>> Their goal is to unite
the world under a single
jihadist caliphate.
>> Use fear and falsehood...
>> We had a double Guantanamo...
>> What do you talk about
when you have nothing to say?
>> This was insanity.
>> Some of these people
frightened me.
They frightened me.
>> President Bush has talked
about our staying in Iraq
for 50 years...
>> Maybe 100.
>> The danger from Iran
is grave.
>> Well, I'm not concerned
about the voters...
>> It will be a really nice...
>> Fruitcake...
>> But I can't be president
unless you choose me.
And I hope you will.
( static )
>> Deficit financing,
big government.
More taxes.
More bureaucracy.
More regulations.
More policing the world.
>> What are you guys talking
about, you know?
>> Hi, and welcome to
Director's Cut, I'm your host,
Charles Monroe-Kane.
That was a clip from the
documentary "For Liberty: How
the Ron Paul Revolution Watered
the Withered Tree of Liberty."
We're joined today by the
film's directors, Corey Kealiher
and Chris Rye.
Thanks, guys, for joining us
today.
>> Thanks for having us.
>> So, let's go back to the time
and just remind people.
Who is Ron Paul?
>> Well, Ron Paul is a
congressman from Texas who ran
for president in 2008 and found
himself at odds with his own
party.
>> He ran as a Republican.
>> Right, right.
And it was mainly over the war
issue.
I mean, he's a strict
constitutionalist, he's strict
fiscal conservative, you would
think that's something
republicans would love in their
candidates, but because of the
war issue, he was marginalized
and ostracized for it.
>> Now, two things,
we'll go to you.
I want to pick up on, one,
I want to help define what
a strict constitutionalist is
so people can know what it is.
But what separated him about
the war, as well?
What was that thing that
separated him?
>> It was, it was obvious to
people watching the debates,
his stance on the war was
drastically different than the
rest of the people on stage,
the other ten candidates, which
is what it started out with.
And he was basically, he's been
opposed to the war since the
beginning.
He voted against it, he never
supported it, and these other
candidates on the stage with
him, they're basically, I guess
you'd call neo-cons.
>> Remind us, they're Rudy
Giuliani, obviously George Bush,
who were the other people up
there?
Not Bush, I'm sorry,
John McCain, and they were all,
standard pro-war.
So he separated himself there.
It's interesting as I watch this
documentary and I think about
Ron Paul, and I remember the
Ron Paul campaign, and this is
a question for you, and would
be one for Ron Paul if he was
sitting here as well.
Why?
I mean, he was not gonna win the
candidacy for president for the
republican party, but he spent a
lot of money and a lot of his
own psychic energy to do it, and
so did you guys.
You guys made this film, you
must've started editing after he
lost.
>> Yeah, yeah, we did.
>> What's, for both of you,
start with you, what would
sustain your energy to make a
film about a candidate who
couldn't win and then making it
after he lost?
>> I think it's the thing that
sustained us all the way through
the campaign, too.
Most of us knew that, obviously,
they weren't gonna let him be
president, it just wasn't gonna
happen.
But it was more about educating
people, it was more about
bringing people on board with
the ideas of the constitution
and what it means to be free.
I think that we've lost a lot of
that in the last 50, 100 years.
We don't really have a really
good grasp on what it means to
be free.
And what it means to obey and
follow the constitution.
And when we're doing this film,
it was a lot of the same thing.
We were more concerned with just
trying to get this message out
there.
We were part of the campaign,
obviously we invested a lot of
time into this, and we thought
that, well, this is another good
opportunity, through a film,
to get these ideas out there.
>> And you, why did you make so
much sacrifice to make this
film?
>> Just to record this for
history.
This is, I think a unique event
in the political history of the
United States and even though
Ron Paul, when he announced, he
knew he wouldn't win, he figured
this would be more of an
educational endeavor than
anything.
And that's the important part of
it, so when we decided to make
the film, we wanted to show
people kind of what happened
during the campaign, what went
down during the debates, how
these other candidates kind of
treated someone like Ron Paul
with his views, on stage,
publicly in front of national
audiences.
They would ridicule and laugh
at him, and things like that.
So we just wanted to tell the
story, make sure it doesn't go
down the memory hole,
and do some education, too,
show this to audiences and
let them see what happened,
in case they missed it.
>> Let's, for our viewers who
maybe don't remember Ron Paul or
need a good reminder, let's see
Ron Paul in action.
This is a clip from the second
debate he was in.
Can you set it up for us and
then we'll show people this
clip.
>> Well, what happened was, he
was trying to explain to people
how our meddling in Middle
Eastern affairs actually hurts
our national security, because
that's the reason people come
over here and want to attack us.
And Rudy Giuliani, the big
terror warrior, jumps in and
kind of interrupts the debate
structure to make the point that
Ron Paul's insane, basically.
>> And that's the argument
we always heard, right,
about Ron Paul?
"Ron Paul's insane."
Let's see Ron Paul in action.
>> It is the constitutional
position.
It is the advice of the founders
to follow a non-interventionist
foreign policy.
Stay out of entangling
alliances.
Be friends with countries.
Negotiate and talk with them,
and trade with them.
>> They looked at the republican
stage that night and they're
like, what is this guy saying?
We've never heard anything like
this.
And what's better, it makes a
lot of sense.
>> So there's a lot of merit to
the advice of the founders and
following the constitution.
And my argument is that we
shouldn't go to war so
carelessly--
( bell rings )
When we do, the wars don't end.
>> He was talking more about the
things that really mattered, not
the war in Iraq, but should we
be the policemen of the world?
Should we be at war anywhere?
And why and when?
And under what circumstances?
>> Congressman, you don't think
that changed with the 9/11
attack, sir?
>> What changed?
>> The non-interventionist
policies.
>> No, non-intervention was
a major contributing factor.
Have you ever read about the
reasons they attacked us?
They attack us because we've
been over there.
We've been bombing Iraq for ten
years.
>> You know, if we misbehave
around the world, you know,
there are going to be people in
the world who don't like the
United States, period, end of
story.
I think that's just common
sense.
I think most kids know that, you
know, at the kindergarten level.
>> It's very easy to be Rudy
Giuliani and say, we've got to
get the terrorists.
You know, yeah, people will vote
for you for that.
It's very hard to get them to
vote for somebody who actually
makes them think, or says, wait
a minute, these slogans are fit
for a 7-year-old.
>> Right now, we're building an
embassy in Iraq that's bigger
than the Vatican.
We're building 14 permanent
bases.
What would we say here if China
was doing this in our country or
in the Gulf of Mexico?
We would be objecting.
We need to look at what we do
from the perspective of what
would happen if somebody else
did it to us.
>> I thought, what fun.
How are they going to answer
that?
It must have been embarrassing
for the other candidates to have
to sit there and hear this deep
discussion, and to know in their
hearts that the guy's absolutely
right, but...
>> That's a great clip, the
republicans must've hated him.
So, who funded this film?
Did Ron Paul fund it?
Did the Ron Paul campaign,
or supporters, or did you guys
do it?
>> We basically just did it.
We did it on the cheap, very
cheaply, so that was nice.
Chris has a 1984 veggie-driven
Mercedes, so that saved us a lot
of money on gas traveling around
the country.
And yeah, basically all we paid
for was, what, food?
People put us up for lodging, a
lot of the people that we went
around and interviewed, so we
did it very cheaply.
>> You traveled around the
country, you went to Ron Paul
supporters around the country.
>> Yep.
>> One guy from the clip was
from Texas, and a bunch of
people.
>> We went literally from coast
to coast to coast, yeah.
>> On your own fryer grease car,
sleeping on people's couches.
>> We actually had a pump with
us, a little pump that was
charged off the battery of the
car, and then we'd pull up and
pump veggie oil out of the
dumpsters at restaurants and use
that, and we drove 10,000 miles
on the trip, we did basically a
loop around the whole country
filming our interviews.
>> I just have to ask this
question because it's
interesting to me, because I
watch, I was watching this film,
sitting on my couch and watching
it, and I knew this.
They're traveling around the
country in a veggie fryer car.
You're young.
He's anti-war in Iraq,
he's anti-Afghanistan, you're
sleeping on people's floors,
that just sounds like liberal
stuff to me, like completely.
That's just the stereotypical
way people think.
But this is not liberal, Ron
Paul is conservative, he's very
conservative in a sense, more
conservative than even a John
McCain.
What's the difference, how do
you separate Ron Paul from,
like, a total left-wing liberal?
>> It's just the message of
freedom, I think, that's what
really brings people together on
all sides of the political
spectrum.
When people talk about liberal
and conservative, I think
they're just very arbitrary
divisions that we kind of impose
on politics.
And when we use terms like that
it's because we've forgotten
what it means to follow the
constitution.
We didn't really have a lot of
these problems, say, 150 years
ago.
We didn't have these deep
political divisions.
But nowadays everybody is just
trying to get their politicians
into office so they can seize
power and take what they can
from the system.
>> Sure, a simple message equals
a vote, that's what's worked.
But that means that the people
who don't do that, you guys,
aren't gonna be "successful."
You won't win.
Doesn't mean you won't get the
message out, doesn't mean you
won't be successful.
Don't you find that frustrating?
>> Well, yeah, there's a lot
working against us.
But it kind of empowers you,
though, if you keep getting
pushed down, you just want
to get up that much more.
To move your views forward,
especially with just educating
people about Ron Paul and the
issues.
>> It's funny you say that, that
was something I pulled out of
the documentary that some of
these people, it wasn't like
they wanted to be abused or
thought they were victims, but I
think they liked the fact that
the media was unfair to Ron
Paul, they kind of liked that
people thought they were done
but then they liked that
they were being lied about,
They kind of liked the fact that
they would get back up again.
>> I think we just expect that
by this point.
>> Well, tell me about some of
the people.
Tell me about someone
you met on the road that you
just remember, like, man, that's
America and I wish all Americans
would be.
>> I don't know, I couldn't pick
out just one person.
Because they all had their
little quirks that were just
really interesting.
>> During this trip, I think we
interviewed maybe 20, 25 people
for the film and the gamut, the
wide variety of people was just
astonishing.
>> It was, I was surprised by
it.
I think that if you would've
made, and I don't want to
disparage this particular
candidate, but I think there's a
lot of other candidates that ran
who, I think if you made a
documentary about their
followers around the country, it
would be fairly ubiquitous.
This kind of person, this kind
of person, this
socio-demographic.
But you guys, there were some
total free spirit types, I was
saying, like my one uncle.
He's just a trip and he's like
the cool guy.
They're interesting,
free-thinking people,
interesting people that you got
caught with.
I want to show another clip from
the film, and this actually is
my favorite part of your film.
It was about Ron Paul, the
history of Ron Paul's logo.
So why don't you set it up for
us, we're gonna see that clip
about how his logo was invented.
>> Right.
Basically it's the word
"revolution" and they take the
R"evol" and flip it around so it
says "love" backwards.
So it's basically the word
"revolution" but there's this
subtle "love" in there.
So it kind of puts a new spin on
the word "revolution" which is
really a powerful word.
And they just came up with the
slogan, these people in Arizona.
And it just, people loved it and
they started making them.
>> And he didn't, Ron Paul, I
just want to make sure people
get this.
This wasn't like, Ron Paul
didn't approve it, Ron Paul
didn't work with it, it just
happened and people started
spray-painting it and they ran
with it.
>> Right, and this was all
grassroots.
There's no contact with the
official campaign at all, I
mean, people are just out doing
things on their own.
They don't care what the
official campaign thinks.
And they're just gonna do it.
>> Wow, that must've made Ron
Paul excited and very nervous at
the same time.
>> Yeah, and it's kind of
sketchy with the FEC, the
Federal Elections Commission,
there's a lot of really strict
regulations that govern, watch
over all these selection
processes and fundraising and
all this stuff.
>> You guys just threw a spin in
the works, I love it.
Let's see that clip, this is the
logo clip from "For Liberty."
>> The Revolution logo, I don't
know, I ripped it off of
somebody, off the Internet.
I happened to see something
like that, where they did
the backwards "love."
And all we did was put Ron Paul
on top of the logo and explode
it.
>> I don't know, maybe the
implications are that a
revolution means, you know, you
bring out the guillotine and the
peasants storm the castle with
pitchforks and torches.
>> The word revolution has a
certain strength to it.
Combining it with the word love,
obviously gives it a completely
different spin.
>> We started the Ron Paul
Revolution sign production.
>> Okay, here we go.
( laughter )
>> We would do this every
Friday.
We'd have at least one to three
stations across, just in
Arizona, the Valley of the Sun
here.
We would have people on a Friday
making 200-300 signs.
>> That's another batch of
another 42 more signs for
tonight.
>> We started shipping them to
friends all over the country.
>> I needed some banners.
And I saw one of these things
that said Ron Paul Revolution,
and I go, that's pretty cool.
I got a look on the Internet and
I found out who was making them,
and I just wrote him a letter.
I said, you know, I'm Linda
Hunnicut, I would really like to
have some of your banners.
And he called back.
He said, what's your address?
So I gave him my address.
And he hung up.
About four days later, here we
get this huge box.
>> In South Carolina, we wanted
to find out who's going there,
who's going to be there.
>> The stage is set and the
candidates are ready for
tonight's republican
presidential debate.
>> Sent those to Granny
Warriors.
And a lot of the activists that
were there in support of
Dr. Paul, they held them up, and
the cameras got their first view
of them, and that's when it
kicked.
It went cross country.
>> It went cross country.
As I watch that clip I can't
help but think about the
800-pound elephant in the room.
That's Barack Obama.
From what I was told, and from
what we understood from the
media, he also had a grassroots
campaign.
He had supporters from young
people.
That was kind of a wave that
started, and obviously he won.
It's a two-part question.
First, how did you guys react
when someone with a similar
style and grassroots background
kind of just took over.
And kind of dwarfed what you
guys were doing.
And then also, what do you feel
about the Obama grassroots
campaign?
>> Well, I wonder how much
grassroots campaigning was
actually going on.
I know in Stevens Point where
we're from, he had an office and
they had sent out a lot of young
people to do some door-to-door
canvassing.
But it was all teenage kids who
just loved more the idea of
Barack Obama as president than
his ideas.
And they paid them with pizza
and soda, had a little party for
them and everything.
So, I mean, I don't how much
real grassroots was there.
>> And how did you guys feel
when that wave finally hit?
It must've been annoying,
I would assume, to you.
That's all the media talked
about, it was totally
grassroots, it's all for the
people, all that stuff.
And you guys felt you were that,
of the people and of freedom.
That's how the media put, that's
how Barack Obama framed himself.
Do you find that annoying
since you probably found it
disingenuous, I assume?
>> Well, we knew from our
experience that what was going
on inside the Ron Paul campaign
was actually a real grassroots.
There was no top-down
controlling it, it was bottom-up
controlling.
And the media was definitely
working against us the whole
time, would try to paint us as
these kooky weird people.
But with Obama, they were
holding his hand the whole way,
they were helping him along.
So anytime they would have some
"grassroots" things going on,
the media would put all the
focus and attention on it and
make people believe that it
really was this grassroots win,
when the real grassroots
movement, the Ron Paul campaign,
was kind of just tossed to the
side and ridiculed.
So I guess, what can you do?
It's somewhat frustrating,
you know, but that's just--
You've got to move on.
>> The Internet played an
interesting role in the Ron Paul
campaign, kind of post Howard
Dean, that no one else really
did.
What was the role of the
Internet for Ron?
>> The Internet was the biggest
driving factor to the whole
campaign.
Without the Internet, there
wouldn't have been a campaign
like Ron Paul's campaign.
>> That's interesting, because
that's true.
It's an interesting fact.
That means 20 years ago, it
couldn't have existed.
Meaning it can exist again.
>> Right, we saw something
similar with Ross Perot.
>> Sure.
>> And that got pretty big, even
without the Internet.
So, you know, without the
Internet, there's just no way.
Ron Paul's ideas have been out
there for a long time, since the
founding of the country.
You know, why is it that just
recently these ideas, you know,
bubbled up to the surface, and
everybody got a good look at it?
Well, it was because of the
Internet.
It was very Internet driven.
And from the Internet, it got
out to everybody else, everybody
who's not online.
>> I want to show another clip,
that doesn't need any set-up.
This is kind of a clip of you
guys, the grassroots campaign
in action.
It's a very telling clip.
So, let's see another clip from
the documentary "For Liberty."
>> I think the people now have
understood how much power they
as individuals really do have,
and where the battle really is.
Mind to mind.
Individual to individual.
One on one.
Me putting a sign out on the
freeway, and a 100,000 people
see it, know what I think.
I vote every time
I put a sign up.
>> The sign bombing culture
that developed as a means
of spreading awareness.
It was something that I did, you
know, climbing up on overpasses.
You know, putting up signs with
zip ties.
>> These are all things that the
grassroots thought of because
their man wasn't getting the
attention.
So they basically had creative
tantrums.
>> Young people are, they're
just natural born activists.
It's in their blood.
They're, you know, they're
rebellious.
They rebel against their parents
and teachers, and so it's
in them, not to be fearful,
and to stand up.
>> Don't just play by the rules.
Think of ways to do unique
things that break through.
>> It's not just what kind of
places.
It's like, can you attach it.
If you can attach it, it went
up.
>> Just walk down the street,
inconspicuously with the signs.
Then, you know, you get
somewhere, put up a sign, just
keep on walking.
>> And all these young people
that had never even thought--
I go, do you have a permit
to put that sign up?
Never even crossed their mind.
Didn't even blaze over their
cortex, brush it at all, that
they were going to seek some
kind of permission from the man
to challenge the man.
>> You don't need permission
from the man
to challenge the man.
That's the quote of the day.
I really like it.
One part of your film that you
follow, that's kind of a
narrative through the film,
that I kind of like, is there
was a walk across Wisconsin,
that Ron Paul supporters did.
Can you tell me a little about
the walk?
>> Yeah, this was after the
campaign had ended.
This group of people, they
wanted to do this walk to
Minneapolis from Green Bay,
that's about 280 miles,
in three weeks.
And the reason they were walking
to Minneapolis is because the
Republican National Convention
was happening there,
in St. Paul.
And Ron Paul, and his new
organization that he started,
called Campaign for Liberty,
they were holding a defiant,
alternative rally across town
at the Target Center.
So there were these two
conventions happening, you know,
six or seven miles away,
which is kind of crazy.
I mean, I don't think that's
ever happened before.
So these guys walked, ended
their journey, then attended
the rally in Minneapolis.
So, it just timed out really
good for us, because we kind of
followed them through their
journey and inter-cut, as they
were progressing, into the film,
through the history of the
campaign.
Then it all kind of culminates
at the end, at the rally there.
>> They seemed like interesting
characters.
They seemed like interesting
guys on the walk.
It's interesting, you were
talking about the alternative
set-up in Minneapolis.
You know, there's a stereotype
of democrats, that they tend to
shoot themselves in the foot
because they splinter.
They have different groups that
splinter and they fight among
themselves.
But once republicans have a
candidate chosen, it's lock,
stock and barrel, and you
blindly follow, and that's what
republicans do.
There's been success based on
that.
So, they must have really found
you guys a burr in the saddle,
because you didn't do what you
were supposed to do.
Republicans are supposed to
follow their leader, and you
guys didn't do that at all.
What kind of flack did you get
back from official republicans,
or from other republicans?
I would assume liberals wouldn't
be mad at you.
You were walking across
Wisconsin, oh, this is cool,
that's interesting.
But I would assume that the
right wing, the
neo-conservatists, must have
been pretty annoyed at you guys,
especially at the end, I would
assume there was some annoyance.
I'm sure he got a lot of flack.
Did you guys get people just
annoyed at you because you
weren't doing what republicans
were supposed to be doing?
>> Not, I mean, we weren't there
at the convention.
But a lot of Ron Paul supporters
had been elected as delegates,
and had gone to the national
convention.
>> Right, of course.
>> And the republican party was
pretty annoyed that they were
there.
And a lot of those people were
being watched, and the
republicans were really
expecting them to just make a
big show and just disrupt the
entire thing.
Adam Kokesh, who we just saw in
that clip, he had actually snuck
in a sign to the convention.
And while John McCain was giving
a speech, had pulled it out and
it said, "John McCain votes
against Vets," or something like
that.
And they were afraid that the
Ron Paul people who were there
were going to pull, you know,
something huge, that they were
going to make a big--
But you know, it never happened.
It was just, you know, paranoia,
I'm sure.
>> They actually had security
teams following some of
the Ron Paul delegates around
at all times.
>> Good for you guys,
that's great.
Tell me, I want to move into
another topic, because I think
this is an important part of the
Ron Paul campaign that I think
a lot of people would remember,
and I do.
It was about fundraising.
He was an amazing fundraiser.
He raised a lot of money, or a
lot of money was raised in his
name.
The one I like the most
was the November 5th.
We're going to show a clip
about it, but can you tell me
a little bit about the
thisNovemberfifth.com campaign?
>> Yeah, thisNovemberfifth.com
was basically an idea that
the grassroots came up with.
They called it a "money bomb."
The idea was that, you know,
promote this ahead of time,
and pick a date.
They picked November 5th,
which plays into the whole
"V for Vendetta," the movie,
November 5th, and how the movie
is kind of against--
>> And remind people again
what November 5th is.
It's significant in England.
>> Well, it's Guy Fawkes Day.
But that's an aside.
The real reason is they wanted
to tie "V for Vendetta" in,
because the movie itself
is kind of against a lot of the
things that Ron Paul supporters
are against, you know,
like the spying, wire tapping,
the development
of a police state.
The movie is just kind of
a parallel.
And they decided to have
this date.
They just promoted it online,
and it kind of went viral.
Then the day came, and all these
people, at the same day, within
the 24-hour period, donated
$4.2 million to the campaign.
I think that set a record
at that time.
>> Yeah, it was a record.
Well, let's check out the clip.
Let's remember, remember
the fifth of November.
>> The money bomb for
Congressman Ron Paul, organized
by grassroots supporters to
coincide with the 1723 Boston
Tea Party, is now happening.
>> Everybody wanted to see that
number go up.
Ron Paul's numbers,
you know $6 million in one day.
I mean, that's just
unbelievable.
>> Revolution is in the air.
The resistance is on.
Take action right now,
ladies and gentlemen.
Tell everybody you know.
>> We are blessed to have had
Ron Paul stand for us
all these long years!
Now we are here today
to stand for him.
( cheers )
>> And there were just parties
held everywhere, you know, hey,
let's get together.
You know, basically probably
inspired by the MeetUp groups,
which were just flourishing
all over the nation.
>> I'm with the Ron Paul
headquarters in New York,
and it's going crazy here.
We've got a couple hundred
people.
And Ron Paul is about to reach
his goal, $12 million.
>> When we blew past, you know,
you could see the crowds
going crazy, as soon
as he passed $12 million.
It's really probably a reaction
that happened across
the Ron Paul community.
( cheers )
The old thermometer came down.
And then a few minutes later,
a new one came up
with a higher goal.
And the $12 million was passed.
It was just awesome.
>> What do you think, man?
>> That was awesome!
>> Success?
>> Absolutely, $5.5 million
so far.
( cheers and applause )
>> You set the record.
In the history of American
politics, nobody has ever raised
more money on a single day
than you.
And yet, this is happening
without your campaign people
coordinating it.
This is completely about
grassroots.
And it's completely about you,
just saying what you believe in.
>> Wow, the audacity
of saying what you believe in.
We're almost out of time.
A quick question.
2012, where are you going to be?
>> Campaigning for Ron Paul,
I hope.
>> 2012?
>> We'll be there,
and "For Liberty, Part 2."
We're doing it.
>> Well, come back.
"For Liberty, Part 2."
If he wins, we'll have you back
even earlier, how's that?
>> There you go.
>> If he beats the Sarah Palin
machine that comes back.
Thank you very much.
It was a refreshing documentary.
I really enjoyed it
>> Thanks for having us.
>> Thank you all for joining us
today, as well.
For more information on
"For Liberty: How the Ron Paul
Revolution Watered the Withered
Tree of Liberty," please go to:
wpt.org/directorscut
And while you're there, send us
an email, because we absolutely
love hearing from you.
I'm your host
Charles Monroe-Kane,
and for everyone here
at Director's Cut, thank you
very much for joining us.
Check the gate.