Interview with 2004 Presidential Candidate Aaron Russo
This interview with presidential candidate Aaron Russo is good stuff. Deaniacs take note. Kucinichiacs too. And Perotians. And, yes, Naderites.
The only downside is that it doesn't have his picture and the context isn't set at the beginning (because it's an adjunct to this main article). I'm posting the whole thing for archival and e-mail forwarding purposes. (That means-- forward this!)
The Auburn Plainsman Online - Interview with Aaron Russo
Interview by David Mackey
Online Editor
February 19, 2004
Plainsman: Looking at your web site, a common theme of your remarks is that we need to return government to a role as a servant of the people, rather than a master. How do you think we got away from that, and how will you change it?
Russo: We got away from that by getting away from the American Constitution. Only by returning to the Constitution will government return to its proper role.
Plainsman: How do you see the government's role in our lives?
Russo: I see the government as a servant. Have you ever studied the Constitution? The government only has 17 delegated powers -- we're talking about the federal government.
The federal government's designated role is to protect the borders of America, national defense, coin money -- even coining money, which they're supposed to do, they don't do anymore, meaning now it's the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve is a private bank, it's not a federal agency.
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See Also: Russo Rising: Libertarian candidate for president visits Auburn
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So what I want to do, as far as the United States, is return America back to the basic principles of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison and get away from George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
Plainsman: You advocate bringing the troops home from Iraq. What do we do next?
Russo: What do we do next? We don't do anything next.
Plainsman: Then how do you see America's role in the world?
Russo: Friendship with everybody, free trade with everybody, but as George Washington said, no entangling alliances. In other words, I don't think it's America's job to police the world. I don't think it's proper to send American's troops to Iraq for "shock and awe," destroying children, maiming children, killing people for no reason. Saddam Hussein never did anything to America, and we have no reason to be there.
There are many despots all around the world. America doesn't have any right to go into other countries and force a form of government on them. It's up to the people of the country to have self-determination as to what kind of government they want to live in.
America keeps talking about democracy, and America's not supposed to be a democracy. In a democracy, 51 percent of the people control 49 percent, and that's not freedom. In a constitutional republic, as America was designed to be, 99 percent of the people can't control 1 percent of the people. Everyone has their God-given rights as a human being. As long as you don't do violence, theft or fraud, you can do whatever you want with your life. It's your choice.
You own your life. I don't own you, you don't own me, I don't own these people out here. Each one of us owns our own life, we're private property for ourselves, so we're free to do with our life as we wish. That's the basic principles of libertarianism and the basic principles of the Constitution. The Constitution's a libertarian document.
Plainsman: You advocate abolishing the PATRIOT ACT. What can America do to prevent attacks like Sept. 11?
Russo: America has bases in 130 countries around the world. We're the only country that has that. We spend more on defense than the next 25 countries combined.... We're the most imperialistic country in the world. We're the most aggressive country in the world. If we didn't do that, I don't think we would have been attacked on Sept. 11.
Now, if I were the president on Sept. 11, what I would have done is show the American people the proof and then gone after the people who did it. What George Bush did was, he never showed us the proof of what happened and he just told us it was Osama bin Laden. Then they went after Saddam Hussein, who did nothing to us. It's been a giant diversion. If there's going to be a war on terror, and it's going to last years and years and years like they say, then it seems the American people have a right to know what did happen on 9/11. Why is George Bush not telling us?
Plainsman: You talk about how America is supposed to be a republic rather than a democracy, where the majority can't impose their preferences on the minority. What are some examples you see in America today where the majority imposes their beliefs on the minority?
Russo: Look at the polls. People make decisions based on polls. It doesn't matter what the polls say. Fifty-one percent can't tell 49 percent what to do. If 51 percent say "Abortion should be illegal," they make it illegal. They use public opinion polls to determine the policy of the country. Policy is based on polls rather than the fact that you, as an individual, can do whatever you want to do.
It's your life. Let's say you have cancer, and the FDA says you have to have chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. That's nonsense. If I have cancer, I'll do whatever I want. For you to limit my choices, that's tyrannical.
Plainsman: Why are you running? Why do you believe you are the person to --
Russo: Because I don't know anybody else who'll do it. George Bush and John Kerry aren't going to change anything. You'll have the same policies in effect after the election. John Kerry voted for the PATRIOT ACT, he voted against the war, he voted against medical marijuana, the same three things George Bush did. What's going to change?
Whichever one wins, it doesn't matter because nothing's going to change. The only way to change things is to vote a third party in. But they tell you if you vote for a third party, you're wasting your vote, but it's just the opposite. With the two major parties, nothing's going to change, and so it's their fabrication, it's their propaganda so people won't vote for a third party. The two parties want to maintain control.
Plainsman: What is your vision for libertarianism in the future? It seems that most Americans have accepted a role for government in education, in health care, all these things you would take government out of. Do you think that opinion can be changed?
Russo: That's all very recent. I think since government's been involved in education, the education system's completely fallen apart. I remember Bill Clinton, in his State of the Union speech, he talked about "We have to have national testing standards." Congress stood up and applauded, "Yeah! National testing!" What a bunch of fools! If we have national testing standards, that means we have national teaching standards. It goes right along with it. The federal government's going to dictate what you learn in school. That's how they got the brownshirts in Germany.
The last thing you want is a central authority dictating what you learn in school. That's not what it's about. Every community may think different things are important to them. A rural community may think one thing, an urban community may think another. It's up to the parents and the local school people to decide what's best for school.
You should run public schools like a private school, run by the headmaster and the parents. If the federal government was in charge of the school system, they'd never learn the Constitution. They don't want them to learn the Constitution because they don't want them to know what their rights are. See, the Constitution doesn't give you your rights. The Constitution tells the government what their powers are. Once the people know what the Constitution says, then you know what the government's real powers are. They don't know that.
So the whole idea is to educate people to learn the Constitution, learn the Bill of Rights, learn what the Framers meant when they wrote what they wrote and why they wrote it. That's what's important. If you have the federal government teaching you and laying down the rules, it's a very bad situation.
Plainsman: You've had a decades-long career in entertainment, and you've worked with a lot of famous people and flamboyant characters. Do you see any similarities between the world of entertainment and the world of politics?
Russo: Somebody once asked me that question -- it's a good question -- and they said "What's the difference between politics and entertainment?" I said, "In politics, they stab you in the front," and that is the difference. In show business they stab you in the back. That's the big difference between the two. Other than that, it's a stage everybody plays on.
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