Bob Barr was interviewed by Alan Colmes on his radio show on June 19th. Alan went through the laundry list of Barr’s changed positions forcing him to answer to each one. This is a must listen interview for anyone on the fence about Barr’s positions on his transformation. He is asked about the Patriot Act, the Iraq war authorization, the Defense Of Marriage Act, Supreme Court Justice appointees, and more. Listen/watch below.
We here at Liberty Maven are excited to have the opportunity to interview a true patriot candidate who some have called “Ron Paul Jr.”. His name is William “B.J.” Lawson and upon reading his answers to our first segment’s questions it is obvious the Constitution forms the backbone of his beliefs and his campaign to represent North Carolina’s 4th District in Congress.
If you haven’t heard of B.J. Lawson until now and you are a lover of liberty you are in for a treat. If we could cast a spell on every single person in the country to donate and help out with Lawson’s campaign we’d do it. In that vein please enjoy the first interview segment below and then head over to LawsonLibertyFund.com and pledge $5 or $300 to help out with his Ron Paul style money bomb on June 29th.
LM: What was your motivation for running for Congress? You are facing an incumbent Democrat David Price in an overly Democratic district; however back in 1994 a Republican unseated Price thanks to the “Contract With America” effort at that time. Does that previous defeat of Price give you hope for victory over him this time around?
Lawson: My motivation running for Congress is to advance a Constitutional federal government, and to question the “politics as usual” that is bankrupting our country and eviscerating our freedoms. Today’s political process is simply broken: we have legislators who don’t read bills before they vote, we have Congress delegating rule making to unelected bureaucrats and lobbyists, we have legislators piling special favors into legislation that is deemed likely to pass, and few even question if proposed legislation is the Constitutional role of the federal government. These are symptoms of a political process that no longer represents the people.
While Price was defeated once with the 1994 Republican landslide, this year’s environment is much different. The Republican party is adrift, and lacks a clear platform after the past eight years. Furthermore, our district is a strongly Democratic. However, the vast majority of voters know we need change — and David Price, as a 22 year incumbent, personifies the status quo.
It’s not so much his 1994 defeat that gives me hope for victory, but more what he’s done since his 1996 re-entry into Congress: not much. Rep. Price is an Establishment candidate whose voting record reflects the party line, and shows little leadership or concern for the critical questions facing our nation: out of control inflation, unsustainable government spending and entitlements, declining civil liberties, and failed interventionism abroad.
The voters are demanding change, and this year they have a choice for principled leadership advocating a Constitutional federal government.
Ever since Bob Barr became the Libertarian Presidential nominee he has been met with venomous criticism from those that can’t let bygones be bygones. There is no such thing as “forgiveness” apparently. Their distrust of Barr blinds and binds them. They are not just letting a golden opportunity for liberty pass them by, but are openly recruiting others to the anti-Barr cause. I feel sorry for their children should they ever make a mistake, own up to the mistake, and denounce it. For as long as they live they will be punished for that mistake no matter what measures they attempt to make up for that mistake.
I support Bob Barr because I believe in human liberty. It seems to me that if one truly believes in liberty then they should also believe in personal redemption. How can one believe in individual liberty but not accept Bob Barr’s own denouncement of his anti-liberty votes? Many of the Ron Paul faithful complained at the seemingly conspiratorial media attacks against Paul during his campaign. Now some of those very same Ron Paul supporters are attacking Barr in a similar fashion. The attacks on Bob Barr have now reached the trite stage. So trite, in fact, that they can be made into a list. Below is the countdown with the lowdown.
Here is Bob Barr being interviewed on MobLogic.tv. He discusses his transformation on the Patriot Act, War on Drugs, etc.. and talks about his liberty mustache. He also discusses foreign policy, and when pressed says he prefers Bill Clinton over George W. Bush.
An article by drug policy reform activist Scott Morgan over at StopTheDrugWar.org holds the Barr transformation as a sign of hope. Hope not just for changing positions on the drug war, but hope for changing even the most stubborn minds.
What all of this serves to illustrate is that no one is immune to the truth. There is no heart so hard, no skull so swollen as to be rendered impermeable to the principles of peace, justice, and compassion. Our opponents don’t have invisible forcefields around their brains. They are vulnerable to the truth every moment of every day that they walk the earth.
With that in mind, we would be wise to welcome and embrace those who break free, for whatever reason, from the icy death grip of prohibitionist political posturing. We must set a precedent of acceptance so that others might soon follow Mr. Barr across the threshold.
An article by Bob Barr with the title, “I Was Wrong About The War On Drugs — It’s A Failure”, appeared today on the Huffington Post. In it Barr denounces his previous drug warrior ways.
I’ll admit it, just five years ago I was “Public Enemy Number 1″ in the eyes of the Libertarian Party. In my 2002 congressional race for Georgia’s Seventh District, the Libertarian Party ran scathing attack ads against my stand on Medical Marijuana.
Today, I am their presidential nominee and will represent libertarians at the top of the ticket on November 4th.
Huh?
That’s right, Bob Barr, formerly the War on Drugs loving, Wiccan mocking, Clinton impeaching Republican is the presidential nominee for the Libertarian Party.
Now, you may be asking how this happened and my answer is simple: “The libertarians won.”
This article by Barr is a clear and forthright embrace of the libertarian platform against the war on drugs. I wonder if this will make the purists happy?
Here is another good interview with Bob Barr on the Bloomberg Channel’s “Night Talk” show. The interviewer, Mike Schneider has interviewed Ron Paul and Judge Andrew Napolitano in the past few months. He always asks insightful questions and allows ample time for his guests to answer, which is unfortunately rare in the media these days.
Barr’s drug warrior past is discussed along with the Defense of Marriage Act, the Libertarian Party, the Iraq War, Iran policy, role of religion, white supremacist supporters, and big government spending. Ron Paul even makes an appearance in a clip from his previous interview. Watch the interview in 3 parts below.
Here is the 6 part (full hour) interview of Glenn Beck interviewing Bob Barr from tonight (06/06/2008). Good stuff. Note that without the commercials it is not a full hour.
Vern McKinley is challenging incumbent Frank Wolf in a Republican primary next Tuesday, June 10th in Virginia’s 10th congressional district. I live in this district and have heard some seriously scary things about Frank Wolf. I will not repeat them because I have no proof, instead I will try to focus on the issues where he and Mr. McKinley differ.
Vern McKinley is a principled Reagan Republican. I’m talking about the Reagan running for office, not the Reagan who forgot about cutting spending as well as cutting taxes. I suppose his Congress could be blamed for that. Frank Wolf used to be a Reagan Republican. He even ran supporting term limits in 1980. Almost 28 years have passed and he is still in office. Wolf, from the very beginning couldn’t keep a campaign promise.
On to the issues. If an issue is not listed it means that both McKinley and Wolf generally agree on the issue with a bit of room for differences in the margins. The point is to show where the candidates truly have a different world view.
Earmarks (AKA “bringing home the bacon”): Wolf likes to tout his SAFE commission, which is yet another Wolf investigative committee like he has proposed so many times in the past without much to show for it. The idea is to “examine” earmarking and figure out methods to curb it. This, in my view, is an establishment politician trying to have his cake and eat it too. It looks good on paper, but why did Wolf propose and get over $200 million in federal money in earmarks last year? Just another sly Wolf-like move, I guess. I hope people are paying attention this time.
McKinley on the other hand is almost running his entire campaign on “earmark” reform. He rightly criticizes Wolf on earmarks, saying that states shouldn’t use the federal government as an ATM machine. Funds for local projects should be raised locally. There’s some true federalism for ya. Bravo Vern.
Grades: Wolf gets an ‘F’ for being a shyster. McKinley gets an ‘A’.
A letter to fellow Libertarians on Third Party Watch from Steve Kubby urges support for the Barr/Root ticket.
Dear Friends, Activists and Fellow Libertarians,
I’ve just returned from the Libertarian National Convention, held this
past week in Denver. I know a lot of people are stunned and some are
still angry that Bob Barr won. Although I am exhausted, I wanted to
get a message out about where we go from here.
Anti-Barr literature, buttons and posters were highly visible
throughout the entire convention. Those who were opposed to Barr made
it painfully clear to him how much they disliked him.
For my part, I have taken Barr to task on several occasions. I’ve
blasted Barr for violating his oath of office to uphold and defend the
Constitution by shutting down the DC vote on medical marijuana—a
vote that the ACLU later found out through court action was a whopping
69% in support.
In fact, when I first met Barr, one of the first things I said to him
was, “What should I tell all my friends and fellow activists who have
suffered so terribly because of the laws you helped to write and fund?”
His response? “Tell them my conversion is sincere.”
Liberty Maven
A letter to fellow Libertarians on Third Party Watch from Steve Kubby urges support for the Barr/Root ticket.
