An Interview With Rick Williams and Trevor Lyman: Libertarian Strangebedfellows with the Left
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
The Art of the Possible’s mission is to bring together liberal and libertarian writers who agree on certain politically and morally enlightened essentials, and to encourage political coalitions in defense of same. Few projects, therefore, could be more suitable for this site’s participation and promotion than the Strangebedfellows alliance, and the AccountabilityNow political action committee it has led to:
Strangebedfellows is a unique and diverse left–right coalition which has come together to put a stop to the eradication of civil liberties in America. Modeled on a similar group in Britain, the initial Strangebedfellows group encompasses Ron Paul supporters (BreakTheMatrix.com, Rick Williams and Trevor Lyman), leading bloggers from the left (Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com, Jane Hamsher of firedoglake.com) and many more who share the view that warrantless surveillance, telecom immunity and other such outrages of the lawless surveillance state MUST END—AND END NOW. Our group of Strangebedfellows is organizing a moneybomb on behalf of AccountabilityNowPAC, and we’re reaching out to friends and colleagues from across the political spectrum who believe in the Bill of Rights and freedom in America. So join us– become a Strangebedfellow! Add your name and group to our list of backers, and enter your pledge today to donate to AccountabilityNowPAC. Let’s reverse these police state sellouts by our political leaders—FOREVER.
This week, Congress passed an atrocious bill that not only grants retroactive immunity to the telecommunications giants who for years illegally cooperated with the Bush Administration’s warrantless spying on Americans’ international telephone calls and emails, but the legislation also strips the 30-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of its warrant requirement for eavesdropping on broad categories involving U.S. citizens, allowing warrantless spying on Americans’ electronic communications when the “target” is someone “reasonably believed to outside the U.S.” Republicans and Democrats brought this about; civil libertarians across the political spectrum are outraged.
AoTP is therefore delighted to interview Rick Williams and Trevor Lyman, and to support the current pledge-drive to hold accountable those in our Congress who voted for telecom amnesty and abridgment of our civil liberties. Pledges can be made via either the logo above or at the end of this interview, and pledgers will then all contribute on August 8, in one “money bomb.” Bloggers who wish to make known their public support by adding their names to the growing list of Strangebedfellows may do so here.
August 8 is the date on which Richard M. Nixon resigned from the office of president.
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AoTP: Rick and Trevor, welcome, and thank you for taking the time to talk with us. You are both libertarians who worked very hard on the 2008 Ron Paul presidential campaign — a campaign which conventional wisdom had held would not get much attention at all. Because of your efforts (and Dr. Paul’s, of course), that campaign became A Phenomenon. Why do you think the Paul message became so popular?
RW: Ron Paul said it best on the campaign trail: “Freedom is Popular!” The Ron Paul campaign was all about freedom, and his supporters (particularly the younger ones) found his words about limited constitutional government, sound money, an end to the overseas empire, and an end to the police state at home to be the right message for the times we live in. Our government in Washington DC has brought nothing but decline, and failure, and war, and debt. It’s time for a change– real change– and Ron Paul’s supporters know that.
AoTP: How did the Strangebedfellows/AccountabilityNow alliance come about – who first reached out to whom?
RW: The Strangebedfellows alliance of left and right actually came about through Joshua Koster, one of our members at BreakTheMatrix. Josh is a young political activist in Washington DC, and he works in the world of media and advertising, Josh represents a number of Democratic political candidates, and he has many contacts with the left. He realized that BreakTheMatrix and many of the leading bloggers on the left shared the same views and values on the subject of civil liberties and constitutional rights, and he brought us together with Glenn Greenwald and Jane Hamsher.
AoTP: Also, hasn’t Strangbedfellows been working in conjunction with the American Civil Liberties Union? If so, how did that come about and has it been a comfortable arrangement?
RW: We at BreakTheMatrix were pleased when the ACLU became involved in the Strangebedfellows effort. The ACLU has been a positive and consistent voice for civil liberties in America for a long time. We think it is entirely proper and appropriate that Bob Barr, Libertarian Party candidate for president, is an ACLU member.
AoTP: Considering how polarized American politics tend to be, it’s quite unusual to find such an alliance between the right and left ends of the spectrum. What are the core values shared by everyone in this coalition?
RW: In our view, the terms “right and left” and even “Democrat and Republican” have become largely meaningless in modern political discourse. The true divide in this country is between our establishment political class on the one hand, and the people they purport to serve on the other. Very simply, our political leaders of both parties have lost their way; they serve only themselves; and they stand for nothing that matters to the American people as a whole. Look at what happened after the Democrats received a mandate in 2006 to end the war in Iraq. Nothing happened. The leadership groups of both parties have continued forward with the war in complete disregard to the wishes of the American people. That’s why the Democratic congress has an 11% approval rating– they failed to fulfill their promises. Our Strangebedfellows alliance reflects a transpartisan consensus that the Iraq war must end; that the “War on Terror” is a sham; and that the police state measures of the FISA reauthorization “compromise” are an unacceptable encroachment on the civil liberties of the American people. These are core values that BreakTheMatrix and leading thinkers and writers from the left hold in common.
AoTP: And the flip side: what are some significant issues about which members of the coalition disagree, but are willing to set aside for now in pursuit of common goals?
RW: Many on the left still hold to the view that big government can somehow serve as a positive force for the American people. We at BreakTheMatrix look at the endless string of big government failures, and see no basis to expect anything better in the future. Very simply, we perceive that a socialist welfare state model is doomed to always and eternally fail– that the model itself is irretrievably flawed. The “big government” left and the “limited government” right are far removed from any consensus about how a society can (and should) best operate for the benefit of its people. Can these differences be put aside forever? No, of course not. But can we work together DESPITE such differences? Absolutely.
AoTP: Libertarians, some right- and many left-wingers have about eight years’ worth of complaints against the current administration’s actions, but not until the telecom amnesty bill — which also permits warrantless eavesdropping on Americans’ international electronic communications — have we seen a cross-spectrum coalition to fight it. Is there something uniquely repugnant about the telecom amnesty bill, or was it more of a “straw that broke the camel’s back” event?
RW: I think it’s a matter of timing more than anything else. Most of the stronger members at BreakTheMatrix were deeply involved in the Ron Paul presidential campaign, and genuinely perceive that this is a unique moment in American history. The moment has not “gone away” merely because John McCain will ultimately be the Republican standard-bearer in November. If anything, the freedom movement sparked by Ron Paul is gaining strength every day. One lesson we did learn from the Paul campaign is that coalition building is essential in politics. It’s not enough to rally a small group of true believers, and the great principles of freedom are not something that we as Ron Paul supporters hold alone in this country. The bipartisan political kiss of our Democratic/Republican leadership group in Washington DC is creating a growing disaster for ALL Americans, and freedom is the solution which cuts widely across our political spectrum.
AoTP: How did the money bomb idea come to be, evolve and be implemented for the Ron Paul campaign?
TL: I found the idea in a video on YouTube. James Sugra came up with the concept of having one day where 100,000 people would donate $100 each for a total of $10 million. At that point I took the video and placed it into the RonPaulForums.com forum to see if people were interested in participating. They were!
I bought the domain ThisNovember5th.com and proceeded to use my knowledge and experience about how people behave on the internet to create a website that would help grow pledges. By giving people feedback and statistics about the number of pledges and the best ways to spread the word, I was able to keep people motivated and on target towards our $10 million goal.
People became excited about giving money to the Ron Paul campaign when they realized it was a way to get him noticed in the main stream media. From this and with the help of the live money ticker on Ron Paul’s website the concept of the money bomb evolved. Supporters began asking for other supporters to donate at the same time in order to get Ron Paul’s money level above “X” amount within a given time frame and this created the money bomb.
AoTP: Many of the people you hope to reach with your August 8 AccountabilityNow money bomb campaign are ideologically opposite in many respects from the folks who contributed to the Ron Paul money bombs. Will that demographic difference impact the “bombing” strategy, and if so, how?
TL: Politically the demographic is different, but in terms of the issue and the fact that we are targeting those that use the internet for their information there is no difference. I don’t think the way this will work is going to be changed and so I don’t foresee a change in strategy.
AoTP: Why did you choose August 8 as the money-bomb date?
RW: We all realized that the week of July 7 would be a very significant time of debate on the FISA bill. For many in the Senate, this will be their opportunity to stand up for freedom and civil liberties. We perceive that the American people will be focusing on the FISA debate this week, so this was chosen as the “launch date” for the money bomb effort. It takes about a month for the money bomb to develop its full power and potential across the internet– hence August 8.
We’ve also selected August 8 because that is the date Richard Nixon resigned from office as a result of his Watergate conduct, which itself involved surveillance on his political adversaries. The Nixon resignation is a good example of what the American people can do when moved to action. Even a president, let alone a group of telecoms, is not above the law.
AoTP: What do you plan to do with the money you raise?
RW: BreakTheMatrix is a “for profit” company, so we will not be involved in making campaign contributions to or on behalf of political candidates. Our role in connection with the AccountabilityNowPAC is as a vendor and service provider retained to organize and fulfill the money bomb. Others from the right and left will ultimately decide how the money is spent. But we believe the mission is clear: candidates and politicians (whether Democrat or Republican) who support civil liberties will be supported by the PAC, while those who oppose freedom in America will not be supported.
AoTP: Telecom amnesty and warrantless surveillance of Americans’ international communications are unpopular with Americans; in theory, therefore, to please voters most elected officials should oppose a bill providing for such measures. Why then has a PAC become necessary vis-a-vis these and related civil liberties issues?
RW: Look at the record of our politicians. The big corporations give them money, and the politicians vote in favor of the money providers. The wishes of the American people are of little importance. And, of course, our politicians and the mainstream media keep up a steady drumbeat of fear-mongering propaganda about the supposed threat of “terrorism” at home and abroad. Not surprisingly, a sizable number of people in America believe such stories, and these people all too often are ready to trade liberty for the illusion of government sponsored “security.” An informed populace is essential if freedom is to survive, and regrettably, the stream of news transmitted to the American people through the mainstream media is designed to mislead rather than inform.
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The Art of the Possible staffers Mona and Jennifer Abel conducted this interview. (more…)