Letters to the Editor
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No way.
No way did Salon just interview Bob Freakin Barr, and not ask him about his unconscionable sponsorship of the Defense of Marriage Act.
I am a native Georgian who has been watching Mr. Barr's activism for a good while now. This man is no libertarian. I'm glad he's speaking out against the Patriot Act, and I truly applaud his drug war flip-flop. But he doesn't believe in equal civil rights for gay people. Or does he?? I don't know, because Mr. Koppleman didn't ask him!! Unbelievable.
I would be very, very interested in knowing whether or not Mr. Barr has changed his position on gay marriage as well. Or perhaps, like the libertarian Cato Institute, he thinks the government should be out of the marriage business altogether?
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Here's an idea
Why doesn't Salon make a serious effort to bring together all the disaffected conservatives who've left the GOP band with the goal of bringing down their ex-party from power?
If all those former insiders began talking openly and aggresively, about the crimes, lies and corruption that the Bush administration has unleashed since, say, 9/11, would it not lead to the total, utter indefensibility of the GOP's actions and thus the beginnings of an impeachment, coup or, better yet, mass arrest of the entire senior government of the United States?
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I forgive him
He did a lot of harm to the causes of liberty and critical thinking when he worked his political magic to kill medical marijuana in DC. But he's seen the error of his ways so I forgive him.
I'd forgive Al Gore too if he would ever confess to having a change of heart on medical marijuana and maybe even apologize a little bit for lying about the IOM report during the 2000 campaign.
By the way, I'm not a Libertarian but it's nice to see them getting some press for a change. They have a role to play and I think it's a very important one for this country.
Even though I don't vote for Libertarians, I do want the political process to be influenced and informed and PROTECTED by them.
Our system is safer with them watching it.
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Once a demagogue....
I wouldn't believe a word this man says. His "principles" may be as strong as he would have us believe, but I think his pursuit of self-interest and self-aggrandizement is far greater.
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FUCK BOB BARR!!!
FUCK...BOB...BARR...2 TIMES!!!
Man, that felt good.
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The more leaks the merrier
Sadly, I think it will take much more than some members of the Republican party jumping ship to really alter the political landscape in this country in any profound or lasting way.
I am not what you would call a Libertarian, although I do fall into that side of the left on any number of those silly quizzes you can take! ;) And in spite of Mr. Barr's past indiscretions (none of which I'm in a hurry to forget), I do believe he is fighting a worthy battle in terms of American's rights and liberties post 9-11. It is a critically important battle that needs to be fought sooner rather than later. Perhaps when push comes to shove his definition of Americans & their rights is not as inclusive as mine, but we can fight that battle when we get there. In the meantime it is somewhat reassuring to see the current Republican ship spring more leaks.
The problem is that all of Washington has a separate ailment that the Libertarian party will almost certainly need to become infected with if it is going to stand a chance in the politics of this nation: money. The sway lobbyists have on our political system and our laws is at least as destructive to our liberties and freedoms as any of President Bush's horrific policies. And I'm not convinced that there is any party willing to wrestle with that problem nor that any could even defeat it if they did decide to enter the ring.
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Barr was my Congressman for several years..........
I voted against him every election, opposed him, contributed to every opponent he had. However, this conversion of his is fantastic. Although I usually voted Democratic, I was a contributing member of the Libertarian Party for several years. Welcome to the Club, Bob!
Unclefast
Carrollton, Georgia
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He's may still be in the Pocket of Big Buisness- But at least he believes in Civil Liberties
It is a positive step when politicians, like Barr, move away from the Bush Personality Cult Party to instead embrace a set of actual principles that they are willing to support. While I applauded his work on raising awareness about our Civil Rights, I don't care for a great deal of the Libertarian plank. The "philosophy of reduced regulatory burden" is just another way of saying that the cost of generating profits should be shifted from the shoulders of the corporations to the public. How many toxic, uninhabitable wastelands do companies have to leave in their wake, before we see that for as yet another thinly disguised way to enable the unhindered transference of wealth from the many to few? In that regard, Barr, like his fellow Libertarians shares the core values of the Republicans, the party of the haves and the have mores.
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Fear the generosity of the state
When asked about his vote for the Patriot Act, Barr responded:
"It's a vote that I would not cast now, knowing how the powers in the act have been abused..."
This brought to mind the words uttered by President Kennedy in his inaugural address:
"The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God."
The passage of the Patriot Act and other forms of legislation justified during the post-9/11 hysteria jeopardized what are supposed to be our inalienable rights. The land of the free and home of the brave was cowered, manipulated, and ultimately handed over their liberties not to invading hordes from foreign lands, but to be "safeguarded" by politicians who uttered the famous lie, "I'm with the government, and I'm here to help you." And just enough of us believed them.