INTERVIEW WITH POLITICAL ACTIVIST/FOUNDER OF PRO LIFE LIBERTARIAN CAUCUS RUSSELL BROOKSBANK

 

I met Russell Brooksbank (and several other Libertarian 2016 Congressional Candidates) at the Signing of the Compact for Liberty. While I don't think our paths have physically crossed since, I've kept up with him via the internet. 

JR: Welcome to my blog, Russell. I’ll start with a typical question – could you tell us how you became a Christian and how you became a Libertarian? (Okay, the second part is only typical when I’m interviewing a Libertarian.)

RB: The short answer to both of those questions is, “I was born that way.” I grew up in a Christian home. My parents made sure that I knew God. I was baptized as an infant in the Roman Catholic church my dad grew up in. I remember attending the Bible School that the neighborhood Baptist Church put on in the Summer. I grew up, and was confirmed, in the Lutheran Church. I was an acolyte, a choir member, and later served on the church council overseeing the few youths we had. I was baptized again as a young man in a park by full immersion in a metal trough while at a Bible study group I was involved with. I now attend a non-denominational Christian church. I can’t point to one particular time where I can say, “That’s when I became a Christian.” I can, however, point to many times when I have fallen and then subsequently rededicated my life to Christ. Isn’t it great that we have a God who is willing to pick us up, dust us off, and let us try again? 

I’ve also always been a libertarian. I just didn’t know it. I knew there was something inherently wrong with violating people’s rights. My parents did good raising me to adhere to the Golden Rule. My dad instilled a love of country and service to others. I was raised to stand up for people and for what I believed in. I knew what was right. I knew tyranny when I saw it. I grew up thinking that the Republican Party stood for the things I believed in, like limited government. I was so wrong. 

I joke that I was diagnosed libertarian, but it really is the truth. I was going through a rather difficult time and sought out counselling to help me navigate the rough weather of life. It helped me immensely by the way. It was during a session where we were talking about me finding some friends outside of work that she said, “I believe you are a libertarian. There’s a group that meets at Kingfish every second Tuesday of the month. Your homework is to go to one of their meetups and make some friends.” Well, the rest, as they say, is history. I found my tribe at that meetup. Finally, a group of people that I could relate to. I’ve been a Libertarian ever since and haven’t looked back. 

JR: I met you when you were running for the 9th Congressional District for the US House in ‘16. What was it like with that campaign? Did the Presidential Campaign of that year (Trump vs. Clinton for those who aren’t familiar with the distant past) have any impact on your campaign? Any experiences and/or lessons-for-everyday-life that you’d like to share? 

RB: I had an awesome time running for Congress. I really enjoyed going around the district to various events. From what you know of me, you would not guess that I’m a very introverted person. I get bad stage fright. Putting myself out there, making speeches, and doing interviews was frightening, but exhilarating. It really helped me get over my fears. I ran my campaign with blinders on. What I mean by that was I did not care what anyone else was doing. I was there to give people a choice. I was going to talk about what I would do, not about my opponents. I was there to educate, inspire, and build bridges, not tear down my opponents. Because, at the end of it all, we are all members of the community and have to find a way to coexist. 

I’m sure the Presidential campaign had some impact. We had two very polarizing candidates running. People were hungry for something different. They looked for alternatives. That probably helped boost my numbers a bit. I’m proud of what I was able to accomplish. I received over 17,000 votes while spending only $400 on a congressional campaign. There isn’t a major party candidate who can touch that vote per dollar ratio, LOL. 

My big life lesson takeaway from this is: Don’t be afraid! I saw a void in leadership and put myself out there. If you can do something and you don’t then can you really complain? I didn’t win, but I tried. I can at least tell my grandkids that I stepped into the arena. I mean, there has been an Indiana representative in Congress since the 14th Congress. That means there has been only 112 elections. My name will be included in history as being on the ballot for one of them. How cool is that? Not many people get to say that.  

JR: I’ll ask the question you’re probably wanting me to ask: What could you tell us about the Libertarian Pro-Life Caucus? How and when did it start? What does the Caucus do? Is it more of a bridge between the pro-life movement and the LP, or is it more independent of the other movements? 

RB: The Pro Life Libertarian Caucus started in earnest after the 2020 Libertarian National Convention. It was in the “Beta” stage during the convention. It was an idea that had been brewing in my head for a few years prior to that. I was always asking around and gauging interest for the formation of a caucus. I knew that I was pro-life, and I could see where the pro-life message could, and should, be the message within the Libertarian Party. I wondered if there were people like me within the party. I found that there were. There is a huge number of pro-life people within the party. 

So, I started the formation of the caucus in order to give pro-life libertarians a voice within their party. The process was a long one. We started with an organizational committee. Then after months of hashing out bylaws, platform, statement of principles, we held our online convention that took us months to complete. Our first convention officially adjourned on June 7, 2021. What we do is simply stated within our SoP. “We believe that a pro-life stance is the correct stance for the Libertarian Party. 

We strive to move the culture of the Libertarian Party towards that stance by supporting candidates for party leadership, nominees to public office, changes to our party platform, and education of fellow members.” While we will work with any pro-life organization to rid our world of the abomination that is abortion, we are primarily a group dedicated to change within the Libertarian Party. Part of changing the culture is living our principles out loud. We recently partnered with a person within the party to buy formula for some folks during the shortage. So, I see the PLLC as a vehicle to change hearts and minds within the LP and to help our community. 

JR: There are two big things that have happened this year. Well, actually one big thing and one humongous thing, but I’ll start with the big thing. Did the Libertarian Party get rid of their pro-choice plank? Could you describe what changed? How has it affected the LP? And does it change the function of your caucus? 

RB: Yes! We finally were able to get rid of the plank. For those unfamiliar, the process is simple. Each delegate to the convention gets 5 tokens (votes) that they can use to vote to bring any platform plank up for a straight up or down vote to delete it from our platform. They can put all their votes on one plank, spread them around, or don’t vote for any. If a plank gets votes totaling 20% of the number of delegates, then it comes up for a non-debatable yes or no vote. Then it takes just a simple majority to remove it. The abortion plank had come up for deletion at every convention I could remember. The token votes increased exponentially. We almost had a majority in 2020. This time around we had an overwhelming majority. The plank has been removed. 

What has changed is that now the national platform is silent on the issue. They tried to be neutral with the plank, but it failed. This change allows for members and candidates to truly be free to hold whatever opinion they want. The party has gone from, “What does the Libertarian Party think?” to “What do you, a Libertarian, think?” A much better question, don’t you think? 

I believe this will make for a better, more inclusive, LP. There were a lot of people that have told me that they just could not join or support the LP because of that plank. That obstacle is now gone. The work of the caucus is far from over. It really is just beginning. We have state affiliates and their platforms to deal with. We have hearts and minds throughout the party to win. We have candidates to support. We have programs to support. There is a lot of work to do. We are growing by leaps and bounds. I’m very excited for the future of the caucus. 

JR: Of course, the humongous thing is the overturning of Roe v. Wade. And of course the Democrats aren’t happy and the House passed a couple of bills to regain (and probably expand) their ideology. Personally, I’ve had a concern that if Roe v. Wade was overturned, many pro-lifers will congratulate themselves on a job well done and forget about the crisis pregnancy centers which will be more in need. What do you see as the short and long term effects of the SCOTUS decision? And again, how does this impact the Libertarian Pro-Life Caucus? 

RB: I issued a statement after the SCOTUS decision was handed down. It read: 

“Today was an awesome day! Today, the Supreme Court rightfully sent the issue of abortion back to each state to wrestle with individually. They found that there was never a constitutional right to kill your child because they were inconvenient. 

"Overturning Roe v Wade is an enormous victory, and I don’t want to belittle it, but there is much more work to be done. This is just the beginning. Now the fight moves to each individual state. We can’t rest. We need to push forward. We must end this practice! 

"The opposition has been riled up. They now have a rally cry. We need to be louder. Time to write your state government demanding that they recognize the rights of all people regardless of their stage of development. Time to stand firm. 

"This news also affords us the opportunity to live our principles out loud. Not only do we need to stand firm, but we need to step up. What is something that you could do to help someone in need? What can you do to help those single mothers not feel like they need to consider abortion? What can you do to help the victim of rape not feel worthless and pressured to have an abortion? What can you do to make the lives of children in foster care better? Figure out what you can do, then go do it! 

"This decision will not stop abortion in this country, but love, compassion, and understanding can. Let’s be the light. I’m going to go love someone who is hurting today. Will you join me?” 

The Pro Life Libertarian Caucus will continue to promote the Libertarian values of supporting the rights of all people regardless of location and station and supporting voluntary action to care for our fellow human beings.  

JR: Thank you for your time. How can we learn more about the caucus? 

RB: Thank you so much for the opportunity. Our website is: https://libertyprolife.org/PLLC/ We also have a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ProLifeLC) and a Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/610649603400706/) And we are on Twitter: https://twitter.com/LPProLifeCaucus.

INTERVIEW WITH MINISTER, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, AND AUTHOR SAM ROBB

JR: It is not often I get to interview a former Presidential candidate (probably never). What was it like? What lessons did you learn, and anything that has made a lifetime impact?

SR: It was really a once in a lifetime experience. I mean, even if I never run for that particular office ever again… how many people can say they’ve even tried? My biggest lesson came not just from my own particular race, but from working on Jo & Spike’s campaign last year. It’s really simple, but pretty profound: like Wayne Gretzky said, you really DO miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. What I learned in that campaign is to take a shot. Run for office. Write that book. Volunteer for that cause. Ask for that raise. Call that person. Ask for the interview. Sure, sometimes the answer will be “No”… but you will be amazed and surprised at how much you can accomplish just by showing up and doing something. Be someone who makes decisions and makes things happen instead of someone who waits to see what’s going to come down the line.

JR: Another hat you wear is being a minister. How did you come to know Christ and get into the ministry?

SR: I was saved at the age of 30. It was a long path to get there. I was raised Catholic, and went to a Catholic high school, so someone who’s been there can probably understand what I mean when I said I came out of there wanting nothing to do with religion! I was more or less an agnostic through college and my twenties. I’ve heard an agnostic described as “someone who doesn’t know the nature of God, and is sure that you don’t, either.” That was me. It was something that might be fun to argue about, but not something that was real to me, you know? It wasn’t until my wife and I returned to PA from my time in the Navy out in California that I found myself someplace different. My wife grew up in a Christian and Missionary Alliance church, and when we got back to PA, we started going there. It was pretty obvious that the people there took God seriously, and they were happy about it. It was also my first exposure to expository preaching, which really made me sit up and take notice. People who read the Bible and paid attention to what it says, not what someone says it says? Whoa! We went from there to an independent Baptist church where we found an amazing group of people and a fantastic preacher by the name of Kurt Skelly. By that point, pretty much every message I heard was convicting me of my need for a savior. So it was Easter weekend in 1999 that I finally admitted what I already knew, and accepted Christ as my savior. After that, I wanted to learn, I wanted to help, I want to do, I wanted to teach… so it wasn’t long before I started helping out with Sunday school classes, taking college courses on the Bible, and working towards understanding theology and apologetics well enough that I could do my best to communicate the Gospel message to others.

JR: I remember that one of your rivals on the campaign, Dan "Taxation Is Theft" Behrman, invited you to speak at a rally he had one Sunday. How has your involvement in the Libertarian Party expanded your ministry? Also, has anyone suggested you are mixing church and state or has questioned if Libertarianism is compatible with Biblical Christianity?

SR: That was a wonderful time! Dan is a fantastic guy, Meeting people like him and Ken Armstrong and Jo and Spike (in photo with Sam)… that was all just so wonderful, getting to know all those great people. I was delighted that he asked me to speak, because I think there’s such an unseen overlap between Biblical Christianity and Libertarian thought that the two might as well be different sides of the same coin. God gives us freedom of choice, and then uses his Word to show us that following His way is the best way… Libertarian thought is that you have freedom of choice, and if I want to convince you that I have the best way, I need to use my words - not force! - to get you to follow my advice. I mentioned Ken Armstrong earlier - Ken’s a pastor, and one of his comments really stuck with me. The idea that the Libertarian Party is his mission field. My wife reminds me of that often, that this is my mission field. I’m here for a reason, and ultimately, that reason is to see lives changed by the Gospel. I’ve had a few people push back on the idea of a preacher as a politician. Usually die-hards who oppose any and all religion, and not necessarily on Libertarian grounds. So long as I am not seeking to use the power of the state to force people to believe what I believe, where is the conflict with Libertarian philosophy? I don’t understand why we would want to use force in any case, not when we have the power of the Gospel and God’s word. I think that Christians need to get away from “There ought to be a law” and back to “We ought to preach Christ to the world”.

JR: Do you believe Christian Liberty is at risk here in the US? Why or why not? What are practical ways we can defend it?

SR: Yes. Not necessarily because of any one thing, but because it has always been at risk. Like I said above, I think that Christians need to get away from “There ought to be a law” and back to “We ought to preach Christ to the world”. As the body of Christ, we have too often gone for the easy route of using the state to force people to behave a certain way - then we declare that victory over immorality, when in fact, we’ve changed behavior but not hearts and minds. Legislating behavior the junk food version of salvation. It looks good, it tastes good, it may even feel good for a while… but ultimately, it doesn’t provide the spiritual nourishment that people need, and it kills them. Which is eerily close to the description of how sin works in our lives, isn’t it?

JR: You recently were a part of the Perspectives of Freedom event. What was your role there, and anything of interest dealt with?

SR: That was a great event organized by Liz Terwilliger. She’s an incredible lady who’s seeking the LPPA nomination to run for the US House of Representatives in her district next year. She’s been incredibly active in her community and region these past few years, and this is an example of that. She brought in a number of different speakers (Spike Cohen, Noel Olinde, Nick and Valerie Sarwark, and others) to have round table discussions about how freedom directly impacts our lives. We talked about health mandates, the military, police reform, education - you name it. There were a couple of common themes across all the discussions. The big one for me was very much related to what I see as a desperate need within the LP. We need people who are able to preach liberty. That means getting out and finding people where they are, then talking to them about the problems they are having, and then showing them how liberty is the solution to their condition. I may be biased, but I think the last 2000 years have shown this is a pretty successful model for reaching people! Folks like Liz and Spike and Jo Jorgensen have done a fantastic job of leading the way here, and I am excited to see us continue on that track as we grow the party here in PA and across the country.

JR: Most of my interviews are with people in the arts, and especially authors. You are an exception... or so I thought. Actually, you have written a short story in the sci-fi collaboration "Exploring Infinity." Would you like to tell us about your contribution and any other writing goals you have?

SR: I’ve got a couple of short stories out there now, plus a book of Dad Jokes :) You can find them all on my Amazon Author page. Hopefully there will be more to come. The past year has been busy, but I do like storytelling. My story in “Exploring Infinity” is about an alien who gets trapped on Earth thanks to an errant time-traveller. My other stories focus on “Weird Pittsburgh”, a setting where faeries, the undead and even angels sometimes wander through the City of Bridges. It’s still hard for me - I’m not a 10k word a day guy like Larry Correia, by any means! - but I do enjoy telling an entertaining story. Really, I’m just glad that some folks out there think they’re worth spending time on. That makes me happy :)

JR:Thank you for your time. What is on your schedule? Do you have a blog or webpage for those who want to follow your activities?

SR: I’m getting more involved with the newly formed Pro LifeLibertarian Caucus and with several crisis pregnancy centers in our region. I will stay involved in LP politics, though perhaps in more of a peripheral or supporting role as time goes by. I love being able to help people accomplish their goals, and contributing to or supporting a campaign or effort is one of the real joys I’ve found in the LP. You can find me on Twitter as @Samrobb4liberty, or on Facebook as SamrobbForLiberty. I also have a Substack blog named “Political Perceptions”  that I will write longer pieces for once in a while.