Bob Barr has officially entered the presidential race vying for the Libertarian Party’s nomination. I’ve written supportive articles of Bob Barr in the past and if he is the Libertarian nominee I’d happily vote for him. He certainly doesn’t have the unblemished record of a Ron Paul, but few do. Ron Paul is in a class to himself. So he’s no Ron Paul, but he now is a viable candidate running for President on the Ron Paul message. See his video message officially announcing his run for Prez below. He sounds like a Ron Paul clone.
The chief executive of the United States is no longer a mere constitutional officer charged with faithful execution of the laws. He is a soul nourisher, a hope giver, a living American talisman against hurricanes, terrorism, economic downturns, and spiritual malaise. He—or she—is the one who answers the phone at 3 a.m. to keep our children safe from harm. The modern president is America’s shrink, a social worker, our very own national talk show host. He’s also the Supreme Warlord of the Earth.
This messianic campaign rhetoric merely reflects what the office has evolved into after decades of public clamoring. The vision of the president as national guardian and spiritual redeemer is so ubiquitous it goes virtually unnoticed. Americans, left, right, and other, think of the “commander in chief” as a superhero, responsible for swooping to the rescue when danger strikes. And with great responsibility comes great power.
It’s difficult for 21st-century Americans to imagine things any other way. The United States appears stuck with an imperial presidency, an office that concentrates enormous power in the hands of whichever professional politician manages to claw his way to the top. Americans appear deeply ambivalent about the results, alternately cursing the king and pining for Camelot. But executive power will continue to grow, and threats to civil liberties increase, until citizens reconsider the incentives we have given to a post that started out so humble.
Ron Paul is interviewed by Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room today. Ron goes a bit crazy and endorses John McCain in this clip. Oh wait… no he doesn’t. We all know better than that. He does choose Obama as the lesser of three evils on foreign policy.
Ron Paul is interviewed for about 18 minutes on Brian and the Judge on FOX News Radio. Judge Napolitano is the Judge and is obviously more supportive of Ron Paul than Brian. Great interview.
Ron Paul supporters really need to realize that it isn’t all about Ron Paul. Sure there is mass disappointment that Ron Paul will not be the Republican nominee for President. There was genuine pain and sadness as each state held their primaries and caucuses and Ron Paul kept receiving under 10% of the vote with a few exceptions. Reality has set in and the reality is Ron Paul will not ever be President of the United States.
This does not mean the message of liberty has lost, it only means it has taken a punch to the gut. It is impossible to strike a fatal blow to liberty when there still exists a mass of citizens willing to fight back. It is true that some of those fanatical supporters of Ron Paul’s campaign have left. Perhaps being perpetual bandwagon jumpers is in their psychological makeup. If so, they can probably be found supporting Obama now.
Stories from various places and sources reveal that opposition to the REAL ID Act is growing. First there is an editorial in the OC Register denouncing it.
The big trouble is that there’s no evidence that this Draconian act, even if fully implemented, would be more than a minor inconvenience for a determined terrorist. But having all that information – including copies of birth certificates and Social Security cards – available in one database would make an irresistible target for identity thieves. And it would be a major inconvenience for millions of innocent Americans and a major expense for state governments – meaning taxpayers. (Source Article)
In the Missouri legislature a new Anti-REAL ID law is getting a lot of support. “Derdy” on Ron Paul Forumsposted the text of the bill introduced by Rep. Jim Guest and notes the following, “This bill passed committee by 8-0 and has 36 co-sponsors! Final vote is coming up soon.” The bill “prohibits the violation of a person’s privacy rights in order to obtain or renew a driver’s license,” according to the summary.
Finally, perhaps the most interesting news comes from CNET in a story showing a graphic of the entire United States colored in green. The green color indicates states that have been granted a waiver on their licenses not being accepted for airline travel beginning on May 11th, 2008. In effect, all states have now been granted this waiver, even though many states have stated they will not now nor ever support the federally mandated REAL ID.
Perhaps the most interesting thing is that states that have outright rejected REAL ID have sent the Department of Homeland Security notices telling them as much. Yet DHS has used those statements of REAL ID rejection as evidence to grant the state a waiver. In the end this looks more and more like a triumph for states rights and the tenth amendment. In fact, the CNET article’s conclusion says as much.
“DHS is not in power here,” said Jim Harper, the director of information policy studies at the free-market Cato Institute. “The states are in power. DHS has done all it could, but from a position of weakness…DHS put the best face it could on its capitulation to states with backbone. A lot more states will recognize that they own this issue, they control this debate.” (Source Article from CNET)
The battle against REAL ID is not over, but it may be safe to say that privacy and liberty is on the side that is currently winning. And I have to say it, Ron Paul told you so!
Bob Barr is reportedly ready to announce his candidacy for the Libertarian Party Presidential nomination Saturday during his speech at the Heartland Libertarian Conference in Kansas City. This has been rumored for quite a long time, and now seems like a certainty.
Bob Barr was a guest on Sean Hannity’s radio program yesterday and was accused by Hannity of handing the White House to the Democratic nominee. Barr had nothing of that saying, “If McCain is not able to pull enough votes to win outright, then shame on him” and he is “tired of hearing all the whining”.
Barr will pull in a sizable portion of the almost 1 million Ron Paul supporters. He will pull votes from the Democrat because of his civil liberties advocacy. He will pull votes from John McCain because of his conservative roots. If he were to get the Libertarian nomination, he could conceivably get more votes than any Libertarian candidate in history.
The idea that his candidacy will lead to the Democrat winning the White House; I’m not buying it. There seems to be only one publication willing to agree with me. Everyone else sees it as a foregone conclusion that a Barr run equates to a Democratic win. I suppose we’ll find out if there is a chance of this on Saturday following Barr’s speech.
Bob Barr has some events in his past that call into question his character, but faced with the choice between he, Hillary, Obama, or McCain, he wins my vote every time.
Barr introduced Ron Paul at CPAC this year and his association with Paul will likely be used by some neo-conservative McCain lovers against him. I think (and hope) the effect of this will be trivial.
It is interesting to ponder whether Bob Barr would be doing this if it weren’t for Ron Paul’s enthusiastic support in his own campaign. No doubt, Ron Paul will be happy to help Barr in any way he can. Paul will not likely endorse Barr. Paul is a Republican and endorsing a Libertarian spits in the face of the GOP he’s trying to change from within. It would not surprise me to see mass emails going out to Ron Paul supporters supporting Barr for President. The Barr campaign can purchase the list and start jockeying for support immediately.
One of the more interesting developments that will come out of Barr’s candidacy is how much Ron Paul will help “raise the Barr.”
Today’s Washington Post contains an article describing the latest compromises and negotiations going on in the REAL ID debate between the federal government and the states. The most telling passage is the end of the article.
Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s technology and liberty program, said: “It’s not surprising that DHS blinked. Do you really think they’re going to shut down the airports in Charleston, South Carolina, or Portland, Maine?”
Liberty Maven
