The Cult of Nystrom (seeking help on an upcoming thread/article/series)

[thewhammy]

For those of you who don't know, Michael Nystrom is a middle-aged, self-described "political neophyte" who runs the website "Daily Paul."

Over the pats few years, I have watched as that site has developed into an unofficial watering hole of sorts for this movement. I have also watched the tone of that site go from grassroots activism for Dr. Paul's campaign to (especially after the campaign ended) an increasingly fringe site that is dominated by the Alex Jones / Truther / Birther elements that use this movement to spread their ideologies. During this time, I have even seen a change in Nystrom's own views, expressed through his forum activity and the posts he chooses to prominently display.

It has recently been brought to my attention that Nystrom has "banned" many users from his site merely because they advocate that the movement stay "focused" on core issues where there is more consensus and avoid "movement creep" into fringe topics (chemtrails, 9/11 conspiracies, NWO rhetoric) that make it harder for us to grow and achieve victories. I have been in touch with former moderators from Daily Paul, and have been sent dozens of forum posts and emails authored by Nystrom that paint a disturbing picture of a paranoid, angry, profane, irrational, and threatening individual who is a poor ambassador for the movement.

The "straw that broke that camel's back" in this case is a chain of emails and posts sent to me by a former moderator that deal with a long-time activist who had been posting at Daily Paul for several years and was a Meetup leader going back to early 2007. When this person urged more restraint on the Ken Buck/C4L "dustup," Nystrom and his "cult" slammed him hard. Nystrom personally and repeatedly alleged that this person was a plant, and demanded that he identify who he was and who he "worked for." Even after Nystrom schizophrenically pulled a 180 on the Ken Buck/C4L issue (after talking to Dr. Paul himself and getting shamed), Nystrom began posting this anonymous user's personal information online, and sent threatening emails to him saying he would "destroy" him.

Frankly I think the evidence is clear that Nystrom, while he may be well intentioned, is a negative influence on this movement. I respect those who disagree, but I think the coddling of fringe elements and clear territoriality shown by Nystrom disqualify him from being a visible leader in this movement.

I'm just one man, and I have a few sources that represent only part of the story. I am writing this post because I want others with information on this story (from all perspectives) to come forward so we can have a thorough public debate on this issue. I don't want to publish some lengthy article - on these forums or elsewhere - that omits facts.

Your thoughts?

 

[Agorism]

That site has always been that way.

However, the one good thing about it is that there is almost total free speech on that website... although there is a lot of craziness that goes along with it.

 

[norfair18]

I've been disappointed with the acceptance of the fringe elements as well, who by association discredit us. I also thought Nystrom's "I can destroy you" comment was wholly inappropriate and I was stunned he would make such a threat against a poster who wished to remain anonymous. The conversation with Dr. Paul as he relayed it back didn't convince me either why he made a 180 on the issue. But I give him huge props for the Daily Paul and his sacrifice for it, but if he doesn't realize that Truthers and chemtrails should not be accepted since they have nothing to do with liberty, or at least relegate them to a forum off the front page, it makes the 95% of Paul supporters look less extreme.

 

[low preference guy]

..

 

[Agorism]

None of the mods there ever gave me any trouble.

I even liked to post making fun off all the truther threads, and they never minded.

 

[thewhammy]

Agorism: I don't see "free speech" there. It's this bizarre Shadow Land where the regulars (and some of the extreme moderators like legalizeliberty) are fringe wackos, and THOSE ideas get "free speech" protection. But if you dare to advocate something different (like, for example, "Hey guys, let's take the chemtrails debate to another website so it doesn't reflect badly on Dr. Paul" you risk getting banned. When that happens, Nystrom seems to pull the "this site is my private property" card. I see the big picture at DP as "free speech if your views are popular among people who give money to Nystrom."

Nofair: The "destroy you" threat made my jaw drop when I saw it. Just this morning I got the follow-ups to that forwarded to me. The user responded to the "who are you and who do you work for?" attacks by half laughing at them and pointing out how paranoid people were being that he was taking a "let's wait and see what C4L has to say" or something, and half saying that he couldn't go attaching his name to forum posts because it could harm his career prospects. I think that's understandable. Nystrom then came out with the whole "I know who you are, and I can destroy you" line and poster caved privately, and offered several ways they could work out their differences. He even offered to not post anymore, if Nystrom would give him an assurance that the threat was not for real.

Well, Nystrom responded saying he would think about it and get back to him the next day. He never did. A week or so later, Nystrom sent an email titled "What the fuck are you doing back on my site?" after the user complimented Nystrom publicly for reversing course on the Ken Buck issue and encouraging less infighting. The email said:

I thought we made a deal. I guess you don't care about that? Oh well [used a name he claimed is the poster's] - if you don't play by the rules, I won't either.

The info I got this morning was that the poster responded by questioning whether Nystrom was experiencing mental problems, since he never responded and wasn't making any sense. Nystrom then admitted this, and said "I'm busy too. I know I never got back to you. That being the case, what makes you think that you had any right to proceed to post on my site? You have no such permission. You are hereby banned from participation on my site. Please do not come back. The site is private property."

I laughed at that. He bans people like Obama spends money. He didn't ban this person, and then complained that, after not hearing any response and witnessing an "epiphany" following the Ron Paul phone call, the person used the not-banned account to post.

Since then, Nystrom has denied making threats against the anonymous poster. Here are some of the public threats Nystrom made. He has since deleted many of these posts:

1/31/2010:

You are afraid to use your real name, but I already know it. My crack team of eyeballs on this site were able to smoke you out pretty quick.

But I do know your name, your address, your employer, your email address and more. If you're afraid that this information could jeopardize your future career prospects, you have now met your fear. You have left me with incredible power over you. I know exactly what you fear, and I have the information to destroy you.

Nystrom also posted, publicly, a first name that he claimed was this person's, as well as the registration and end dates of a website he claimed this person registered.

You registered the name with GoDaddy on December 3, 2006, and it expires on December 3, 2010. Like I said, we smoked you out pretty quick after you started harassing me. I am thankful to have loyal and very, very intelligent supporters. Not much gets by this team.

I recall there being more scary stuff from Nystrom in emails. I'll have to sort through all of this as I gather information for an article.

LowPromotionGuyThe nutty stuff is usually pretty prominent in the recent threads. There's a "Daily Chemtrail Report" that is often one of the top threads. One of the front-page stories today is some "dirty tricks" report from PrisonPlanet, which has zero credibility. But yes, sometimes there are other things going on that are more mainstream, and the loons are marginalized. But they're definitely welcomed by Nystrom.

The former moderator also told me he is in talks with a current moderator who is a pretty recognizable name, who is not happy with the direction of the DP - and this guy actually BELIEVES in conspiracies but thinks the way DP is run is a disgrace that hurts the movement.

I think we just need responsible people to build up momentum and take this movement back from people who use the Paul name to construct personal fiefdoms and monuments to their egos and fringery.

 

[Agorism]

Agorism: I don't see "free speech" there. It's this bizarre Shadow Land where the regulars (and some of the extreme moderators like legalizeliberty) are fringe wackos, and THOSE ideas get "free speech" protection. But if you dare to advocate something different (like, for example, "Hey guys, let's take the chemtrails debate to another website so it doesn't reflect badly on Dr. Paul" you risk getting banned. When that happens, Nystrom seems to pull the "this site is my private property" card. I see the big picture at DP as "free speech if your views are popular among people who give money to Nystrom."

1) I always make fun of the chemtrails posts and truther threads.

2) I normally get a response of someone getting suspicious that I'm a troll.

3) Then I normally claim, in response, that I'm some sort of government agent, whichever organization I'm in the mood for for fun.

The admins never seemed to care as far as I could tell.

 

[Petar]

I've been banned from there twice.

First time was after I posted a thread against Zeitgeist II, which Nystrom personally attacked on his front page.

I then had a prolonged battle with a bunch of Zeitgeist II trolls, including Nystrom at the time, and that is when I was banned, for being too rude about it I guess.

I now forget why I was banned the second time though...

Anyway, I don't totally trust Nystroms judgment, he pushes things that are totally against our legitimate purpose pretty frequently, whether it's Zeitgeist II nonsense, or if it is Elliot Wave crap about deflation being imminent, or anarchy bullshit...

In fact, I'm pretty sure that he is a goddam reptillian.

 

[Agorism]

I'm an anarchist. They don't mind.

 

[thewhammy]

Agorism: Nothing wrong with being an anarchist. I think many of us are trending in that direction because we don't trust the system to elect people who will uphold the contract.

They have no problem with you there as long as you aren't disagreeing with the direction the site is taking. If you do disagree, you have to be a lamb, it seems like. If you make the argument that some ideas shouldn't be linked to Ron Paul, the crazies get even crazier and call you a "plant" or "shill."

 

[norfair18]

3) Then I normally claim, in response, that I'm some sort of government agent, whichever organization I'm in the mood for for fun.
___________________________________________________________________________

Ha, mind if I steal that sometime?

But in fairness to Nystrom, he is good intentioned, and the main threads he posts on the front page from what I can see usually stick pretty close to the main message of liberty. I do think he said he was working on a different forum page off the main site for conspiracy theorists, but I don't have a quote for that. We've all said stupid things on the internet too, and Nystrom IMO has his share, but hopefully in the end we can unite and we won't be divided by some of the unreasonable members we come across.

 

[Imperial]

But I do know your name, your address, your employer, your email address and more. If you're afraid that this information could jeopardize your future career prospects, you have now met your fear. You have left me with incredible power over you. I know exactly what you fear, and I have the information to destroy you.

This reminded me alot of Ellsworth Toohey.

 

[Flirple]

I've never gone to that site and lasted more than a few minutes before I got too creeped-out by all the pseudo-science and crackpot advertisements and had to close the page.

Too be honest, I'm to the point anymore where I don't think any site in our movement isn't at least a little bit guilty of spreading such nonsense or at least appeasing/ pandering to that crowd.

If I didn't understand economics, liberty, and America's real history already and Istumbled upon our movement and Ron Paul, I think I would just dismiss us as nuts too.

I don't get it. Why are people (including Ron Paul himself) so careless with our credibility?

 

[thewhammy]

I've never gone to that site and lasted more than a few minutes before I got too creeped-out by all the pseudo-science and crackpot advertisements and had to close the page.

Too be honest, I'm to the point anymore where I don't think any site in our movement isn't at least a little bit guilty of spreading such nonsense or at least appeasing/ pandering to that crowd.

If I didn't understand economics, liberty, and America's real history already and Istumbled upon our movement and Ron Paul, I think I would just dismiss us as nuts too.

I don't get it. Why are people (including Ron Paul himself) so careless with our credibility?

Very well spoken.

 

[nayjevin]

I don't get it. Why are people (including Ron Paul himself) so careless with our credibility?

'We' don't have credibility, or lack of it. Individuals have credibility or lack thereof. Further, individual claims by individual people have credibility or lack thereof.

The problem is collectivism. Lumping people into groups. People who stumble on any message board may or may not understand this truth, and may or may not judge an entire site for some of its members, may or may not judge a person for some of his/her statements.

 

[constituent]

what, this is unique?

i've seen people's names lorded over them here i don't care to say how often...

and if you're a shit head about the way that you disagree w/ the direction of this site, you'll probably be banned too.

if you don't like what nystrom is doing, don't enable it. don't drive traffic to it, don't boost his ad revenue.

what is to be gained by skewering him in this manner? certainly NOT the anonymity kinda-banned mod. was ostensibly after....

and all that said, i've never been a daily paul reader. too many things i didn't like about it, but i'm not letting it worry me. you probably shouldn't either.

 

[constituent]

Why are people (including Ron Paul himself) so careless with our credibility?

Maybe if Ron Paul is doing it too, it is really your "credibility" that should be in question?

 

[saul4paul]

I forget how many times I was banned.

 

[liberalnurse]

I still don't get it. What good can possibly come from these repeated attacks on Nystrom/Daily Paul? I've never seen an attack on Liberty Forest at the Daily Paul. So what"s up with these? They're just as passionate and committed as we are. My gosh, people when the DP was down over Christmas, you all welcomed the DP folks to these forums and now you rip on them. I've noticed its the same person posting new and bumping year old threads critical of the DP. It sounds personal to me. If he has a beef with Nystrom then take it to Nystrom/DP. For the sake of unity and the movement leave us out of it. We're all in this together, aren't we?

 

[WRellim]

But I do know your name, your address, your employer, your email address and more. If you're afraid that this information could jeopardize your future career prospects, you have now met your fear. You have left me with incredible power over you. I know exactly what you fear, and I have the information to destroy you.

I Am Not A Lawyer -- but that looks to me like an "actionable" threat -- meaning you could either seek charges and/or sue his pants off for it.

At the very least, a nice little "letter" from your attorney would likely shut his piehole (and probably cause the muscles on the other end to clamp tightly shut as well!)