After his antics today I will no longer say anything positive about the Libertarian candidate from Georgia. Today Bob Barr made the decision to turn his back on Ron Paul and all the Ron Paul supporters by refusing to appear with other third party candidates at today's Campaign for Liberty press conference. Reportedly, Barr said, "it just isn't worth it" and canceled his appearance within minutes of Ron Paul's speech.
Out of pure selfishness, Barr rejected the idea of teaming up with the other candidates in order to make a bold indictment of the big government Republicrats who rule our nation. He was only interested in gaining Dr. Paul's endorsement for himself. I had my doubts about Barr to begin with but now I am done even considering him as a possible recipient of my vote. As Jesse Benton explained following today's press conference "it’s troubling to us that Bob would go back on his word and back out of the event. Barr has come to us with hat in hand for lots of things, and Ron’s always tried to help him out. But he definitely won’t be getting an endorsement now. Any chance that was left is gone. He’s burned a bridge." If Bob Barr has burned a bridge with Dr. Paul - one of the greatest champions of liberty of our time - then he has burned a bridge with myself and a whole slew of libertarian activists.
4 comments:
You know, this all makes sense now. In the last week or so I have seen Bob Barr as a guest on CNN or Fox News commenting about the elite candidates, not about his own campaign. Why would they invite him to speak if he had opposing views? Now it is clear to me that Bob Barr is a neo-con just like Obama and McCain. He has sold himself to the devil.
HUH?! Could Bar have been that self-centered and stupid to have done that? Does he want Paul supporters to vote for him or not? I'm really disappointed in his actions recently. I was planning to vote for him but now I have my doubts. Other than Ron Paul, I just don't know who else to vote for....
HUH?! Could Bar have been that self-centered and stupid to have done that? Does he want Paul supporters to vote for him or not? I'm really disappointed in his actions recently. I was planning to vote for him but now I have my doubts. Other than Ron Paul, I just don't know who else to vote for....
IMNSHO, the Barr campaign has made their SECOND critical mistake by not being at this press conference. The first critical mistake was in not attending the D.C. Freedom March & Rally on July 12, where thousands of rEVOLutionists gathered together for the cause of advancing liberty.
Perhaps now that Barr has 'become a Libertarian', he too has been infected with the disease which has plagued the LP for so very long: "Libertarian Purism". What, now that he's in the 'sacred liberty club' he's too good to share a stage with the Green Party Presidential nominee? Has he forgotten his recent past?
Sure, the Green Party typically touts Socialist philosophies, but in this case, Ron Paul has paved the way for the third party candidates to agree on 4 unifying pro-liberty platforms: personal liberties, nonaggressive foreign policy, economic responsibility, and Federal Reserve investigation -- basically, CONSTITUTIONALLY LIMITED FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!
Earth to Barr campaign: That all fits into libertarian philosophy... DUH!
I was so very pleased to hear that after recent years of working on creating a palatable and rationale political platform, the LP is now finally beginning to position itself as a potential player in the political arena. Then it nominates someone with reasonable political experience (albeit along with skeletons, but not as bad as tolerating child pornography as Mary Ruwart apparently does!). However, it then goes on to entirely blow it by separating itself from the massive swell of new libertarian voters, not once, but twice (so far) -- STUPID... very STUPID!
There have been recent changes in the LP which give hope for growth, and the potential for becoming a viable political party. However, if it continues to keep its head up its [you know where] during a major campaign when it comes to POLITICS and increasing the pro-liberty vote, it will simply provide further impetus for pro-liberty American voters to seek a different political home.
And NO, the "Neo-Cons" are not trying to take over the LP -- the mere claim is preposterous! The LP is far too insignificant in the political arena for such a conspiracy to be advantageous.
The LP is simply plagued with the same kind of PURISM disease which infects so many secular and religious groups which THINK they have all the correct answers to our problems, so they alienate others who think slightly differently.
This is exactly what happened here... isn't that obvious? Barr campaign spokesperson Andrew Davis is quoted as saying, “He didn’t want to dilute his message by being on the same stage as people like Cynthia McKinney, who is completely opposite of what a Libertarian is.”
Therefore, it appears as though the Barr campaign is entirely missing the point, along with the opportunity to advance liberty.
Regardless, I will continue to support the LP by voting for Bob Barr because it will not only help the LP remain on the N.C. ballot, but also because i see no louder pro-liberty message which can be sent to D.C. and the States this Nov by voting Libertarian for one simple reason: the LP is on 48 ballots -- no other third party can make such a claim.
ALSO, before going off half cocked because of these recent events, we should also consider the foolishness of pretending we can send a strong pro-liberty message to D.C. and the states by voting for someone not on your state's ballot.
Even if the Barr campaign is being sabotaged by the very people who are running it due to political ignorance, unless one of the other candidates who signed the '4 point platform' is on YOUR STATE's ballot, there is really no other option than Barr for whom to vote -- write in's are simply ineffective for sending a strong message!
American pro-liberty voters need to be savvy, not stupid. Regardless of the mistakes made by any of the candidates/parties which support this '4-point pro-liberty platform', we need to adopt the best strategy for this election which will best advance liberty in our country.
In liberty,
8-)
bernard baruch carman
Asheville, NC
Post a Comment