This afternoon WashingtonPost.com had a Q&A session with Bob Barr. I found it somewhat annoying that he didn’t answer all the questions (or they weren’t included in the transcript) when someone asked a two- or three-part question, but nonetheless it could serve well for those not too familiar with Bob Barr. Oh, and the closet Libertarian purist in me cringed when he called for “some form of a consumption type tax” in lieu of the IRS and payroll deductions.
In 2005 Judge Andrew Napolitano gave an interview to Reason Magazine’s Nick Gillespie promoting his new book (at the time) “Constitutional Chaos“. In the interview he outlines the progression of liberty lost in America.
His explanation demonstrates the incremental steps taking us from freedom towards tyranny. The next time someone attempts to argue with you about having to sacrifice liberty for safety point them to this interview.
Reason: What’s your case against the USA PATRIOT Act?
Napolitano: Let’s put aside all of the procedural problems with enacting it. Forget about the fact that there was no debate. Forget about the fact that most members of Congress didn’t even have an opportunity to read it. It is a direct assault on at least three amendments to the Constitution: the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, and the Fifth Amendment. The PATRIOT Act legitimates the notion that if we give up certain freedoms, the government will keep us safer. I reject that notion from a moral and legal point of view. I also reject it from a practical point of view. It doesn’t work. The government doesn’t need our freedoms to keep us safer. No one–no lawyer, judge, or historian–can point to a single incident in American history where national security was impaired because someone insisted on their right to free speech or their right to privacy or their right to due process.
The PATRIOT Act encourages what the government calls “national security letters”–basically, self-written search warrants. It violates the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits self-written search warrants. The PATRIOT Act and two of its predecessors, the Foreign Intelligence Security Act of 1977 [FISA] and the Electronic Privacy Act of 1986, authorized the government to obtain search warrants by bypassing [longstanding tradition in] the courts. Today an FBI agent investigating a person need only satisfy her or himself that the person under investigation is a threat to national security. The agent doesn’t have to demonstrate evidence to a judge.
The Judge can authoritatively articulate our loss of liberty better than anyone and that includes Ron Paul. It is a shame he is beholden to FOX News and cannot show bias about candidates he supports. It is pretty obvious that he is a Ron Paul supporter after his rousing introduction of Ron Paul last year, calling him the “Thomas Jefferson of our day”.
He deserves a medal for doing his radio show along side neocon torture supporter and warmonger Brian Kilmeade without choking him.
Over at NolanChart.com, Walt Thiessen has written a critical article on Bob Barr’s Libertarian campaign for President. It is a negative article that I, unfortunately, mostly agree with. Thiessen makes three major points:
Although some polls put Bob Barr in the 6% range in June, all polls now put him in the 1-2% range.
Measuring up to Ron Paul’s, Barr’s fundraising is comparatively non-existent.
Barr has “failed to win over the party faithful”, and has failed to adequately explain his support of unconstitutional bills in his past.
I agree with him on the first 2½ points, but when he and other people continue to say that Bob Barr has done nothing to alleviate the concerns of those who question his part, I strongly disagree. In every interview I’ve seen where people question his past support for the Patriot Act, the Drug War, etc., he has admitted his mistake, and explained how he seen the light and actually worked hard to reverse these things. What else can the man do? Only time will tell whether or not he is sincere or just being political expedient, but that’s not part of this argument. Bob has worked tirelessly for the past 5 years against the Patriot Act and it’s successors, FISA, and has even joined up with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Marijuana Policy Project in support of medicinal drug use. What else can the man do to alleviate concerns? If you simply choose not to trust him, that’s one thing. But to say that he’s done nothing is simply ludicrous.
Thiessen concludes by predicting Barr will get less votes in November than Badnarik’s 397,000 in 2004, which I feel is quite astonishing. I certainly hope this won’t be the case.
“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
– attributed to Edmund Burke
Subject: We got a big response on the REAL ID campaign — it points the way to the future
Our message yesterday about the exchange between Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff and Governor Schweitzer of Montana got a big response. So many DC Downsizers tried to take action all at once that it overwhelmed our website. Some people had trouble sending messages as a result. We’ve fixed part of the problem, and our capacity is about to get better as we install our new servers.
This is a good problem to have. Thank you to everyone who took action yesterday.
The fight against the REAL ID Act points the way to the future. It used to be that the American people just rolled over and submitted every time Congress passed a bad law. No more. Now the American people are fighting back.
We must do the same thing with regard to the vote on the FISA warrantless spying bill that we lost recently. Congress may think the issue is settled, but we must make sure that it is not settled.
We are in negotiations with our coalition allies about the best strategy for overturning the warrantless spying law. Many of our allies are already taking action on the legal front, preparing to mount lawsuits. But there will be a grassroots strategy too.
We’re pushing the idea that we ought to pursue a broad-based legislative attack on all aspects of the Bush-era assault on the Constitution. We have a perfect vehicle to use for this approach, Congressman Ron Paul’s “American Freedom Agenda Act.” This bill was created by a number of progressive and conservative organizations and introduced by Ron Paul. This bill would . . .
* Repeal the “Military Commissions Act of 2006” and thereby restore the ancient right of habeas corpus and end legally sanctioned torture by U.S. government agents
* Restore the ”Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act” (FISA) and thereby outlaw warrantless spying on American citizens by the President of the United States
* Give Congress standing in court to challenge the President’s use of “signing statements” as a means to avoid executing the nation’s laws
* Make it illegal for government agents to kidnap people and send them abroad to be tortured by foreign governments
* Provide legal protection to journalists who expose wrong-doing by the Federal government
* Prohibit the use of secret evidence to label groups or individuals as terrorists for the purpose of criminal or civil sanctions
We’re contemplating a number of new tactics to push this bill forward. These tactics would serve to put Congress on the spot, much as Governor Schweitzer put Secretary Chertoff on the spot. But the first step is to start a steady drumbeat of messages hammering members of Congress to become co-sponsors of the “American Freedom Agenda Act.”
Please start that drumbeat today, by sending your elected representatives a message. You can do that here.
Please also consider making a contribution to further our work. You can do that here.
Thank you for being a part of our growing Downsize DC army.
This is another great interview with Ron Paul on New York’s WABC radio with Bob Grant. They cover 15 minutes of a myriad of topics including a section where Ron Paul calls McCain and Obama “Tweedledee and Tweedledumb”. Great stuff.
Bob Barr was interviews by Keith Olbermann this evening on MSNBC. The subject matter was geared toward the “fake impeachment hearings” held today. Barr was one of many who testified. Barr masterfully twisted his answers toward his campaign for President. I must admit he does this kind of stuff really well. Check it out below.
The final Presidential candidate we will be rating on the Paul-O-Meter is the Green Party’s nominee, Cynthia McKinney. For a description of the Paul-O-Meter see this article. We have previously completed ratings for John McCain, Barack Obama, Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, and Ralph Nader.
It is now Ralph Nader’s turn to be viewed through the Ron Paul colored glasses of the Paul-O-Meter. The Paul-O-Meter rates the candidates on how closely they resemble Ron Paul on the issues. For a complete description and methodology of the Paul-O-Meter please see this article. Thus far we have rated Barack Obama, John McCain, Bob Barr, and Chuck Baldwin.
Recently Bob Barr has been seen cozying up to left leaning bloggers and everyone’s favorite environmentalist, nobel prize winner Al Gore. He has released statements and been quoted in articles saying things that have upset the Libertarian apple cart. The radical and purist among us seem to have implanted Barr with an ultra sensitive warning device that triggers anytime potential non-libertarian words leave his mouth. Requesting anyone labeled “radical” to relax is like asking a starving man to “eat that cracker slowly”, but in this case calm is what is required.
First, Bob Barr issued a press release “clarifying” his stance on federal government bailing out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The release was entitled, “Privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, End Government Subsidies.” That certainly sounds rather libertarian, but some found decidedly non-libertarian rhetoric within the article.
UPDATE: Chuck Baldwin’s Communications Director posted a comment clarifying his position on a few of the issues. This has modified Baldwin’s overall score. Read the comments for more details.
It is now Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin’s turn to be spun through the Paul-O-Meter. So far we have rated Barack Obama, John McCain, and Bob Barr. Will Chuck Baldwin beat Bob Barr’s current high score of 88? Read on to find out.
Liberty Maven
“. In the interview he outlines the progression of liberty lost in America.
Recently Bob Barr has been seen cozying up to left leaning bloggers and everyone’s favorite environmentalist, nobel prize winner Al Gore. He has released statements and been quoted in articles saying things that have upset the Libertarian apple cart. The radical and purist among us seem to have implanted Barr with an ultra sensitive warning device that triggers anytime potential non-libertarian words leave his mouth. Requesting anyone labeled “radical” to relax is like asking a starving man to “eat that cracker slowly”, but in this case calm is what is required.
