| 28 May 2008
Bob Barr: Libertarian Presidential Candidate…is this a joke?
By Joe Holmes
Some people just rub you the wrong way. For me, Bob Barr is one of those people. And to think he is the torchbearer for the libertarian cause! All libertarians please heed my call – Bob Barr is a hypocrite and the farthest thing from a libertarian.
A little background about Mr. Barr…Bob Barr was a four-term Republican Congressman from Georgia. He gained notoriety in the late 1990’s as one of the most ardent critics of Bill Clinton…calling for his resignation and leading the fight for Clinton’s impeachment. The funny thing is that during Barr’s 1985 divorce he invoked a legal privilege so he could refuse to answer questions on whether he had cheated on his second wife with the woman who is now his third. I guess in Barr’s mind he has the moral high ground because he didn’t lie about it like President Clinton…but something definitely stinks here. I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to connect the dots.
Bob Barr is also a strong supporter of the pro-life agenda. However, he didn’t put up much of a fight when his second wife…the one he cheated on…wanted to have an abortion while they were still married. What a guy, huh?
Up until 2007, Mr. Barr was one of the most fervent supporters of the war on drugs, once commenting about medical marijuana, “There is no legitimate use whatsoever for marijuana. This is not medicine. This is bogus witchcraft. It has no place in medicine, no place in pain relief...” You will be happy to know that just last year Robert Barr had another change of heart – joining the Marijuana Policy Project.
Additionally, Barr was also one of key contributors to the Defense of Marriage Act, a law that allows only marriages between men and women to be federally recognized and which allows individual states to choose not to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Just last week Barr apologized for this position, essentially saying that the federal government should recognize homosexual marriages and civil unions. Another big switch!
Bob Barr is a true economic conservative…he is a proponent of repealing the 16th Amendment and implementing a fair tax on consumption, similar to a plan that Mike Huckabee was floating around when he was still running for president. Even if Barr is a pure economic conservative, he still shares more policy similarities to George W. Bush than any real libertarian. Barr was a foot soldier in the neoconservative movement. And while he may be on the right train of thought with respect to economics, he could not represent core libertarian values less with respect to his views on society and individual freedoms and liberties.
In my opinion, it is a joke that Bob Barr is the Libertarian party’s presidential nominee. I doubt any 60 year-old man who says that he has radically shifted his views in the past couple of years…especially a man who worked in politics for 20 years. It just doesn’t add up. Do yourself a favor and don’t even bother with Bob Barr…he is no champion for the libertarian agenda.
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Dean Striker
said:
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... As a libertarian before there was an LP, yes the LP might have chosen one better aligned, but Barr shows really mean political savvy, while Root provides great energy, charisma and seems on-track. I'll stick with Barr/Root as the best available. Our alternative is only the 3-stooges, all seeking more government and more debt for somewhat different objectives. Neither those candidates nor the media are addressing the moral/economic collapse of which each is a cause. Only the Libertarians espouse the rational morality needed to bring us back out of the next Dark Age. Barr/Root are now our only voice, not just to make noise, but to win. |
Robert Barr
said:
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... Yeah, they should have nominated Mary Ruwart instead because she's such a REAL libertarian. In particular I think she would really do well in the general election with her "Children should be allowed to consensually have sex with adults" and "Child porn should not be regulated ideas." That's a great way to break the "Libertarians are extreme" perception. Libertarians have to learn to be inclusive. We need hardcore libertarians (Ruwart), left-libertarians (Gravel), and right-libertarians (Ron Paul, Bob Barr), and we also need to get used to the fact that they are ALL "real" libertarians. All the libertarian movement ever does is call out those who aren't "Libertarian enough." If you think less government is almost always better, the libertarian movement should include you. Otherwise we can get used to the election results we've seen for the Libertarian Party (.21%, 1.1%, .25%, .47%, .28%, .5%, .36%, .34%) Or we could stick to people like Michael Badnarik (who lived in his parents basement while campaigning in 2004) or Mary Ruwart (yay child porn)... |
Ryan
said:
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... I entirely concur with the purpose of this organization. As a moderate libertarian, not associated with the LP at all, I believe it is vital that moderate libertarian policies based upon obtainable political objectives is the only way libertarianism will have any impact on the U.S. electoral system. Doctrine Libertarians have held the governing philosophy hostage for far too long, with their insistance on philosophical purity while libertarianism gains no political momentum whatsoever. Political compromising to achieve a politcal goal in the advancement of liberty is not a compromise of principles nor ideals. There are many moderate libertarians who stand ready to make the journey out of the political wilderness and present to the American people policies that will appeal to them not because they are 'philosophically' pure, but because they are the same ideals that inspired the words of the Declaration of Independence, and the Framing Generation to sacrifice all for liberty. I, for one, applaud this organization and the vital and important work that it is doing. More organizations such as this one are urgently needed if libertarianism is ever to grip the imaginations of the American people. Kindest Regards, Ryan Christiano National Political Science Honor Society Inductee. |
William
said:
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... My problem with Barr is that he still sees him very much as a conservative. Libertarians generally appeal to the public in general, such as the Prometheus Institute does, explicitly both liberals and conservatives, whereas Barr targets himself only towards conservatives or discontented Republicans. He seems to be that sort of hypocrite the GOP specialize in. It's funny how many of the chief prosecutors of Bill Clinton in Congress had incongruities in their own relations. With Barr as the current standard-bearer, libertarianism looks simply like a right-wing movement, of those in the GOP unsatisfied with the current leadership. On his Facebook group, he calls himself a conservative's conservative. Barr has said that one of the benefits of his candidacy is that he will increase the chances of GOP candidates for Congress as conservatives who mightn't have voted for McCain would vote for him. If anything, that's the inverse of what I think should be a Libertarian strategy. I think the idea of voting for a third-party candidate for President in the United States at the moment does not make sense, as people have to make a practical choice, and take responsibility for the implications of either an Obama presidency or a McCain presidency. But it would be fine to work for increasing LP presence at a local level. |
Jusitn Altman
said:
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... Barr may have been the antithesis of the Libertarian Movement, at one point, but how are we ever going to grow as a group if we constantly ostracize new 'converts'? Lets assume for a second that Barr is not entirely forthright with his motives for joining the LP. As the presidential nominee, he will either work to help our Liberty, or against it, by not spreading the message and sitting our the race. If we were to support this person, and he then later turns back to the GOP, what have we lost? Nothing, except what we thought was an ally. The movement, the progression toward having a better political system, wouldn't take a step back because a former captain jumps ship. In this season, where Obama should have no trouble beating McCain, we need to be working harder than ever to support the LP, as Barr has just about as much chance to 'win' as does McCain, and we can use this to diffuse any talk about not 'wasting' their vote. If you are choosing to not support Barr, and not campaign for the LP, what are you doing to help? |
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