Bob Barr's Baggage
I intended to write this post a month or so ago, but my free time has been limited and other topics were more compelling. I realize that it's a bit late in the election campaign, but better late than never.
When I heard that Bob Barr was nominated to be the Libertarian Party's candidate for president, I was shocked. Here was a man who was so opposed to personal freedom that the mere suggestion he'd gone "libertarian" seemed like a joke. Oh sure, he espoused economic freedom, but that's not a stretch for Republicans. It was his social conservatism that I found to be anathema to libertarian principles of personal freedom.
Social conservatives believe in using legislation to impose their value system upon everyone else. While we can all agree that acts of violence upon others should be against the law, the further we go from the basics, the further we get from a free and civilized society and closer we get to totalitarianism. Without going through this subject's lengthy history, let's take marijuana as an example. How is some terminally ill guy, in his home all by himself, smoking pot to take the edge off the pain, a threat to anyone? The libertarian belief in personal freedom doesn't see a problem. But social conservatives see marijuana as a gateway to more serious, and actually dangerous, drugs.
Being a social conservative, Bob Barr saw marijuana as a problem too. During his Congressional career, he was at the forefront on the War on Drugs. Even as recent as 2002, he despised the Medical Marijuana movement.
And as we all know, while Republicans obsessed over a blow job, Osama bin Laden was busy planting bombs and planning 9/11.
Barr voted for the authoritarian Patriot Act and the Iraq War. He was anti-choice and sponsored the Defense of Marriage Act. But somewhere along the way, things changed. As part of his conversion to the Libertarian Party, he's changed his positions. On Iraq, he's says we need to get out of there now. He even went on Glenn Beck's CNN show and said so. He regrets voting for the Patriot Act. In his nomination speech, he apologized for the Defense of Marriage Act. And he's not a global warming denier anymore either.
He's even reversed course on the War on Drugs.
But Barr's new found libertarianism hasn't done much for his ability to get along with others. When Libertarian Party refugee and Republican Party rebel, Ron Paul, had a big press conference urging voters to vote for any third party candidate, rather than endorsing any one, Bob Barr backed out of the press conference. Further pressing of Paul on the issue resulted in the latter's endorsement of Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate, which could be the new home of Sarah Palin if it tweaked its platform to offer sanctuary to neocons.
Ultimately, libertarian voters have to decide by tomorrow if Bob Barr is sincere about his change. That's assuming they even find him on the ballot in their state. I'm still torn on that issue. If the presidential race were close in Connecticut, I wouldn't hesitate to vote for the Obama-Biden ticket as a McCain-Palin administration scares the crap out of me. As Connecticut has been staunchly blue since '92, I still have the opportunity to continue voting 3rd party (as I have in every presidential election). I'll let you know.
\_/
DED
When I heard that Bob Barr was nominated to be the Libertarian Party's candidate for president, I was shocked. Here was a man who was so opposed to personal freedom that the mere suggestion he'd gone "libertarian" seemed like a joke. Oh sure, he espoused economic freedom, but that's not a stretch for Republicans. It was his social conservatism that I found to be anathema to libertarian principles of personal freedom.
Social conservatives believe in using legislation to impose their value system upon everyone else. While we can all agree that acts of violence upon others should be against the law, the further we go from the basics, the further we get from a free and civilized society and closer we get to totalitarianism. Without going through this subject's lengthy history, let's take marijuana as an example. How is some terminally ill guy, in his home all by himself, smoking pot to take the edge off the pain, a threat to anyone? The libertarian belief in personal freedom doesn't see a problem. But social conservatives see marijuana as a gateway to more serious, and actually dangerous, drugs.
Being a social conservative, Bob Barr saw marijuana as a problem too. During his Congressional career, he was at the forefront on the War on Drugs. Even as recent as 2002, he despised the Medical Marijuana movement.
"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."He's probably best known for initiating the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton, though it was in regards to fundraising from China and several months before the Lewinsky affair broke. Though when that did surface, he was the first to call for Clinton's resignation.
And as we all know, while Republicans obsessed over a blow job, Osama bin Laden was busy planting bombs and planning 9/11.
Barr voted for the authoritarian Patriot Act and the Iraq War. He was anti-choice and sponsored the Defense of Marriage Act. But somewhere along the way, things changed. As part of his conversion to the Libertarian Party, he's changed his positions. On Iraq, he's says we need to get out of there now. He even went on Glenn Beck's CNN show and said so. He regrets voting for the Patriot Act. In his nomination speech, he apologized for the Defense of Marriage Act. And he's not a global warming denier anymore either.
He's even reversed course on the War on Drugs.
"Regarding the drug war, I've been there, done that, and know firsthand our current strategy is not working," said Mr. Barr. "Continuing to have the federal government run roughshod over the states, even if the citizens of a state decide they wish to legalize medicinal marijuana, for example, is wrong," he said. "As president, I would completely reorient federal law enforcement priorities, that currently are skewed far too much against marijuana possession, and would consider all - and I do mean all - options."
But Barr's new found libertarianism hasn't done much for his ability to get along with others. When Libertarian Party refugee and Republican Party rebel, Ron Paul, had a big press conference urging voters to vote for any third party candidate, rather than endorsing any one, Bob Barr backed out of the press conference. Further pressing of Paul on the issue resulted in the latter's endorsement of Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate, which could be the new home of Sarah Palin if it tweaked its platform to offer sanctuary to neocons.
Ultimately, libertarian voters have to decide by tomorrow if Bob Barr is sincere about his change. That's assuming they even find him on the ballot in their state. I'm still torn on that issue. If the presidential race were close in Connecticut, I wouldn't hesitate to vote for the Obama-Biden ticket as a McCain-Palin administration scares the crap out of me. As Connecticut has been staunchly blue since '92, I still have the opportunity to continue voting 3rd party (as I have in every presidential election). I'll let you know.
\_/
DED
Labels: Bob_Barr, libertarianism, politics, Ron_Paul
posted by DED at 10:23 AM
4 Comments:
I'm voting Obama. And a big part of the reason is because there are no legit third party candidates. Barr ain't no Libertarian, and there's no way I'd vote for him.
I wonder how Barr will affect McCain in GA.
If it's not too much trouble, please let me know. I'm curious.
Looks like Bob Barr got 28,420 votes in Georgia, about 1% of the vote. Not enough to hurt McCain.
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