
Sing about human community,
562
00:33:21,859 --> 00:33:26,455
sing about love and about peace.
563
00:33:26,530 --> 00:33:29,624
And suddenly that
is a frightening voice
564
00:33:29,700 --> 00:33:33,966
for people who want to hear "The Battle
Hymn of the Republic" over and over again,
565
00:33:34,038 --> 00:33:37,201
and "Their eyes have seen the coming
of the glory of the Lord."
566
00:33:38,209 --> 00:33:39,767
Yes, again.
567
00:33:50,054 --> 00:33:51,487
Okay, beautiful.
568
00:33:51,555 --> 00:33:52,487
Yeah!
569
00:33:58,562 --> 00:33:59,494
You made it!
570
00:33:59,563 --> 00:34:00,552
Woo-hoo!
571
00:34:33,898 --> 00:34:37,026
The highlight
of the Bed-in for me
572
00:34:37,101 --> 00:34:42,368
was the fact that after
all the reporters left
573
00:34:42,439 --> 00:34:43,872
and there was
a beautiful moon
574
00:34:43,941 --> 00:34:47,308
that was like a full moon,
575
00:34:47,378 --> 00:34:51,542
and from our bed we can see
this beautiful full moon
576
00:34:51,615 --> 00:34:53,378
and not one cloud there.
577
00:34:53,450 --> 00:34:55,884
It was a beautiful sky,
578
00:34:55,953 --> 00:34:58,649
and John was saying,
"Is this great?" and all that.
579
00:34:58,722 --> 00:35:00,519
And he was saying that,
you know,
580
00:35:00,591 --> 00:35:04,391
"We're just going to go on
communicating the world together,
581
00:35:04,461 --> 00:35:08,056
"and our song is going to be played
all over the world,
582
00:35:08,132 --> 00:35:11,067
and that's how it's going to be."
583
00:35:11,135 --> 00:35:12,898
He was very,
very happy about that,
584
00:35:12,970 --> 00:35:19,068
about the fact that we are promoting
world peace and love
585
00:35:19,143 --> 00:35:21,611
and we have both.
586
00:35:46,170 --> 00:35:48,104
It seems now
more certain than ever
587
00:35:48,172 --> 00:35:50,606
that the bloody
experience of Vietnam
588
00:35:50,674 --> 00:35:52,938
is to end in a stalemate.
589
00:35:53,010 --> 00:35:55,444
This summer's almost
certain stand-off
590
00:35:55,512 --> 00:35:59,278
will either end in real
give-and-take negotiations
591
00:35:59,350 --> 00:36:01,284
or terrible escalation.
592
00:36:01,352 --> 00:36:04,116
And for every means
we have to escalate,
593
00:36:04,188 --> 00:36:05,780
the enemy can match us,
594
00:36:05,856 --> 00:36:08,290
and that applies
to invasion of the North,
595
00:36:08,359 --> 00:36:10,293
the use of nuclear weapons,
596
00:36:10,361 --> 00:36:14,388
or the mere commitment
of 100 or 200 or 300,000
597
00:36:14,465 --> 00:36:16,626
more American troops to the battle.
598
00:36:16,700 --> 00:36:18,292
And with each escalation,
599
00:36:18,369 --> 00:36:22,237
the world comes closer to
the brink of cosmic disaster.
600
00:36:22,306 --> 00:36:25,969
You see, the war was such
a great mistake.
601
00:36:26,043 --> 00:36:31,481
We went into Vietnam in order
to preserve a democracy
602
00:36:31,548 --> 00:36:33,311
which did not exist.
603
00:36:33,384 --> 00:36:37,821
The fact of the matter was South Vietnam
was a monarchy,
604
00:36:37,888 --> 00:36:39,617
and a rather cruel one.
605
00:36:39,690 --> 00:36:43,319
We were fighting
for an already lost cause
606
00:36:43,394 --> 00:36:47,831
before we ever put the first foot
into the country.
607
00:36:47,898 --> 00:36:49,866
Never has so much power
been used
608
00:36:49,933 --> 00:36:52,333
so ineffectively as in Vietnam.
609
00:36:52,403 --> 00:36:55,133
Lf, after all of this time
and all of this sacrifice
610
00:36:55,205 --> 00:36:56,672
and all of this support,
611
00:36:56,740 --> 00:36:58,674
there is still no end in sight,
612
00:36:58,742 --> 00:37:00,505
then I say the time has come
613
00:37:00,577 --> 00:37:03,512
for the American people
to turn to new leadership
614
00:37:03,580 --> 00:37:06,481
not tied to the policies
and mistakes of the past.
615
00:37:06,550 --> 00:37:11,419
I pledge to you, we shall have
an honorable end to the war in Vietnam.
616
00:37:12,423 --> 00:37:16,860
He did run with the promise
that he had a secret plan
617
00:37:16,927 --> 00:37:18,519
that he was going to unveil
618
00:37:18,595 --> 00:37:21,029
after the election
to end the war.
619
00:37:21,098 --> 00:37:24,761
The war was enough
to drive you crazy.
620
00:37:24,835 --> 00:37:26,393
People were being drafted.
621
00:37:26,470 --> 00:37:28,597
50,000 American soldiers
were killed.
622
00:37:28,672 --> 00:37:30,572
50,000.
623
00:37:30,641 --> 00:37:34,702
40% of all the young Americans
who died in Vietnam
624
00:37:34,778 --> 00:37:37,042
died during those four years
625
00:37:37,114 --> 00:37:41,016
after Nixon was elected in 1968.
626
00:37:57,101 --> 00:37:59,069
We have adopted a plan
627
00:37:59,136 --> 00:38:02,902
which we have worked out in cooperation
with the South Vietnamese
628
00:38:02,973 --> 00:38:04,406
for the complete withdrawal
629
00:38:04,475 --> 00:38:07,740
of all U.S. Combat
ground forces.
630
00:38:07,811 --> 00:38:10,905
As South Vietnamese forces
become stronger,
631
00:38:10,981 --> 00:38:15,247
the rate of American withdrawal
can become greater.
632
00:38:15,319 --> 00:38:17,082
I have not and do not intend
633
00:38:17,154 --> 00:38:19,748
to announce the timetable
for our program.
634
00:38:23,827 --> 00:38:28,594
We meet today to reaffirm
those ageless values
635
00:38:28,665 --> 00:38:29,893
that gave us birth,
636
00:38:29,967 --> 00:38:33,494
life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness.
637
00:38:33,570 --> 00:38:36,004
And we meet to declare peace,
638
00:38:36,073 --> 00:38:40,942
to put an end to war
not in some distant future,
639
00:38:41,011 --> 00:38:43,241
but to put an end to it now.
640
00:38:43,313 --> 00:38:45,281
I like to be liked.
641
00:38:45,349 --> 00:38:48,477
I don't like to say things that
everybody doesn't agree with.
642
00:38:48,552 --> 00:38:51,146
When peace marchers
come to Washington,
643
00:38:51,221 --> 00:38:53,781
it would be very easy to say,
"I agree with them.
644
00:38:53,857 --> 00:38:55,290
I will do what they want."
645
00:38:55,359 --> 00:38:58,453
But a President has to do what
he considers to be right,
646
00:38:58,529 --> 00:39:00,963
because I believe that
sometimes it is necessary
647
00:39:01,031 --> 00:39:03,295
to draw the line clearly,
648
00:39:03,367 --> 00:39:06,803
not to have enmity
against those who disagree,
649
00:39:06,870 --> 00:39:09,634
but to make it clear that
there can be no compromise
650
00:39:09,706 --> 00:39:12,300
where such great issues
as self-determination
651
00:39:12,376 --> 00:39:14,708
and freedom and a just peace
are involved.
652
00:39:14,778 --> 00:39:20,739
I recall approaching the Treasury Building
one evening,
653
00:39:20,817 --> 00:39:24,480
and there were just streams of them
coming down the street
654
00:39:24,555 --> 00:39:25,817
and they all had candles.
655
00:39:25,889 --> 00:39:29,825
Some sort of symbolism
that they were using.
656
00:39:29,893 --> 00:39:33,829
Back in those days
I smoked cigars,
657
00:39:33,897 --> 00:39:36,388
and I recall just walking up
to one of them,
658
00:39:36,466 --> 00:39:40,334
grabbing his wrist
and taking the candle
659
00:39:40,404 --> 00:39:41,666
and lighting my cigar with it.
660
00:39:41,738 --> 00:39:43,672
And I looked him
in the eye and said,
661
00:39:43,740 --> 00:39:45,002
"There, you have a use...
662
00:39:45,075 --> 00:39:47,009
You're useful for some purpose,"
663
00:39:47,077 --> 00:39:48,169
and then went on by.
664
00:39:48,245 --> 00:39:50,008
That was our attitude
toward them.
665
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:53,345
Nixon would put out the line
during these demonstrations
666
00:39:53,417 --> 00:39:54,850
that he was watching
a football game
667
00:39:54,918 --> 00:39:56,078
or something like that.
668
00:39:56,153 --> 00:39:58,451
He was very concerned
with the demonstrations.
669
00:39:58,522 --> 00:40:00,888
They were making a definite impact
inside the White House.
670
00:40:10,100 --> 00:40:12,159
Are you listening, Nixon?
671
00:40:14,605 --> 00:40:16,368
Are you listening, Agnew?
672
00:40:18,942 --> 00:40:21,103
Are you listening
in the Pentagon?
673
00:40:31,588 --> 00:40:33,215
Well, "Give Peace a Chance,"
674
00:40:33,290 --> 00:40:36,555
I remember photographing
a million people
675
00:40:36,627 --> 00:40:37,889
at an antiwar demonstration
676
00:40:37,961 --> 00:40:39,861
singing it with their hands up.
677
00:40:39,930 --> 00:40:42,763
That song became
the national anthem
678
00:40:42,833 --> 00:40:44,232
of the antiwar movement
679
00:40:44,301 --> 00:40:46,565
in a way that the folk song
"We Shall Overcome"
680
00:40:46,637 --> 00:40:50,733
became the national anthem of
the Civil Rights movement before that.
681
00:40:50,807 --> 00:40:52,240
Sing it home!
682
00:41:01,818 --> 00:41:04,252
War is over if you want it.
683
00:41:04,321 --> 00:41:06,016
Peace.
684
00:41:37,454 --> 00:41:39,615
With "War Is Over
If You Want lt,"
685
00:41:39,690 --> 00:41:42,784
I said,
"Okay, let's do posters."
686
00:41:42,859 --> 00:41:44,952
And then John said,
687
00:41:45,028 --> 00:41:46,620
"No, let's do billboards as well,
688
00:41:46,697 --> 00:41:48,995
in all different cities
in the world."
689
00:41:49,066 --> 00:41:50,931
Wow.
690
00:41:51,001 --> 00:41:54,300
He was like that because
his arena of communication
691
00:41:54,371 --> 00:41:55,804
was much larger than mine.
692
00:41:55,872 --> 00:41:57,305
So he thought of that.
693
00:41:57,374 --> 00:41:59,808
It's in 11 cities
throughout the world.
694
00:41:59,876 --> 00:42:01,138
That's New York, L.A.,
695
00:42:01,211 --> 00:42:02,974
Montreal, Toronto,
696
00:42:03,046 --> 00:42:05,139
Paris, Berlin, Rome,
697
00:42:05,215 --> 00:42:07,479
London, Athens, and Tokyo.
698
00:42:07,551 --> 00:42:09,485
And with a bit of luck,
699
00:42:09,553 --> 00:42:12,488
Port of Spain
in the Caribbean.
700
00:42:12,556 --> 00:42:15,116
We met a friend there
who said he'd fix it.
701
00:42:17,894 --> 00:42:19,361
Where is the money
coming from
702
00:42:19,429 --> 00:42:21,488
for the posters you've got now
and the billboards?
703
00:42:21,565 --> 00:42:24,659
It's coming out of
our pocket at the moment,
704
00:42:24,735 --> 00:42:26,999
but we've had
a few offers to help.
705
00:42:27,070 --> 00:42:28,833
People said, "How much is it?"
706
00:42:28,905 --> 00:42:31,203
I don't know, but it's cheaper
than somebody's life.
707
00:42:31,274 --> 00:42:33,333
He was using the fact
that the media
708
00:42:33,410 --> 00:42:35,173
had an obsessive affair with him.
709
00:42:35,245 --> 00:42:37,839
Whatever he did,
they had to pay attention.
710
00:42:37,914 --> 00:42:42,681
But that doesn't actually mean
that you got a coherent idea
711
00:42:42,753 --> 00:42:44,345
of what they were trying to say,
712
00:42:44,421 --> 00:42:47,185
because obviously the media
didn't really understand it,
713
00:42:47,257 --> 00:42:49,657
and to the extent they understand it,
they didn't like it.
714
00:42:49,726 --> 00:42:52,194
I'm someone who
admired you very much.
715
00:42:52,262 --> 00:42:54,355
Well, I'm sorry you liked
the old mop tops, dear,
716
00:42:54,431 --> 00:42:55,864
and you thought
I was very satirical...
717
00:42:55,932 --> 00:42:57,695
But talking about
cashing in on the Beatle...
718
00:42:57,768 --> 00:42:59,360
and you liked
"Hard Day's Night," love,
719
00:42:59,436 --> 00:43:01,370
but I've grown up.
But you obviously haven't.
720
00:43:01,438 --> 00:43:03,531
- Have you?
- Yes, folks.
721
00:43:03,607 --> 00:43:05,700
- What have you grown up to?
- I'm now 29.
722
00:43:05,776 --> 00:43:07,209
John was no dummy.
723
00:43:07,277 --> 00:43:09,871
He knew that people would regard him
as being a nutcase.
724
00:43:09,946 --> 00:43:11,538
He didn't care.
725
00:43:11,615 --> 00:43:14,709
He thought that whatever
people thought about him
726
00:43:14,785 --> 00:43:18,084
was unimportant compared to
the cause he was promoting.
727
00:43:18,155 --> 00:43:19,713
If I'm going to get
on the front page,
728
00:43:19,790 --> 00:43:22,224
I might as well get on the front page
with the word "peace."
729
00:43:22,292 --> 00:43:24,226
But you've made
yourself ridiculous!
730
00:43:24,294 --> 00:43:25,886
To some people. I don't care...
731
00:43:25,962 --> 00:43:27,486
You're too good
for what you're doing!
732
00:43:27,564 --> 00:43:28,758
If it saves lives...
733
00:43:28,832 --> 00:43:30,060
You don't think you...
734
00:43:30,133 --> 00:43:31,225
Oh, my dear boy,
735
00:43:31,301 --> 00:43:32,563
you're living in
a never-never land.
736
00:43:32,636 --> 00:43:33,898
Well, you talk to the...
737
00:43:33,970 --> 00:43:35,733
You don't think
you've saved a single life?
738
00:43:35,806 --> 00:43:37,364
Listen, will you tell me,
739
00:43:37,441 --> 00:43:39,739
what were they singing
at the moratorium?
740
00:43:39,810 --> 00:43:41,402
Which... Which... -
I mean, the moratorium?
741
00:43:41,478 --> 00:43:42,570
Washington.
742
00:43:42,646 --> 00:43:43,578
The one here.
743
00:43:43,647 --> 00:43:44,909
The recent big one.
744
00:43:44,981 --> 00:43:46,915
They were singing
"Give Peace a Chance."
745
00:43:46,983 --> 00:43:49,417
- A song of yours, probably.
- Well, yes, and it was written...
746
00:43:49,486 --> 00:43:51,078
I knew you'd bring that up.
747
00:43:51,154 --> 00:43:52,746
So they sang
one of your songs.
748
00:43:52,823 --> 00:43:53,755
Well, if you...
749
00:43:53,824 --> 00:43:54,916
Great song, sure,
750
00:43:54,991 --> 00:43:56,754
but is that all
you can say about that?
751
00:43:56,827 --> 00:43:57,759
The moratorium?
752
00:43:57,828 --> 00:43:59,090
You were saying
that in America
753
00:43:59,162 --> 00:44:01,096
they're so serious about
the protest movement.
754
00:44:01,164 --> 00:44:02,096
Yes, they are.
755
00:44:02,165 --> 00:44:04,565
But they were so flippant that they were
singing a happy-go-lucky song
756
00:44:04,634 --> 00:44:06,261
which happens to be one I wrote.
757
00:44:06,336 --> 00:44:07,769
And I'm glad they sang it.
758
00:44:07,838 --> 00:44:10,170
And when I get there,
I'll sing it with them.
759
00:44:37,033 --> 00:44:42,801
April 1970,
Nixon invaded Cambodia,
760
00:44:42,873 --> 00:44:45,171
and at that point,
the country practically blew up.
761
00:45:10,734 --> 00:45:14,670
Four students on May 4, 1970,
762
00:45:14,738 --> 00:45:17,172
were killed by National Guardsmen
763
00:45:17,240 --> 00:45:19,834
at Kent State University
for protesting.
764
00:45:19,910 --> 00:45:22,674
They were protesting
against the war.
765
00:45:22,746 --> 00:45:25,579
Okay, you had
18-year-old college kids
766
00:45:25,649 --> 00:45:29,176
without the sense
God gave a goose
767
00:45:29,252 --> 00:45:33,188
going around challenging
18-year-old kids
768
00:45:33,256 --> 00:45:36,851
with.30-06
semiautomatic rifles...
769
00:45:36,927 --> 00:45:39,361
Yes, they were in uniform.
They were National Guard...
770
00:45:39,429 --> 00:45:41,590
Very little training.
771
00:45:41,665 --> 00:45:44,532
They felt threatened,
they were armed.
772
00:45:44,601 --> 00:45:46,762
What did you think
was going to happen?
773
00:45:46,836 --> 00:45:48,895
[Bell clangs]
774
00:47:32,375 --> 00:47:35,936
Somehow I thought that this was
an irresistible tide
775
00:47:36,012 --> 00:47:38,913
that was going to carry
the whole of America with it,
776
00:47:38,982 --> 00:47:41,143
and we didn't quite see
the backlash
777
00:47:41,217 --> 00:47:43,481
that was actually already brewing
778
00:47:43,553 --> 00:47:48,991
and quite evident if you were just
willing to open your eyes.
779
00:47:49,059 --> 00:47:52,995
Each of the special agents of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation
780
00:47:53,063 --> 00:47:57,329
must be ready and capable
to meet any challenge.
781
00:47:57,400 --> 00:48:01,666
The security of our nation
or the life of a loved one
782
00:48:01,738 --> 00:48:04,332
may depend upon him.
783
00:48:04,407 --> 00:48:07,171
Hoover was a man who had
784
00:48:07,243 --> 00:48:11,509
a slightly different version
of democracy
785
00:48:11,581 --> 00:48:13,048
than the rest of us did.
786
00:48:13,116 --> 00:48:15,175
The FBI under J. Edgar Hoover,
787
00:48:15,251 --> 00:48:17,344
as documents now make clear...
788
00:48:17,420 --> 00:48:20,014
I don't think there's any real debate
about it anymore...
789
00:48:20,090 --> 00:48:22,684
Used the FBI as an instrument,
790
00:48:22,759 --> 00:48:26,160
almost as a political police force.
791
00:48:26,229 --> 00:48:30,359
Anyone who was off message
became susceptible
792
00:48:30,433 --> 00:48:32,731
to an FBI probe.
793
00:48:32,802 --> 00:48:35,532
They say sometimes that
Mr. Hoover is controversial.
794
00:48:35,605 --> 00:48:38,039
Let me tell you something.
Anybody who's strong,
795
00:48:38,108 --> 00:48:41,373
anybody who fights
for what he believes in,
796
00:48:41,444 --> 00:48:43,537
anybody who stands up
when it's tough
797
00:48:43,613 --> 00:48:45,080
is bound to be controversial.
798
00:48:45,148 --> 00:48:46,706
Back in those days,
799
00:48:46,783 --> 00:48:49,547
the FBI would operate
affirmatively.
800
00:48:49,619 --> 00:48:52,679
They would not just
gather intelligence,
801
00:48:52,756 --> 00:48:54,724
but it perceived as its mission
802
00:48:54,791 --> 00:48:57,851
the disruption of the other side.
803
00:48:57,927 --> 00:49:01,886
Anyone who was involved
at that time in any movement
804
00:49:01,965 --> 00:49:05,059
that challenged
the government in any way
805
00:49:05,135 --> 00:49:08,866
was aware of the extent
to which the FBI
806
00:49:08,938 --> 00:49:10,906
tapped peoples' phones,
807
00:49:10,974 --> 00:49:14,740
engaged in
widespread surveillance,
808
00:49:14,811 --> 00:49:18,247
engaged in harassment,
framed people up,
809
00:49:18,314 --> 00:49:19,713
used the legal system.
810
00:49:19,783 --> 00:49:22,081
Ours is a just cause.
811
00:49:22,152 --> 00:49:24,245
If we have faith in humanity,
812
00:49:24,320 --> 00:49:26,914
if we seek
God's divine guidance,
813
00:49:26,990 --> 00:49:29,754
if we summon the courage
of our forefathers,
814
00:49:29,826 --> 00:49:33,091
our heritage of freedom
will be preserved.
815
00:49:33,163 --> 00:49:39,932
Yeah, looking back,
it was horrible what we did.
816
00:49:43,006 --> 00:49:46,271
The, uh... We were being used
by the government
817
00:49:46,342 --> 00:49:49,573
to stop dissent,
just... plain and simple.
818
00:49:49,646 --> 00:49:51,113
It was very serious.
819
00:49:51,181 --> 00:49:53,308
It reached as far
as political assassination...
820
00:49:53,383 --> 00:49:57,615
Gestapo-style assassination
of a leading black organizer
821
00:49:57,687 --> 00:49:59,086
in Chicago, Fred Hampton.
822
00:50:06,362 --> 00:50:08,956
It was what Hoover liked.
823
00:50:09,032 --> 00:50:11,796
It was what Hoover
wanted to hear,
824
00:50:11,868 --> 00:50:16,464
that agents were neutralizing
these different organizations.
825
00:50:16,539 --> 00:50:18,131
So there wasn't a question
826
00:50:18,208 --> 00:50:21,473
of whether it was
right or wrong,
827
00:50:21,544 --> 00:50:24,308
illegal, ethical,
828
00:50:24,380 --> 00:50:26,905
immoral or whatever,
as long as it was effective.
829
00:50:26,983 --> 00:50:30,146
America has no place
for those timid souls
830
00:50:30,220 --> 00:50:32,984
who urge appeasement
at any price,
831
00:50:33,056 --> 00:50:34,648
nor those who chant
832
00:50:34,724 --> 00:50:37,989
the "better Red than dead" slogan.
833
00:50:38,061 --> 00:50:42,998
We need men and women with
a capacity for moral indignation,
834
00:50:43,066 --> 00:50:45,000
men and women of faith,
835
00:50:45,068 --> 00:50:47,161
men and women of conviction,
836
00:50:47,237 --> 00:50:50,832
men and women with the God-given
strength and determination
837
00:50:50,907 --> 00:50:53,375
to uphold the cause
of democracy.
838
00:51:09,292 --> 00:51:13,023
When we went to New York
we were so elated.
839
00:51:13,096 --> 00:51:16,031
John was in love with New York City
to begin with,
840
00:51:16,099 --> 00:51:17,691
and I, for me, of course,
841
00:51:17,767 --> 00:51:20,361
it was almost like
my hometown.
842
00:51:20,436 --> 00:51:22,529
And we met all the artists
843
00:51:22,605 --> 00:51:25,369
and all the sort of underground politicians
and everything.
844
00:51:25,441 --> 00:51:26,533
It was just so exciting.
845
00:51:26,609 --> 00:51:29,077
So we started to feel
that we should stay.
846
00:51:44,460 --> 00:51:46,223
I just sort of felt at home here
847
00:51:46,296 --> 00:51:48,560
as soon as I relaxed
and got over the fact
848
00:51:48,631 --> 00:51:52,067
that I wasn't, you know,
in England,
849
00:51:52,135 --> 00:51:53,898
and that I was living
somewhere else.
850
00:51:53,970 --> 00:51:57,064
Fortunately, or unfortunately,
851
00:51:57,140 --> 00:51:59,574
they speak English,
so I just fitted in.
852
00:51:59,642 --> 00:52:02,236
At that point I think
John said it felt like
853
00:52:02,312 --> 00:52:05,804
the center of the creative world
854
00:52:05,882 --> 00:52:08,578
and that in the time of Rome
you'd want to be in Rome.
855
00:52:08,651 --> 00:52:10,414
You wouldn't want
to be in the suburbs.
856
00:52:10,486 --> 00:52:13,922
In the time of the '70s,
you'd want to be in New York.
857
00:52:13,990 --> 00:52:17,426
John wanted to live right here.
He didn't want any hassles,
858
00:52:17,493 --> 00:52:19,358
but he came into a cauldron.
859
00:52:19,429 --> 00:52:21,590
He put himself right in the middle
of a political firestorm,
860
00:52:21,664 --> 00:52:23,461
and he got singed by it.
861
00:52:23,533 --> 00:52:27,094
The problem with John Lennon
was not his music,
862
00:52:27,170 --> 00:52:29,263
but it was with
some of the friends
863
00:52:29,339 --> 00:52:32,968
that he began to develop.
864
00:52:35,345 --> 00:52:36,778
They make it so that
the Chinese,
865
00:52:36,846 --> 00:52:38,108
they make it
so that the Vietnamese,
866
00:52:38,181 --> 00:52:39,773
they make it so the Viet Cong,
they're enemies.
867
00:52:39,849 --> 00:52:41,942
But they're my brothers,
not the enemies, you see?
868
00:52:42,018 --> 00:52:43,144
Dig it.
869
00:52:43,219 --> 00:52:46,120
We are at war
with that empire
870
00:52:46,189 --> 00:52:48,783
that pollutes and tries
to destroy the world
871
00:52:48,858 --> 00:52:50,120
and its own young people.
872
00:52:50,193 --> 00:52:51,490
We are at war, Nixon.
873
00:52:51,561 --> 00:52:52,721
Remember that.
874
00:52:52,795 --> 00:52:57,095
Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin were
very highly evolved political activists.
875
00:52:57,166 --> 00:52:59,566
They, I hasten to add,
876
00:52:59,635 --> 00:53:00,966
had a sweetness to them, too,
877
00:53:01,037 --> 00:53:03,938
but they were much more hardened
by the wars
878
00:53:04,007 --> 00:53:06,475
that they had been fighting now
for several years
879
00:53:06,542 --> 00:53:08,442
in a very public environment.
880
00:53:08,511 --> 00:53:10,502
We met them, and we were both
very nervous about it.
881
00:53:10,580 --> 00:53:11,604
Yes.
882
00:53:11,681 --> 00:53:13,911
And I thought, I don't want...
I want to be careful.
883
00:53:13,983 --> 00:53:16,816
I don't want to meet any bomb-throwing
freaks and all that jazz.
884
00:53:16,886 --> 00:53:19,821
And we finally met him.
We were very nervous.
885
00:53:19,889 --> 00:53:21,652
And we were both
pleasantly surprised
886
00:53:21,724 --> 00:53:23,988
by how they both were
not at all like their image,
887
00:53:24,060 --> 00:53:26,494
as we aren't like our image.
888
00:53:26,562 --> 00:53:30,157
And many other people I've met,
I believed the newspaper image about them,
889
00:53:30,233 --> 00:53:31,700
although I should know better,
890
00:53:31,768 --> 00:53:34,328
because I've seen a lot of rubbish
written about myself that isn't true.
891
00:53:34,404 --> 00:53:35,666
So we met and we found...
892
00:53:35,738 --> 00:53:38,332
We found something in them
that was artistic.
893
00:53:38,408 --> 00:53:39,841
Very sensitive.
894
00:53:39,909 --> 00:53:42,173
The first thing we said to them was,
"Hey, you're like artists.
895
00:53:42,245 --> 00:53:44,907
"You're writing these books.
You're performing theater.
896
00:53:44,981 --> 00:53:45,913
You're like artists."
897
00:53:45,982 --> 00:53:48,177
They said, "Well, you two artists
are more like revolutionaries to us."
898
00:53:49,252 --> 00:53:50,844
When they met
Hoffman and Rubin,
899
00:53:50,920 --> 00:53:53,514
they were absolutely
instruments
900
00:53:53,589 --> 00:53:56,615
in the hands of two
political masters.
901
00:53:56,692 --> 00:53:58,683
When John and Yoko came,
you know,
902
00:53:58,761 --> 00:53:59,693
"Give peace a chance."
903
00:53:59,762 --> 00:54:01,024
They were going...
904
00:54:01,097 --> 00:54:03,224
"Now I have another weapon
to use against the state."
905
00:54:03,299 --> 00:54:06,530
The knife lying on a table
is not a threat to anybody.
906
00:54:06,602 --> 00:54:09,537
It requires human
responsible agency
907
00:54:09,605 --> 00:54:12,233
to take the knife and use it
to cut somebody's throat.
908
00:54:12,308 --> 00:54:16,369
He would be
looked upon as a tool.
909
00:54:16,446 --> 00:54:19,381
In this instance,
he was being manipulated
910
00:54:19,449 --> 00:54:23,886
in a way that harmed
the effort of the United States
911
00:54:23,953 --> 00:54:26,547
to win the war in Vietnam
912
00:54:26,622 --> 00:54:29,557
and to have order
and stability here at home.
913
00:54:29,625 --> 00:54:33,061
Yoko and I were lucky enough
to meet this man
914
00:54:33,129 --> 00:54:36,394
a few weeks ago,
maybe a month ago,
915
00:54:36,466 --> 00:54:38,229
and we found he was
a beautiful guy
916
00:54:38,301 --> 00:54:40,235
and he had a lot to say.
917
00:54:40,303 --> 00:54:43,568
He was doing a lot that was not what
I had read in the paper about him.
918
00:54:43,639 --> 00:54:45,231
We came straight from England.
919
00:54:45,308 --> 00:54:47,242
There were a lot of these things
at the foundation...
920
00:54:47,310 --> 00:54:48,572
Giving food to people,
921
00:54:48,644 --> 00:54:50,737
the programs of education.
922
00:54:50,813 --> 00:54:54,408
We thought, "Well, let's see that side
of these people."
923
00:54:54,484 --> 00:54:55,917
The man we're going to introduce
924
00:54:55,985 --> 00:54:57,577
is a good friend of ours,
925
00:54:57,653 --> 00:54:59,416
and also of yours, I hope.
926
00:54:59,489 --> 00:55:03,289
The man is Bobby Seale, the chairman
of the Black Panther party, and here he is.
927
00:55:06,662 --> 00:55:09,426
What Bobby Seale added
to this equation
928
00:55:09,499 --> 00:55:12,263
was a far more
dangerous aspect,
929
00:55:12,335 --> 00:55:15,463
a far more immediate,
physical kind of threat.
930
00:55:15,538 --> 00:55:18,530
He was much more foreboding
and menacing than the other guys.
931
00:55:18,608 --> 00:55:22,442
We can speak of pollution
932
00:55:22,512 --> 00:55:26,448
in terms of the historical
pollution of fascism,
933
00:55:26,516 --> 00:55:28,609
the historical pollution of war,
934
00:55:28,684 --> 00:55:31,448
the historical pollution
of hunger in the world,
935
00:55:31,521 --> 00:55:33,955
the historical
pollution of murder,
936
00:55:34,023 --> 00:55:37,117
the historical pollution
that we people,
937
00:55:37,193 --> 00:55:39,457
poor, oppressed people
in this world all over
938
00:55:39,529 --> 00:55:42,327
have been subjected to
for too many years.
939
00:55:42,398 --> 00:55:45,799
That pollution is the basis
of the pollution of the nature,
940
00:55:45,868 --> 00:55:47,130
the world, the universe.
941
00:55:47,203 --> 00:55:49,637
The only solution to pollution
942
00:55:49,705 --> 00:55:51,764
is a people's
humane revolution.
943
00:55:55,244 --> 00:55:58,975
Both John and I felt that he was
a very, very intelligent guy.
944
00:55:59,048 --> 00:56:03,985
And we communicated
on that level.
945
00:56:04,053 --> 00:56:06,317
This is one of those
946
00:56:06,389 --> 00:56:09,654
personalized
kind of coalitions.
947
00:56:09,725 --> 00:56:11,488
He was telling me up front,
948
00:56:11,561 --> 00:56:12,823
he says, "I want to help.
949
00:56:12,895 --> 00:56:14,556
"I want to get some
money and donate,
950
00:56:14,630 --> 00:56:16,689
"and do whatever we can
to help the cause,
951
00:56:16,766 --> 00:56:18,165
because what you're doing"...
952
00:56:18,234 --> 00:56:20,828
He saw what we were about
953
00:56:20,903 --> 00:56:22,837
through me rapping with him
and talking to him
954
00:56:22,905 --> 00:56:24,338
and telling him
those stories and stuff
955
00:56:24,407 --> 00:56:25,601
and all the things we did.
956
00:56:25,675 --> 00:56:27,506
What is the policy
of the Black Panther party?
957
00:56:27,577 --> 00:56:29,272
- Because a lot of people don't know...
- Policy?
958
00:56:29,345 --> 00:56:31,336
Maybe you'd like me
to talk about philosophy.
959
00:56:31,414 --> 00:56:32,642
Philosophy.
960
00:56:32,715 --> 00:56:34,376
Our philosophy is basically what
we call intercommunalism.
961
00:56:34,450 --> 00:56:35,849
We're not nationalists.
962
00:56:35,918 --> 00:56:37,351
We don't believe
in nationalism.
963
00:56:37,420 --> 00:56:40,184
Nationalism or nationhood
and all it's hooked up with
964
00:56:40,256 --> 00:56:43,692
is akin to superiority,
is akin to racism,
965
00:56:43,759 --> 00:56:45,852
- is akin to sectarianism...
- That's what I said in my song.
966
00:56:45,928 --> 00:56:48,556
- So we're not that...
- "lmagine no countries."
967
00:56:48,631 --> 00:56:51,964
I guess at that point we had evolved to
really be friends, you know what I mean?
968
00:56:52,034 --> 00:56:54,059
We liked each other.
I liked John, you know?
969
00:56:54,136 --> 00:56:57,697
This guy was defending
970
00:56:57,773 --> 00:57:03,370
something that I thought
was necessary and relevant
971
00:57:03,446 --> 00:57:06,313
about those
protest movement times.
972
00:57:06,382 --> 00:57:09,510
You know when you put
Bobby Seale on the team
973
00:57:09,585 --> 00:57:11,450
that every cop's
gonna hate you,
974
00:57:11,520 --> 00:57:15,183
that every law enforcement person on Earth
is going to oppose you
975
00:57:15,258 --> 00:57:18,386
and characterize everything
you do in the context
976
00:57:18,461 --> 00:57:20,793
of a true enemy of the state.
977
00:57:20,863 --> 00:57:24,390
He could have stayed in music,
stayed away from drugs,
978
00:57:24,467 --> 00:57:27,925
kept his mouth shut
about what he liked or disliked
979
00:57:28,004 --> 00:57:29,232
about the United States.
980
00:57:29,305 --> 00:57:30,897
"Don't get involved
in any politics.
981
00:57:30,973 --> 00:57:33,908
Just sing your songs
and keep quiet."
982
00:57:33,976 --> 00:57:35,000
Everything would
have been fine.
983
00:57:35,077 --> 00:57:38,808
But when he starts
financing the people
984
00:57:38,881 --> 00:57:40,576
that we're trying to put in jail,
985
00:57:40,650 --> 00:57:42,618
then that gets
kind of serious.
986
00:57:45,488 --> 00:57:49,925
I mean, the notion
that the world's largest,
987
00:57:49,992 --> 00:57:53,257
most powerful imperial nation,
988
00:57:53,329 --> 00:57:55,092
the United States of America,
989
00:57:55,164 --> 00:58:01,592
could be seriously threatened
by a writer, an intellectual,
990
00:58:01,671 --> 00:58:05,607
a singer, a painter
is laughable.
991
00:58:05,675 --> 00:58:08,269
I mean, it's just a joke,
992
00:58:08,344 --> 00:58:11,279
but it indicates
how nervous they were.
993
00:58:11,347 --> 00:58:13,144
The authorities were
terrified of him
994
00:58:13,215 --> 00:58:15,775
because he just had
so much sway.
995
00:58:15,851 --> 00:58:17,250
Terrified.
996
00:58:17,320 --> 00:58:19,288
See, they weren't frightened
of people like Mick Jagger.
997
00:58:19,355 --> 00:58:21,949
That was musicians and silly long-haired
gits misbehaving with too much money.
998
00:58:23,359 --> 00:58:25,623
Trouble with John is he...
999
00:58:25,695 --> 00:58:30,359
There was some intellectual force
behind the argument.
1000
00:58:32,368 --> 00:58:35,132
Anyone who didn't like
this country
1001
00:58:35,204 --> 00:58:38,139
could either shut up or leave.
1002
00:58:38,207 --> 00:58:41,608
And that was the way
I think all of us felt.
1003
00:58:41,677 --> 00:58:43,645
That's what they would say.
1004
00:58:43,713 --> 00:58:46,273
"What is this foreigner
doing over here
1005
00:58:46,349 --> 00:58:51,480
with his dirty songs
criticizing us and our war?"
1006
00:58:51,554 --> 00:58:55,149
Patriotism is, as we know, the last refuge
of the scoundrel.
1007
00:58:55,224 --> 00:58:58,159
Now, we're talking about
real scoundrels, like Nixon.
1008
00:58:58,227 --> 00:59:01,321
And some present-day people
do play the same number.
1009
00:59:01,397 --> 00:59:02,830
"Oh, it's unpatriotic.
1010
00:59:02,898 --> 00:59:04,058
Unpatriotic."
1011
00:59:10,539 --> 00:59:13,565
John Lennon!
Yoko Ono!
1012
00:59:19,582 --> 00:59:22,847
We came here
not only to help John
1013
00:59:22,918 --> 00:59:25,853
and to spotlight
what's going on,
1014
00:59:25,921 --> 00:59:28,822
but also to show
and to say to all of you
1015
00:59:28,891 --> 00:59:34,693
that apathy isn't it
and that we can do something.
1016
00:59:34,764 --> 00:59:37,358
Okay, so "flower power"
didn't work. So what?
1017
00:59:37,433 --> 00:59:39,526
We start again.
1018
00:59:39,602 --> 00:59:41,968
This song I wrote
for John Sinclair.
1019
00:59:44,440 --> 00:59:48,240
I became a cultural activist...
community activist
1020
00:59:48,310 --> 00:59:50,039
in Detroit 40 years ago.
1021
00:59:50,112 --> 00:59:53,206
We wanted to say
that they should end the war
1022
00:59:53,282 --> 00:59:56,683
and that people
should love each other.
1023
00:59:56,752 --> 00:59:59,050
So then we started
proselytizing
1024
00:59:59,121 --> 01:00:01,555
for marijuana legalization
1025
01:00:01,624 --> 01:00:03,717
while smoking great quantities,
1026
01:00:03,793 --> 01:00:09,060
which was not really
the wisest decision.
1027
01:00:09,131 --> 01:00:11,224
You should kind of do
one or the other, you know,
1028
01:00:11,300 --> 01:00:13,359
if you want to be
successful at either.
1029
01:00:13,436 --> 01:00:18,066
I kept getting arrested
for marijuana possession,
1030
01:00:18,140 --> 01:00:22,406
and then for giving two joints
to an undercover policewoman.
1031
01:00:22,478 --> 01:00:27,074
He's been in jail 21/2 years
for smoking two joints!
1032
01:00:27,149 --> 01:00:29,913
There's such a thing
as the solidarity of saliva.
1033
01:00:29,985 --> 01:00:31,850
When one pot smoker
is in jail,
1034
01:00:31,921 --> 01:00:33,354
every one of us is in jail!
1035
01:00:33,422 --> 01:00:38,223
I was sentenced to 91/2-10 years
in July of 1969,
1036
01:00:38,294 --> 01:00:40,489
and sent to prison
1037
01:00:40,563 --> 01:00:42,758
and kept under
maximum security,
1038
01:00:42,832 --> 01:00:46,928
and I was actually declared
a threat to society
1039
01:00:47,002 --> 01:00:48,594
by the Michigan
Court of Appeals.
1040
01:00:49,839 --> 01:00:53,434
Okay, "John Sinclair."
Nice and easy now.
1041
01:00:53,509 --> 01:00:55,101
Sneaky.
1042
01:00:55,177 --> 01:00:58,112
1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4.
1043
01:01:44,760 --> 01:01:46,660
It was a 12-hour concert.
1044
01:01:46,729 --> 01:01:48,788
It was broadcast live
all over the state.
1045
01:01:48,864 --> 01:01:51,332
The day before that concert,
1046
01:01:51,400 --> 01:01:53,334
John Sinclair
was denied appeal bond.
1047
01:01:53,402 --> 01:01:55,802
The Michigan Supreme Court
wouldn't let him out.
1048
01:02:34,276 --> 01:02:36,210
And then...
1049
01:02:36,278 --> 01:02:38,212
everything just skyrocketed,
1050
01:02:38,280 --> 01:02:41,875
and the tide of public opinion
1051
01:02:41,951 --> 01:02:47,389
turned in my favor
almost 180 degrees,
1052
01:02:47,456 --> 01:02:50,391
because regular people thought,
1053
01:02:50,459 --> 01:02:52,051
"Gee, this guy from The Beatles
1054
01:02:52,127 --> 01:02:54,061
"is coming to sing
about this guy's case.
1055
01:02:54,129 --> 01:02:55,562
There must be
something wrong with it."
1056
01:02:55,631 --> 01:02:57,394
On Monday morning
1057
01:02:57,466 --> 01:02:59,058
the Michigan Supreme Court
reversed itself
1058
01:02:59,134 --> 01:03:02,262
and let Sinclair out,
let him free.
1059
01:03:29,832 --> 01:03:33,996
That's when the FBI
began to see the beginning
1060
01:03:34,069 --> 01:03:36,936
of the power of John and Yoko,
1061
01:03:37,006 --> 01:03:39,600
especially John Lennon.
1062
01:03:39,675 --> 01:03:42,610
We are certifying
the 26th Amendment
1063
01:03:42,678 --> 01:03:44,305
to the Constitution
of the United States.
1064
01:03:44,380 --> 01:03:46,780
That amendment, as you know,
1065
01:03:46,849 --> 01:03:49,784
provides for the right to vote
1066
01:03:49,852 --> 01:03:53,788
of all of our young people
between 18 and 21.
1067
01:03:53,856 --> 01:03:56,290
11 million new voters as a result
of this amendment
1068
01:03:56,358 --> 01:04:00,260
that you now will see certified
by the GSA administrator.
1069
01:04:00,329 --> 01:04:03,298
So Nixon now is facing
a huge electorate
1070
01:04:03,365 --> 01:04:04,798
that he has never faced before,
1071
01:04:04,867 --> 01:04:07,802
this 18- to 21-year-old
demographic,
1072
01:04:07,870 --> 01:04:11,636
the heart and soul
of John's fans.
1073
01:04:11,707 --> 01:04:13,800
See, there was a fear
that John could stir,
1074
01:04:13,876 --> 01:04:15,867
that John could affect,
1075
01:04:15,944 --> 01:04:19,141
that John could imperil the political
existence of Richard Nixon.
1076
01:04:20,349 --> 01:04:25,184
Well, I suppose, if you want
to kind of list your enemies
1077
01:04:25,254 --> 01:04:28,815
and decide
who is most dangerous,
1078
01:04:28,891 --> 01:04:33,919
if I were Nixon, I would put Lennon
up near the top.
1079
01:04:33,996 --> 01:04:37,488
A few years ago you would have said,
"Let's not vote. Voting's irrelevant."
1080
01:04:37,566 --> 01:04:40,660
I had that feeling, too.
I never did vote in my life.
1081
01:04:40,736 --> 01:04:44,001
But now I've met you and a lot of people
and you're all saying register to vote.
1082
01:04:44,073 --> 01:04:45,665
That doesn't seem
very radical to me.
1083
01:04:45,741 --> 01:04:47,174
What's the change in...
1084
01:04:47,242 --> 01:04:49,972
Two years ago, you would say,
"Don't vote," and now you say, "Vote."
1085
01:04:50,045 --> 01:04:52,513
This time, since there's 18-year-old vote...
1086
01:04:52,581 --> 01:04:55,015
It ought to be
reduced to 12.
1087
01:04:55,084 --> 01:04:57,985
We think that all young people
should vote as a block,
1088
01:04:58,053 --> 01:04:59,680
and we shouldn't vote
for any candidate
1089
01:04:59,755 --> 01:05:02,349
that doesn't automatically withdraw
everything from Vietnam,
1090
01:05:02,424 --> 01:05:04,016
and we ought to go
to both conventions
1091
01:05:04,093 --> 01:05:06,618
in Miami and San Diego
and nonviolently make our presence felt
1092
01:05:06,695 --> 01:05:08,128
and stand on the issues.
1093
01:05:08,197 --> 01:05:10,188
They were so heady
from the success
1094
01:05:10,265 --> 01:05:13,359
of getting Sinclair out of jail
from that concert
1095
01:05:13,435 --> 01:05:16,529
that there were quite a few meetings,
as I recall,
1096
01:05:16,605 --> 01:05:19,039
in New York, where they were really
planning a tour...
1097
01:05:19,108 --> 01:05:20,097
Quite a large tour.
1098
01:05:20,175 --> 01:05:22,200
We talked about, you know,
1099
01:05:22,277 --> 01:05:26,043
how could we stage a tour,
basically,
1100
01:05:26,115 --> 01:05:30,051
that would follow
Richard Nixon around America
1101
01:05:30,119 --> 01:05:33,919
during the presidential
campaign of 1972.
1102
01:05:33,989 --> 01:05:36,389
Our job now is to tell them
1103
01:05:36,458 --> 01:05:37,550
that there is still hope
1104
01:05:37,626 --> 01:05:39,218
and we still
have things to do,
1105
01:05:39,294 --> 01:05:41,387
and we must get out there
and change their heads,
1106
01:05:41,463 --> 01:05:42,555
and tell them it's okay.
1107
01:05:42,631 --> 01:05:44,258
We can change it.
1108
01:05:44,333 --> 01:05:46,062
It isn't over just because
"flower power" didn't work.
1109
01:05:46,135 --> 01:05:47,397
It's only the beginning.
1110
01:05:47,469 --> 01:05:49,403
We're just in
the inception of revolution.
1111
01:05:49,471 --> 01:05:51,063
We're just at
the beginning of change.
1112
01:05:51,140 --> 01:05:53,404
And they're apathetic
because they're young,
1113
01:05:53,475 --> 01:05:56,467
and they think, "Oh, it didn't
work today, so it's all over."
1114
01:05:56,545 --> 01:05:58,945
We must get them excited
about what we can do again,
1115
01:05:59,014 --> 01:06:00,879
and that's why we're
gonna go on the road...
1116
01:06:00,949 --> 01:06:05,079
And we were going to end up with
a free three-day rock festival
1117
01:06:05,154 --> 01:06:07,622
outside the Republican
National Convention.
1118
01:06:07,689 --> 01:06:09,987
From America it will spread
to the rest of the world.
1119
01:06:10,993 --> 01:06:13,928
Viva la revoluci�n.
1120
01:06:13,996 --> 01:06:15,759
It was our perspective
of Lennon
1121
01:06:15,831 --> 01:06:18,425
that most of the time
he was walking around stoned,
1122
01:06:18,500 --> 01:06:19,933
whacked out of his mind.
1123
01:06:20,002 --> 01:06:25,099
But he was a high-profile figure,
1124
01:06:25,174 --> 01:06:30,578
and so his activities
were being monitored.
1125
01:06:30,646 --> 01:06:33,615
They knew for a fact that they didn't
want hundreds, thousands,
1126
01:06:33,682 --> 01:06:38,813
millions of young people attending
a counter-convention,
1127
01:06:38,887 --> 01:06:41,117
especially where
John Lennon would perform.
1128
01:06:41,190 --> 01:06:47,595
I don't think he realized the strength of
the American political establishment
1129
01:06:47,663 --> 01:06:52,464
and how much power
it could exert onto him
1130
01:06:52,534 --> 01:06:55,128
with regard to silencing him,
1131
01:06:55,204 --> 01:07:01,803
or covert ways in which they might
follow his activities.
1132
01:07:01,877 --> 01:07:04,141
We were certain
the phones were all tapped,
1133
01:07:04,213 --> 01:07:06,477
and it was...
1134
01:07:06,548 --> 01:07:10,484
Like most things, our wildest dreams
did not begin to touch
1135
01:07:10,552 --> 01:07:13,043
what they were actually
doing against us.
1136
01:07:13,121 --> 01:07:15,612
Do you think that they are
kind of picking on you, John?
1137
01:07:15,691 --> 01:07:17,659
Oh, yeah, they picked on me.
I'm telling you,
1138
01:07:17,726 --> 01:07:21,162
when it first started
I was followed in a car
1139
01:07:21,230 --> 01:07:22,322
and my phone was tapped.
1140
01:07:22,397 --> 01:07:24,627
I think they wanted me
to know to scare me,
1141
01:07:24,700 --> 01:07:26,327
and I was scared, paranoid.
1142
01:07:26,401 --> 01:07:29,336
People thought I was crazy then.
1143
01:07:29,404 --> 01:07:31,497
I mean, they do anyway,
but, I mean, more so.
1144
01:07:31,573 --> 01:07:34,167
You know, "Lennon,
you big-headed maniac.
1145
01:07:34,243 --> 01:07:36,837
Who's going to follow you around?
What do they want?"
1146
01:07:36,912 --> 01:07:39,176
That's what I'm saying.
What do they want?
1147
01:07:39,248 --> 01:07:41,409
I'm not going to
cause them any problem.
1148
01:07:41,483 --> 01:07:45,010
It surprised me when I heard that Lennon
had been under surveillance,
1149
01:07:45,087 --> 01:07:48,022
that he'd been wiretapped,
just as it did when I heard
1150
01:07:48,090 --> 01:07:49,887
that Martin Luther King had been.
1151
01:07:49,958 --> 01:07:53,689
These sort of things
that came out of the FBI
1152
01:07:53,762 --> 01:07:57,198
really caught me
as being so unnecessary
1153
01:07:57,266 --> 01:07:59,291
and so risky, and why?
1154
01:07:59,368 --> 01:08:01,029
I can't prove it.
1155
01:08:01,103 --> 01:08:04,698
I just know there's a lot of repairs
going on in the cellar.
1156
01:08:04,773 --> 01:08:07,867
I know the difference between the phone
being normal when I pick it up
1157
01:08:07,943 --> 01:08:10,878
and when every time I pick it up
there's a lot of noises.
1158
01:08:10,946 --> 01:08:12,709
I'd open the door
and there'd be guys
1159
01:08:12,781 --> 01:08:14,339
standing on the other side
of the street.
1160
01:08:14,416 --> 01:08:17,044
I'd get in the car and they'd be
following me in a car
1161
01:08:17,119 --> 01:08:18,381
and not hiding, you see?
1162
01:08:18,453 --> 01:08:20,546
That's why I got
a bit paranoid, as well.
1163
01:08:20,622 --> 01:08:23,216
They wanted me to see
I was being followed.
1164
01:08:23,292 --> 01:08:25,226
Suddenly I realized
this was serious.
1165
01:08:25,294 --> 01:08:27,387
They were coming for me
one way or the other.
1166
01:08:27,462 --> 01:08:28,895
They were harassing me.
1167
01:08:28,964 --> 01:08:32,900
I remember John said to me
at one point,
1168
01:08:32,968 --> 01:08:34,902
"If anything happens
to Yoko and me,
1169
01:08:34,970 --> 01:08:36,665
it was not an accident."
1170
01:08:36,738 --> 01:08:39,070
When we found out
1171
01:08:39,141 --> 01:08:44,579
that they were specifically interested
in stopping our plans,
1172
01:08:44,646 --> 01:08:50,380
that's when we realized that it wasn't
just the usual surveillance,
1173
01:08:50,452 --> 01:08:56,152
but that they were going to take
aggressive steps against us.
1174
01:08:56,224 --> 01:08:57,919
This story begins,
1175
01:08:57,993 --> 01:09:00,757
at least from
the White House perspective,
1176
01:09:00,829 --> 01:09:04,731
with a letter that
Senator Strom Thurmond wrote.
1177
01:09:04,800 --> 01:09:07,769
The Congress is long overdue
1178
01:09:07,836 --> 01:09:10,430
in investigating the radical left
1179
01:09:10,505 --> 01:09:13,440
for the purpose of
devising new legislation
1180
01:09:13,508 --> 01:09:15,942
to protect the security
of our nation
1181
01:09:16,011 --> 01:09:18,605
from enemy subversive efforts.
1182
01:09:18,680 --> 01:09:22,616
He was a major figure
on the right
1183
01:09:22,684 --> 01:09:26,120
as the right became much
more of a dominant force
1184
01:09:26,188 --> 01:09:29,021
in our politics
in this country in the '70s.
1185
01:09:29,091 --> 01:09:31,616
Strom Thurmond was
a Republican senator
1186
01:09:31,693 --> 01:09:34,025
on the Senate Internal
Security Subcommittee,
1187
01:09:34,096 --> 01:09:35,791
and he had been given
the information
1188
01:09:35,864 --> 01:09:39,800
about the plans that Lennon was making
with Jerry Rubin,
1189
01:09:39,868 --> 01:09:44,134
Abbie Hoffman, and other people
for this national concert tour.
1190
01:09:44,206 --> 01:09:46,436
This is what Strom Thurmond
wrote the White House about.
1191
01:09:46,508 --> 01:09:49,807
And this
is where Strom Thurmond
1192
01:09:49,878 --> 01:09:53,006
came up with a proposal
to stop this.
1193
01:09:53,081 --> 01:09:55,379
Strom Thurmond's memo
to the White House ends,
1194
01:09:55,450 --> 01:10:00,387
"If Lennon's visa were terminated, it would
be a strategic counter-measure."
1195
01:10:02,391 --> 01:10:05,485
One day somebody
knocked at the door,
1196
01:10:05,560 --> 01:10:07,994
and we didn't open the door.
We said, "Who is it?"
1197
01:10:08,063 --> 01:10:09,496
"Lmmigration."
1198
01:10:09,564 --> 01:10:14,160
And the person just slipped a paper
underneath the door,
1199
01:10:14,236 --> 01:10:15,999
because we didn't
open the door.
1200
01:10:16,071 --> 01:10:17,163
Maybe that's why.
1201
01:10:17,239 --> 01:10:20,174
We looked at it
and it was a notice...
1202
01:10:20,242 --> 01:10:22,506
A deportation notice.
1203
01:10:22,577 --> 01:10:24,841
We just looked at
each other.
1204
01:10:24,913 --> 01:10:27,347
"What are we going to do?"
1205
01:10:27,416 --> 01:10:30,180
It was a very
frightening moment.
1206
01:11:15,464 --> 01:11:17,227
John, what did you say?
1207
01:11:17,299 --> 01:11:19,392
You said you felt
it was shocking?
1208
01:11:19,468 --> 01:11:21,527
Well, yeah,
we're a bit shocked.
1209
01:11:21,603 --> 01:11:23,571
Do you think that
you will be deported?
1210
01:11:23,638 --> 01:11:26,129
I've no idea. Maybe it's just a process.
I don't know.
1211
01:11:26,208 --> 01:11:27,732
We better go in. We're late.
1212
01:11:27,809 --> 01:11:29,572
We'll see you when we come out
if you want.
1213
01:11:29,644 --> 01:11:31,236
Can we talk to you
when you come out?
1214
01:11:31,313 --> 01:11:34,248
We have a number of matters
that we have to take care of.
1215
01:11:34,316 --> 01:11:36,079
The lmmigration and Naturalization Service
1216
01:11:36,151 --> 01:11:39,917
was planning to stage
a huge show trial
1217
01:11:39,988 --> 01:11:42,923
and basically
get John Lennon
1218
01:11:42,991 --> 01:11:44,424
in a very, very public way.
1219
01:11:44,493 --> 01:11:47,257
They were going to try and show
that he was an undesirable alien
1220
01:11:47,329 --> 01:11:49,593
because of his lifestyle,
because of his friends,
1221
01:11:49,664 --> 01:11:50,926
and because
of his politics.
1222
01:11:50,999 --> 01:11:53,297
Then they were going to
take some of the lyrics
1223
01:11:53,368 --> 01:11:56,098
from some of his songs
and play them.
1224
01:11:56,171 --> 01:11:58,935
And a lot of the songs
were very antagonistic
1225
01:11:59,007 --> 01:12:00,565
to the Nixon administration.
1226
01:12:00,642 --> 01:12:03,611
What do the proceedings make you feel
just on a purely emotional level?
1227
01:12:03,678 --> 01:12:05,771
Well, I feel like
I'm back in school again.
1228
01:12:05,847 --> 01:12:08,179
I've been in trouble all my life
one way or the other,
1229
01:12:08,250 --> 01:12:09,945
and I'm back
to see the Head.
1230
01:12:10,018 --> 01:12:11,610
This time they don't cane me,
that's all.
1231
01:12:11,686 --> 01:12:13,210
They don't beat me anymore.
1232
01:12:13,288 --> 01:12:15,256
There are two reasons
the trial didn't happen.
1233
01:12:15,323 --> 01:12:18,292
One is that the investigator, who was
the only sober-thinking person in all this,
1234
01:12:18,360 --> 01:12:20,294
felt that it
was going to alienate
1235
01:12:20,362 --> 01:12:22,387
all the youth in America
if they did it.
1236
01:12:22,464 --> 01:12:24,955
And secondly, it was a big waste
of time and money,
1237
01:12:25,033 --> 01:12:27,467
because they already
had the ability
1238
01:12:27,536 --> 01:12:29,299
to get Lennon thrown out
of the country.
1239
01:12:29,371 --> 01:12:34,138
In the late '60s,
there was a head-hunting cop
1240
01:12:34,209 --> 01:12:38,475
who was not very high up in
the drug department in London,
1241
01:12:38,547 --> 01:12:39,809
which was pretty new anyway.
1242
01:12:39,881 --> 01:12:42,315
They had two dogs
for the whole department.
1243
01:12:42,384 --> 01:12:46,980
He went round and bust every pop star
he could get his hands on.
1244
01:12:47,055 --> 01:12:48,647
Then he got famous.
1245
01:12:48,723 --> 01:12:51,658
Some of the pop stars
had dope in the house,
1246
01:12:51,726 --> 01:12:53,216
and some of them didn't.
1247
01:12:53,295 --> 01:12:54,819
It didn't matter to him.
1248
01:12:54,896 --> 01:12:57,160
He planted it or did whatever.
1249
01:12:57,232 --> 01:12:59,996
Later on...
That's what he did to me,
1250
01:13:00,068 --> 01:13:02,229
because at that time
I didn't have any drugs.
1251
01:13:02,304 --> 01:13:06,832
We had no idea that it would
come back to haunt us,
1252
01:13:06,908 --> 01:13:08,375
in a very big way, too.
1253
01:13:08,443 --> 01:13:10,172
I was convicted
of possession in England
1254
01:13:10,245 --> 01:13:12,679
and fined $100...
I mean, 100 pounds.
1255
01:13:12,747 --> 01:13:15,011
- Is this an obstacle?
- That is the obstacle.
1256
01:13:15,083 --> 01:13:16,209
...rather than
get into trouble.
1257
01:13:16,284 --> 01:13:18,149
- Is that the obstacle to your staying?
- Yeah.
1258
01:13:18,220 --> 01:13:20,620
His problem seems to be
the marijuana conviction.
1259
01:13:22,691 --> 01:13:25,353
While that stands,
there's no form of relief
1260
01:13:25,427 --> 01:13:27,019
that's possible in his case.
1261
01:13:27,095 --> 01:13:32,226
If he had four speeding tickets
or if he had...
1262
01:13:32,300 --> 01:13:35,565
I could make up all the offenses he could
have done were he an American citizen,
1263
01:13:35,637 --> 01:13:37,867
they would have tried
to find a way,
1264
01:13:37,939 --> 01:13:40,373
his vulnerable spot,
his Achilles' heel,
1265
01:13:40,442 --> 01:13:41,875
and that's what that was.
1266
01:13:41,943 --> 01:13:45,037
All it was was it gave John Mitchell
and that crowd
1267
01:13:45,113 --> 01:13:47,604
an opening through which
to attack him.
1268
01:13:47,682 --> 01:13:49,877
John, why are you
being deported?
1269
01:13:49,951 --> 01:13:51,714
Well, the sort of
official reason
1270
01:13:51,786 --> 01:13:56,416
is something about that I was bust
in England for pot.
1271
01:13:56,491 --> 01:14:00,086
And the real reason
is because I'm a peacenik.
1272
01:14:00,161 --> 01:14:01,719
You don't think that
there's any possibility
1273
01:14:01,796 --> 01:14:03,889
that the government is trying
to harass the Lennons.
1274
01:14:03,965 --> 01:14:05,398
Absolutely not.
1275
01:14:05,467 --> 01:14:07,731
This is the kind of treatment
we would dish out
1276
01:14:07,802 --> 01:14:11,568
to anybody convicted
of a narcotics offense.
1277
01:14:11,640 --> 01:14:14,074
Our lawyer's name
is Leon Wildes, and he's...
1278
01:14:14,142 --> 01:14:16,736
He's not a radical lawyer.
He's not a William Kunstler.
1279
01:14:16,811 --> 01:14:18,904
Nothing like that. We went to
an immigration lawyer
1280
01:14:18,980 --> 01:14:20,072
who knew about immigration,
1281
01:14:20,148 --> 01:14:21,911
and he has really
been surprised
1282
01:14:21,983 --> 01:14:23,814
because he worked
in immigration 15 years.
1283
01:14:23,885 --> 01:14:24,943
He's really been surprised
1284
01:14:25,020 --> 01:14:27,113
by some of the things
that have gone on.
1285
01:14:27,188 --> 01:14:29,383
I took the case because
it was a challenge,
1286
01:14:29,457 --> 01:14:34,622
first of all, because I was impressed
with these extraordinary people,
1287
01:14:34,696 --> 01:14:37,256
and second, because
these were issues
1288
01:14:37,332 --> 01:14:40,597
which had never been
previously ruled on
1289
01:14:40,669 --> 01:14:44,264
in their present form
in American courts.
1290
01:14:44,339 --> 01:14:47,274
You say you've been in
trouble all your life. Why is that?
1291
01:14:47,342 --> 01:14:49,276
I've just one of those faces.
1292
01:14:49,344 --> 01:14:52,108
- People never liked my face.
- Oh, is that why?
1293
01:14:52,180 --> 01:14:53,841
Teachers used to get
furious about it.
1294
01:14:53,915 --> 01:14:55,940
Is it because you're
anti-establishment?
1295
01:14:56,017 --> 01:14:58,679
I guess it must show
on the face.
1296
01:14:58,753 --> 01:15:01,779
My original comment
to them about the case
1297
01:15:01,856 --> 01:15:03,380
was that I thought
it was a loser.
1298
01:15:03,458 --> 01:15:06,291
Why?
Because most of my clients
1299
01:15:06,361 --> 01:15:10,127
end up in a deportation proceeding,
1300
01:15:10,198 --> 01:15:12,792
and if they lose,
that's the end of it.
1301
01:15:12,867 --> 01:15:15,461
If they appeal that decision,
1302
01:15:15,537 --> 01:15:17,971
they go to the Board
of lmmigration Appeals,
1303
01:15:18,039 --> 01:15:21,770
and that is hardly
ever successful.
1304
01:15:21,843 --> 01:15:23,970
With Leon,
1305
01:15:24,045 --> 01:15:29,677
he was always
kind of suggesting,
1306
01:15:29,751 --> 01:15:31,378
hopelessly,
1307
01:15:31,453 --> 01:15:33,444
"Maybe you guys should be
1308
01:15:33,521 --> 01:15:35,455
a little bit gentler
or something."
1309
01:15:35,523 --> 01:15:38,356
"We announce the birth
of a conceptual country,
1310
01:15:38,426 --> 01:15:39,654
"Newtopia.
1311
01:15:39,728 --> 01:15:41,662
"Citizenship of the country
can be obtained
1312
01:15:41,730 --> 01:15:44,722
"by declaration of your
awareness of Newtopia.
1313
01:15:44,799 --> 01:15:47,324
"Newtopia has no land,
no boundaries,
1314
01:15:47,402 --> 01:15:49,199
"no passports, only people.
1315
01:15:49,270 --> 01:15:52,671
Newtopia has no laws
other than cosmic."
1316
01:15:52,741 --> 01:15:55,676
"All people of Newtopia are
ambassadors of the country.
1317
01:15:55,744 --> 01:15:57,837
"As two ambassadors
of Newtopia,
1318
01:15:57,912 --> 01:16:00,244
"we ask for
diplomatic immunity
1319
01:16:00,315 --> 01:16:01,907
"and recognition
in the United Nations
1320
01:16:01,983 --> 01:16:04,008
for our country
and its people"...
1321
01:16:04,085 --> 01:16:06,883
Newtopian Embassy, 1 White Street,
New York, New York.
1322
01:16:06,955 --> 01:16:10,356
Yoko apologized to me
afterwards and said,
1323
01:16:10,425 --> 01:16:12,120
"You have to understand.
1324
01:16:12,193 --> 01:16:14,559
When you represent artists,
we're not always predictable."
1325
01:16:14,629 --> 01:16:18,531
I said, "Maybe not always predictable,
but always enjoyable."
1326
01:16:18,600 --> 01:16:19,965
What does the flag mean?
1327
01:16:20,034 --> 01:16:21,160
What does the flag mean?
1328
01:16:21,236 --> 01:16:22,760
Surrender and submission.
1329
01:16:22,837 --> 01:16:24,964
It became clear to me
1330
01:16:25,039 --> 01:16:28,634
that he was a guy
of major principle,
1331
01:16:28,710 --> 01:16:33,272
and he understood that what was
being done to him was wrong.
1332
01:16:33,348 --> 01:16:35,441
It was an abuse of the law,
1333
01:16:35,517 --> 01:16:38,042
and he was willing
to stand up
1334
01:16:38,119 --> 01:16:41,577
and try to show it, to shine
the big light on it.
1335
01:16:41,656 --> 01:16:45,092
They're even sort of changing
their own rules to get us, you know?
1336
01:16:45,160 --> 01:16:46,650
Just because we're
peaceniks, really.
1337
01:16:46,728 --> 01:16:48,821
Do you think it's because of
your antiwar action
1338
01:16:48,897 --> 01:16:50,558
and not your marijuana
conviction, then?
1339
01:16:50,632 --> 01:16:53,567
Well, let's say that a few friends of ours
in the pop business
1340
01:16:53,635 --> 01:16:55,227
have exactly the same
conviction as me
1341
01:16:55,303 --> 01:16:57,567
and are allowed to come and go
as free as they like.
1342
01:16:57,639 --> 01:17:01,075
They don't happen to have the same
point of view as me, or they don't state it.
1343
01:17:01,142 --> 01:17:03,906
Will you now stop speaking out
against the war because of this?
1344
01:17:03,978 --> 01:17:05,240
Nothing will stop me,
1345
01:17:05,313 --> 01:17:07,406
and whether I'm here
or wherever I may be,
1346
01:17:07,482 --> 01:17:10,280
I'll always have the same feelings
and say what I feel.
1347
01:17:10,351 --> 01:17:11,579
The world is one big family.
1348
01:17:11,753 --> 01:17:16,156
We loved him for who he was,
1349
01:17:16,224 --> 01:17:18,784
and who he was to become
during that period,
1350
01:17:18,860 --> 01:17:22,091
and he marched with us,
he walked with us.
1351
01:17:22,163 --> 01:17:25,155
He went up against
this powerful government
1352
01:17:25,233 --> 01:17:27,394
that was terribly wrong,
1353
01:17:27,469 --> 01:17:31,166
that had misled us
into a deeply immoral war.
1354
01:17:32,941 --> 01:17:37,207
He did not back down.
1355
01:17:38,446 --> 01:17:40,937
It's great that you
came in the rain.
1356
01:17:41,015 --> 01:17:43,950
I read somewhere that
the war movement was over.
1357
01:17:47,856 --> 01:17:50,620
We're here to bring
the boys home,
1358
01:17:50,692 --> 01:17:53,058
but let's not
forget the machines.
1359
01:17:53,127 --> 01:17:54,822
Bring the machines home,
1360
01:17:54,896 --> 01:17:56,523
and then we'll
really get somewhere.
1361
01:17:56,598 --> 01:17:58,395
Bring our boys home!
1362
01:17:58,466 --> 01:18:00,297
...the only people
that can do it.
1363
01:18:00,368 --> 01:18:02,029
It wasn't so much
1364
01:18:02,103 --> 01:18:06,301
that Lennon was being
critical of U.S. Policy.
1365
01:18:06,374 --> 01:18:11,641
It's that he was over here
enjoying all the benefits
1366
01:18:11,713 --> 01:18:13,977
of the success that
we were giving him,
1367
01:18:14,048 --> 01:18:17,643
the wealth, the...
And all the rest of it,
1368
01:18:17,719 --> 01:18:21,052
and bad-mouthing us here.
1369
01:18:21,122 --> 01:18:23,317
Our attitude was,
"You want to do that?
1370
01:18:23,391 --> 01:18:24,323
"Go back to London.
1371
01:18:24,392 --> 01:18:25,825
Go back to Liverpool."
1372
01:18:25,894 --> 01:18:28,454
I like to be here because this is
where the music came from.
1373
01:18:28,530 --> 01:18:29,997
This is what influenced
my whole life
1374
01:18:30,064 --> 01:18:32,328
and got me where I am
today, as it were.
1375
01:18:32,400 --> 01:18:34,664
And I love the place.
I'd like to be here.
1376
01:18:34,736 --> 01:18:36,169
I've got a lot of friends here,
1377
01:18:36,237 --> 01:18:38,831
and this is where
I want to be, you know?
1378
01:18:38,907 --> 01:18:41,341
Statue of Liberty...
Welcome.
1379
01:18:41,409 --> 01:18:43,536
I even brought my own cash.
1380
01:18:43,611 --> 01:18:44,839
He was under an order
1381
01:18:44,913 --> 01:18:47,677
to leave the country
within 60 days
1382
01:18:47,749 --> 01:18:51,879
for pretty much all of 1972
and on into 1973.
1383
01:18:51,953 --> 01:18:57,016
Our reaction to the government's action
taken last week
1384
01:18:57,091 --> 01:19:04,361
I believe has been very, very succinctly
put by The Wall Street Journal
1385
01:19:04,432 --> 01:19:09,199
in an editorial
of March 28, 1973.
1386
01:19:09,270 --> 01:19:13,536
It states, "We find it more than
a little hard to believe
1387
01:19:13,608 --> 01:19:16,202
"that authorities
could find no legal way
1388
01:19:16,277 --> 01:19:18,871
"to resolve what is, after all,
1389
01:19:18,947 --> 01:19:21,745
"a highly unusual
set of circumstances.
1390
01:19:21,816 --> 01:19:26,719
"Further, we submit if the law does not
reflect the human equities,
1391
01:19:26,788 --> 01:19:29,518
it is a law
that needs to be changed."
1392
01:19:29,591 --> 01:19:32,424
Yes, the case was very
difficult at that point,
1393
01:19:32,493 --> 01:19:37,556
and what he did was to just
keep on extending our stay,
1394
01:19:37,632 --> 01:19:39,725
which I thought
was very wise,
1395
01:19:39,801 --> 01:19:42,292
a very wise tactic.
1396
01:19:42,370 --> 01:19:45,396
I don't understand law,
as it were,
1397
01:19:45,473 --> 01:19:47,236
because it is finite.
1398
01:19:47,308 --> 01:19:51,574
And I don't really go,
sort of...
1399
01:19:51,646 --> 01:19:53,580
I can't express... Dig that scene,
you know?
1400
01:19:53,648 --> 01:19:54,979
I don't know.
1401
01:19:55,049 --> 01:19:57,745
It seems just like to me
as somebody once said,
1402
01:19:57,819 --> 01:19:59,753
"Kafka-esque."
It's just bureaucracy,
1403
01:19:59,821 --> 01:20:03,416
and they get going
and then what can they do?
1404
01:20:03,491 --> 01:20:05,083
They don't know
where to turn, I suppose.
1405
01:20:05,159 --> 01:20:07,593
The game's started,
and we have to play it out.
1406
01:20:07,662 --> 01:20:09,254
When I talked to Jerry Rubin
1407
01:20:09,330 --> 01:20:13,130
and Abbie Hoffman
about this period,
1408
01:20:13,201 --> 01:20:16,762
they told me they wanted
to try something new,
1409
01:20:16,838 --> 01:20:20,137
something they thought would maybe be
more effective in stopping the war.
1410
01:20:20,208 --> 01:20:22,142
Jerry Rubin was talking about
1411
01:20:22,210 --> 01:20:23,939
what he called
a political Woodstock
1412
01:20:24,012 --> 01:20:27,448
that they would hold outside
the Republican National Convention.
1413
01:20:27,515 --> 01:20:31,144
They really tried
to make us go to Miami,
1414
01:20:31,219 --> 01:20:34,120
and we kept saying
we're not gonna do it,
1415
01:20:34,188 --> 01:20:36,952
but Jerry, for political reasons,
1416
01:20:37,025 --> 01:20:38,856
just announced that we're
gonna be there.
1417
01:20:38,926 --> 01:20:41,053
They think we're going
to San Diego or Miami.
1418
01:20:41,129 --> 01:20:43,620
We've never said we're going.
We ain't going.
1419
01:20:43,698 --> 01:20:45,791
They'll be no big jam
with us and Dylan
1420
01:20:45,867 --> 01:20:47,300
because there's
too much going on.
1421
01:20:47,368 --> 01:20:49,495
We never said we were going.
That's it.
1422
01:20:49,570 --> 01:20:51,128
By then John and I realized
1423
01:20:51,205 --> 01:20:53,935
that it would have been
very, very dangerous for us.
1424
01:20:54,008 --> 01:20:57,136
We had a very distinct,
clear feeling
1425
01:20:57,211 --> 01:21:01,147
that if we had gone
to the Republican convention,
1426
01:21:01,215 --> 01:21:03,877
we would have been
in danger of our lives.
1427
01:21:33,548 --> 01:21:35,175
You know, he said,
1428
01:21:35,249 --> 01:21:39,845
"The only thing I ever really wanted
to do in my life
1429
01:21:39,921 --> 01:21:43,687
was to play in
a rock and roll band."
1430
01:21:43,758 --> 01:21:45,350
And then he said,
1431
01:21:45,426 --> 01:21:50,693
"I can't let them
take that away from me."
1432
01:21:50,765 --> 01:21:54,861
The very core of his existence
was threatened
1433
01:21:54,936 --> 01:21:59,703
by what they were trying
to do to him.
1434
01:22:34,308 --> 01:22:38,404
It is now clear that Richard Nixon
is the winner of this election.
1435
01:22:38,479 --> 01:22:40,242
That's what our trend
now indicates,
1436
01:22:40,314 --> 01:22:44,114
the President reelected
by a landslide.
1437
01:23:11,179 --> 01:23:13,613
The fact that McGovern lost,
1438
01:23:13,681 --> 01:23:16,479
the fact that Nixon
was reelected again
1439
01:23:16,551 --> 01:23:18,109
and all that really upset us,
1440
01:23:18,186 --> 01:23:21,952
because in the big picture
the United States...
1441
01:23:22,023 --> 01:23:24,116
the policy of the United States
1442
01:23:24,192 --> 01:23:25,625
would affect the whole world.
1443
01:23:25,693 --> 01:23:29,254
And from that big picture,
we were very depressed.
1444
01:23:30,531 --> 01:23:32,123
Once Nixon is reelected,
1445
01:23:32,200 --> 01:23:34,293
the FBI loses interest
in Lennon,
1446
01:23:34,368 --> 01:23:37,201
says, "We're closing our file."
1447
01:23:37,271 --> 01:23:39,899
The immigration service,
though, is a good bureaucracy.
1448
01:23:41,209 --> 01:23:42,801
When they're given a job,
1449
01:23:42,877 --> 01:23:43,969
they do their job.
1450
01:23:44,045 --> 01:23:45,979
And they kept doing their job.
1451
01:23:46,047 --> 01:23:48,481
They kept doing it to Lennon
1452
01:23:48,549 --> 01:23:51,109
for another year and a half,
two years.
1453
01:23:51,185 --> 01:23:52,812
The situation is
I'm still appealing.
1454
01:23:52,887 --> 01:23:54,650
Every now and then they'll say,
1455
01:23:54,722 --> 01:23:56,314
"You got 30 days to get out,"
1456
01:23:56,390 --> 01:23:57,652
and then my lawyer will appeal
1457
01:23:57,725 --> 01:23:59,818
and we'll go up to another court
or something like that.
1458
01:23:59,894 --> 01:24:01,156
It will just go on forever.
1459
01:24:01,229 --> 01:24:02,491
Terry Southern put it well.
1460
01:24:02,563 --> 01:24:04,997
He says it keeps
the conservatives happy
1461
01:24:05,066 --> 01:24:08,502
that they're doing something about me
and what I represent.
1462
01:24:08,569 --> 01:24:09,831
And it keeps the liberals happy
1463
01:24:09,904 --> 01:24:11,337
because I haven't
actually been thrown out.
1464
01:24:11,405 --> 01:24:13,066
So everybody's happy.
1465
01:24:13,140 --> 01:24:15,506
The easy thing to do
would have been
1466
01:24:15,576 --> 01:24:18,170
just slink away
and go back to England,
1467
01:24:18,246 --> 01:24:20,840
but he chose to stand
on his rights
1468
01:24:20,915 --> 01:24:23,247
and I'm glad that he did.
1469
01:24:23,317 --> 01:24:26,184
Lennon and his legal team
went on the offensive
1470
01:24:26,254 --> 01:24:29,348
and filed a couple
of very interesting lawsuits.
1471
01:24:29,423 --> 01:24:34,019
I sued the Attorney General,
Mitchell,
1472
01:24:34,095 --> 01:24:35,528
and a whole slew of other people
1473
01:24:37,164 --> 01:24:39,860
who I claimed were
involved in a conspiracy
1474
01:24:39,934 --> 01:24:44,530
to deny John and Yoko's case
1475
01:24:44,605 --> 01:24:47,267
and get them out of
the United States improperly.
1476
01:24:47,341 --> 01:24:50,037
What do you think your chances are
of remaining in this country?
1477
01:24:50,111 --> 01:24:53,046
- 99-1.
- For or against?
1478
01:24:53,114 --> 01:24:54,877
- For.
- Why is that?
1479
01:24:54,949 --> 01:24:56,883
Because I'm overconfident,
as usual.
1480
01:24:56,951 --> 01:25:01,718
We ultimately were able to examine
the records in the case.
1481
01:25:01,789 --> 01:25:05,384
And lo and behold, deep
in John's immigration file,
1482
01:25:05,459 --> 01:25:08,553
which was a high security file,
1483
01:25:08,629 --> 01:25:14,067
were documents reaching all the way
up to President Nixon
1484
01:25:14,135 --> 01:25:17,730
showing improper interference
in an immigration case
1485
01:25:17,805 --> 01:25:19,295
and prejudgment.
1486
01:25:19,373 --> 01:25:22,740
Probably the most important documents
in the Lennon FBI file
1487
01:25:22,810 --> 01:25:26,746
are reports addressed
to the White House
1488
01:25:26,814 --> 01:25:28,247
signed by J. Edgar Hoover.
1489
01:25:28,316 --> 01:25:31,080
These were not sent
directly to Richard Nixon.
1490
01:25:31,152 --> 01:25:33,086
They're addressed
to H.R. Haldeman,
1491
01:25:33,154 --> 01:25:34,746
Assistant to the President.
1492
01:25:34,822 --> 01:25:39,088
Now, Haldeman was the most important
person in the White House
1493
01:25:39,160 --> 01:25:40,593
if you wanted to get to Nixon.
1494
01:25:40,661 --> 01:25:43,926
So when Hoover sends something
to Haldeman saying,
1495
01:25:43,998 --> 01:25:45,761
"Here's our report on our progress
1496
01:25:45,833 --> 01:25:47,630
in trying to kick Lennon
out of the country,"
1497
01:25:47,702 --> 01:25:49,431
the reason that he's doing that
1498
01:25:49,503 --> 01:25:51,437
is that Nixon wants to know.
1499
01:25:51,505 --> 01:25:54,770
I would not say that it was
integral to the politics
1500
01:25:54,842 --> 01:25:56,776
of the Nixon administration
1501
01:25:56,844 --> 01:26:01,281
to keep John Lennon from having
residence in this country.
1502
01:26:01,349 --> 01:26:03,909
I think it was of a piece
1503
01:26:03,985 --> 01:26:08,217
with the general nastiness
of the Nixon administration.
1504
01:26:23,904 --> 01:26:28,705
I had no prior knowledge
of the Watergate break-in.
1505
01:26:28,776 --> 01:26:31,142
You had the President
of the United States, Richard Nixon,
1506
01:26:31,212 --> 01:26:34,147
who was running
a rogue presidency,
1507
01:26:34,215 --> 01:26:35,773
a criminal presidency.
1508
01:26:35,850 --> 01:26:39,650
We do know, from Mr. Nixon's
long statement of May the 22nd
1509
01:26:39,720 --> 01:26:41,312
that he did approve much earlier
1510
01:26:41,389 --> 01:26:44,153
a program of wiretapping
and even burglary
1511
01:26:44,225 --> 01:26:45,658
in national security matters.
1512
01:26:45,726 --> 01:26:48,320
Did other presidents
break the law,
1513
01:26:48,396 --> 01:26:50,159
bend the law occasionally?
1514
01:26:50,231 --> 01:26:51,664
I'm sure they did.
1515
01:26:51,732 --> 01:26:53,825
Was there wholesale criminality
1516
01:26:53,901 --> 01:26:55,528
in any other presidency
in our history?
1517
01:26:55,603 --> 01:26:56,535
No.
1518
01:26:56,604 --> 01:26:57,832
For God sakes,
1519
01:26:57,905 --> 01:26:59,497
they committed a burglary,
and then they destroyed
1520
01:26:59,573 --> 01:27:02,167
the government of the United States,
covering it up.
1521
01:27:02,243 --> 01:27:07,340
That is the context in which you have
to determine and judge
1522
01:27:07,415 --> 01:27:10,646
and value what they did
to John Lennon.
1523
01:27:10,718 --> 01:27:14,518
The case against
John Lennon by the FBI
1524
01:27:14,588 --> 01:27:17,853
and the lmmigration
and Naturalization Service
1525
01:27:17,925 --> 01:27:20,359
and by President Nixon
and all his people
1526
01:27:20,428 --> 01:27:23,363
was that John Lennon
was disloyal
1527
01:27:23,431 --> 01:27:25,023
to the United States of America
1528
01:27:25,099 --> 01:27:26,225
and what it stood for.
1529
01:27:26,300 --> 01:27:30,202
The real disloyalty was Nixon's,
1530
01:27:30,271 --> 01:27:32,705
Hoover's, the INS,
1531
01:27:32,773 --> 01:27:35,037
and all the people
who were implicated
1532
01:27:35,109 --> 01:27:38,374
in the FBI and the INS
and wherever else,
1533
01:27:38,446 --> 01:27:42,041
because their perversion,
1534
01:27:42,116 --> 01:27:45,381
distortion of the Constitution,
1535
01:27:45,453 --> 01:27:47,717
their violation
of the basic principles,
1536
01:27:47,788 --> 01:27:50,416
that was the greatest
disloyalty to this country.
1537
01:27:50,491 --> 01:27:54,552
Therefore, I shall
resign the Presidency
1538
01:27:54,628 --> 01:27:57,722
effective at noon tomorrow.
1539
01:27:57,798 --> 01:28:02,064
Vice President Ford will
be sworn in as President
1540
01:28:02,136 --> 01:28:04,570
at that hour in this office.
1541
01:28:28,996 --> 01:28:32,261
Lennon was somebody
who was a born enemy
1542
01:28:32,333 --> 01:28:34,767
of those who governed
the United States.
1543
01:28:34,835 --> 01:28:36,928
He was everything they hated.
1544
01:28:37,004 --> 01:28:41,441
So I just say that he represented life,
and is admirable.
1545
01:28:41,509 --> 01:28:42,999
And Mr. Nixon...
1546
01:28:44,678 --> 01:28:47,943
and Mr. Bush represent death,
1547
01:28:48,015 --> 01:28:49,915
and that is a bad thing.
1548
01:28:53,354 --> 01:28:55,117
I have to tell you one little story
1549
01:28:55,189 --> 01:28:59,785
about the end of the case.
1550
01:28:59,860 --> 01:29:02,294
I got a call from someone
in the Court of Appeals,
1551
01:29:02,363 --> 01:29:05,298
and he said, "Look,
the decision just came in.
1552
01:29:05,366 --> 01:29:08,802
You won your Lennon case."
1553
01:29:08,869 --> 01:29:11,133
And I called John, and he said,
1554
01:29:11,205 --> 01:29:12,638
"Wait, what do you mean we won?
1555
01:29:12,706 --> 01:29:14,640
You told us that it was a loser."
1556
01:29:14,708 --> 01:29:18,303
I said, "Yes, because I didn't want
to build up your hopes too much."
1557
01:29:18,379 --> 01:29:21,974
And he said, "Leon, I'm just going
over to New York Hospital
1558
01:29:22,049 --> 01:29:25,143
"because Yoko is
giving birth any minute.
1559
01:29:25,219 --> 01:29:26,652
I'll call you from there."
1560
01:29:26,720 --> 01:29:30,315
At about 5:30...
I was bleary when he called.
1561
01:29:30,391 --> 01:29:33,485
And he said, "This is John."
1562
01:29:33,561 --> 01:29:35,654
I said, "John who?"
1563
01:29:35,729 --> 01:29:41,497
And he said, "John Lennon,
and I have a beautiful boy."
1564
01:29:41,569 --> 01:29:45,335
That day was his birthday,
his new son's birthday,
1565
01:29:45,406 --> 01:29:48,170
and he won his case.
1566
01:29:48,242 --> 01:29:51,336
I remember John's face.
1567
01:29:51,412 --> 01:29:54,677
I remember how he was
when we got that news
1568
01:29:54,748 --> 01:29:56,181
and when it was his birthday
1569
01:29:56,250 --> 01:29:58,184
and when he got
the baby as well,
1570
01:29:58,252 --> 01:30:00,015
and it was incredible.
1571
01:30:00,087 --> 01:30:01,679
I've never seen him like that.
1572
01:30:01,755 --> 01:30:06,021
He was like a little boy
looking so happy.
1573
01:30:07,094 --> 01:30:09,028
- Hi.
- Hi.
1574
01:30:09,096 --> 01:30:10,529
- I need...
- Okay.
1575
01:30:10,598 --> 01:30:13,192
John Lennon was finally presented
with his green alien card,
1576
01:30:13,267 --> 01:30:14,529
which is actually blue,
1577
01:30:14,602 --> 01:30:16,365
in the offices
of the Assistant Director,
1578
01:30:16,437 --> 01:30:18,371
and he talked to the press.
1579
01:30:18,439 --> 01:30:20,270
And this was what it was all about.
1580
01:30:20,341 --> 01:30:23,037
Finally, after four and a half
long years of struggle,
1581
01:30:23,110 --> 01:30:25,874
John Lennon got his card,
a green card,
1582
01:30:25,946 --> 01:30:30,883
saying that he is now a permanent
resident of the United States.
1583
01:30:30,951 --> 01:30:33,647
Right on, brother.
1584
01:30:33,721 --> 01:30:35,018
To come out in court
1585
01:30:35,089 --> 01:30:37,057
on the steps of
the federal courthouse,
1586
01:30:37,124 --> 01:30:38,716
and there he is,
and my goodness,
1587
01:30:38,792 --> 01:30:41,420
he has defeated John Mitchell
and the forces of evil,
1588
01:30:41,495 --> 01:30:43,395
and he's gonna be able
to stay in the country.
1589
01:30:43,464 --> 01:30:44,556
I take this opportunity
1590
01:30:44,632 --> 01:30:46,566
to thank all the kids and the fans
1591
01:30:46,634 --> 01:30:47,999
who wrote to all their senators
1592
01:30:48,068 --> 01:30:50,400
and their petitions
and all the rest of it,
1593
01:30:50,471 --> 01:30:52,905
that were working behind the scenes
for five years
1594
01:30:52,973 --> 01:30:55,567
with no pay
or no nothing, actually.
1595
01:30:55,643 --> 01:30:56,940
Just a smile.
1596
01:30:57,011 --> 01:30:58,376
- What?
- Do you bear any grudge
1597
01:30:58,445 --> 01:31:00,208
against the Strom Thurmonds
and the John Mitchells
1598
01:31:00,281 --> 01:31:02,078
for putting you through
this all these years?
1599
01:31:02,149 --> 01:31:03,810
No, I believe
time wounds all heels.
1600
01:31:17,665 --> 01:31:20,600
John was so proud of Sean,
1601
01:31:20,668 --> 01:31:24,934
and there was such an incredible
1602
01:31:25,005 --> 01:31:29,101
warm and close relationship
between them.
1603
01:31:31,512 --> 01:31:35,710
And it was a beautiful time.
1604
01:31:44,358 --> 01:31:48,454
I see that you're having
your diaper changed.
1605
01:31:49,530 --> 01:31:52,465
Is this an enjoyable experience?
1606
01:31:52,533 --> 01:31:55,468
Because I do believe some people
pay to have this done.
1607
01:31:56,704 --> 01:31:58,638
Exactly.
1608
01:31:58,706 --> 01:32:01,470
And where did you get
that outfit from, may I ask?
1609
01:32:04,211 --> 01:32:05,974
I agree entirely. Yes.
1610
01:32:07,715 --> 01:32:10,912
It is exciting, isn't it?
1611
01:32:19,727 --> 01:32:22,821
John, Sean,
and I started to have
1612
01:32:22,896 --> 01:32:28,994
such a fantastically sweet
and wonderful life together.
1613
01:32:29,069 --> 01:32:31,503
There was that
feeling of closeness
1614
01:32:31,572 --> 01:32:33,665
between all three of us,
1615
01:32:33,741 --> 01:32:38,007
and almost a kind of
urgency about it,
1616
01:32:38,078 --> 01:32:42,674
that every day we wanted to really
spend together kind of thing.
1617
01:32:42,750 --> 01:32:43,842
And we did.
1618
01:33:12,946 --> 01:33:14,379
From Washington,
1619
01:33:14,448 --> 01:33:18,145
this is the CBS Evening News
with Walter Cronkite.
1620
01:33:18,218 --> 01:33:20,209
Good evening.
1621
01:33:20,287 --> 01:33:23,051
The death of a man who sang
and played the guitar
1622
01:33:23,123 --> 01:33:26,718
overshadows the news from Poland,
Iran, and Washington tonight.
1623
01:33:26,794 --> 01:33:29,058
Former Beatle John Lennon,
who was 40,
1624
01:33:29,129 --> 01:33:30,562
was shot and killed last night
1625
01:33:30,631 --> 01:33:32,724
outside his luxury apartment
in New York.
1626
01:33:32,800 --> 01:33:35,394
The alleged killer
is an unemployed security guard
1627
01:33:35,469 --> 01:33:37,733
and printer
who had lived in Hawaii.
1628
01:33:37,805 --> 01:33:40,069
News of Lennon's death
touched off a wave
1629
01:33:40,140 --> 01:33:42,199
of shock and mourning
around the world.
1630
01:33:56,256 --> 01:34:02,092
I think the vigil was
a very good thing that we did.
1631
01:34:05,165 --> 01:34:11,934
It was all of us
around the world...
1632
01:34:12,005 --> 01:34:14,940
came together in a way.
1633
01:34:15,008 --> 01:34:18,444
So we made a ring
around the world together.
1634
01:34:18,512 --> 01:34:20,343
It was a very strong ring.
1635
01:34:47,174 --> 01:34:50,632
Well, I suppose
they tried to kill John...
1636
01:34:53,881 --> 01:34:59,547
but they couldn't,
because his message is still alive.
1637
01:35:21,608 --> 01:35:23,508
Everybody now. Come on!
1638
01:35:26,914 --> 01:35:29,007
We can get it tomorrow or today!
1639
01:35:32,252 --> 01:35:34,846
Loud! Say it loud!
1640
01:35:44,598 --> 01:35:46,361
Yes, again!
1641
01:35:55,776 --> 01:35:57,209
Okay, beautiful.
1642
01:35:57,277 --> 01:35:58,539
Yeah!
1643
01:36:08,956 --> 01:36:11,891
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