World Affairs Brief, May 16, 2008. Commentary and Insights on a Troubled World.
Copyright Joel Skousen. Partial quotations with attribution permitted. Cite source as Joel Skousen’s World Affairs Brief
BOB BARR’S LIBERTARIAN RUN FOR PRESIDENT
Former CIA man and Republican Congressman Bob Barr says he has launched a committee to seek the presidential nomination of the Libertarian Party. He is no shoe-in by any means. His main competition is former Alaskan Democratic Representative Mike Gravel, who has a lot of support in the Libertarian community. Barr has high ratings from the NRA and is noted for his sponsorship of the Marriage Defense Act of 1996 which appeals to conservatives but not all Libertarian Party members. He is clearly seeking to woo Ron Paul supporters to his cause.
Barr’s problem in convincing Ron Paul supporters to come his way has more to do with his dubious moral character than with his stated positions. Paul supporters are used to dealing with a champion who has unimpeachable moral standards in both his public and private life. Barr’s record is severely tarnished, and as conservatives know, politicians with lots of moral skeletons in their closet can be leaned on by the Powers That Be. As a brief summary, Bob has been married 3 times and had has been accused of having extra-marital affairs leading to the breakup of two of those marriages. According to Barr’s second wife Gail Barr, the would-be-champion of the pro-life movement paid for and did not object to her having an abortion in 1983. He was also having a secret affair with his current wife while Gail Barr was undergoing cancer treatment (shades of Newt Gingrich and John McCain). Barr is also reported to have failed to pay child support to the children of his first two wives and “while married to his third and present wife was photographed licking whipped cream off of a few chesty strippers at his inaugural party… for charity.”
Nevertheless, the GOP is mildly worried that a Barr candidacy could siphon off votes from John McCain in the November election. The Washington Times reported that various mid-level Republican leaders have tried to discourage him from running against McCain–for the sake of conservative unity. But Barr counters, “In the month since we formed our exploratory committee, not a single Republican who has spoken with me to try and convince me not to seek the Libertarian nomination has disagreed with my reasons for considering a run.” The Times also quoted him as saying, “Most Republicans who asked him not to run ‘also said they understand why I’d run and why John McCain is not conservative and will not seriously tackle the growth in government power and spending,’ he said. ‘Some said they would vote for me if I ran, but for the sake of the Republican Party, they would prefer I didn’t.'” Interesting.
Barr is also not nearly as ideologically consistent as Ron Paul. Ben Pershing writes that “if Barr really is disillusioned with the two major parties, he hasn’t shown it with his wallet… Barr has continued to exercise his inherent right to dole out campaign cash, and his political action committee — now known as the Bob Barr Leadership Fund — has contributed money to roughly two-dozen Republican members of Congress, according to Federal Election Commission records. Recipients of Barr’s largess have included some decidedly moderate, non-Libertarian types like GOP Reps. Christopher Shays (Conn.) and Deborah Pryce (Ohio) and Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn.)…[His] his last recorded PAC contribution, made in February, went to … a Democrat: Rep. Tom Allen, a candidate for Senate in Maine.”
A Patriot
Who is Bob Barr fooling?
On the surface, U.S. presidential candidate Bob Barr projects the veneer of a true American patriot. He was born November 5, 1948, in Iowa City, Iowa to Bob and Beatrice Barr, and in the mid 1990’s Barr was elected to Congress as a Republican representing the most conservative parts of Northern Georgia. Congressman Barr was popular in his party for his strong opposition to abortion, advocacy of lower taxes and smaller government, and leading the impeachment of Bill Clinton.
Sounds good so far, but between the 60’s and the 90’s there is a mystery, a history that Bob Barr does NOT want you to know about. You see, Bob Barr did some travels in his youth, to places like Malaysia, Pakistan, Baghdad, Iraq, and finally Tehran, Iran — all Muslim dominated countries where radicalism and hatred of the West is a way of life!!!
These were NOT quick social visits. Barr actually graduated from high school in Tehran, Iran. That’s right, who wants you to believe he’s a US-loving conservative, was educated in the heart of evil itself!!! (I know this sounds crazy but it’s true, you can check it out for yourself)
On his return, Barr (of course) enrolled at the ultra-liberal University of Southern California, joined the “Young Democrats of America” (“YDA”), and rallied against the Vietnam War. -And yet within a few months he suddenly changed his stripes and with politically convenient timing joined the Young Trojan Republican Club (more like “Trojan horse”!!!). From there, he took steps to burnish his “conservative” credentials by getting a master’s degree from the George Washington University and a law degree from Georgetown, then working for the CIA for nearly a decade and serving as one of Ronald Reagan’s US Attorneys, and getting deeply involved in Republican politics.
Barr’s political conversion is all too convenient. From attending a Muslim high school in the heart of a wannabe Islamic empire to joining a radical organization on a radical campus in a radical time, suddenly Bob Barr would have you believe that he is a “true conservative,” that he is and always has been sincere in his beliefs.. But you’ve just read that history reveals a Bob Barr who is a chameleon with a deeper agenda, one that reaches back perhaps to his visits to Malaysia, Pakistan, and Baghdad Iraq, and his high school indoctrination in Tehran, Iran.
If that doesn’t convince you, Bob Barr actually issued a press release on June 10, 2008 flat-out announcing his desire to capitulate to Iran. Barr warns America against attacking Iran and says there’s “no imminent threat,” and echoes the left’s call for negotiations. He also participated in a publicity stunt in Washington DC along with Ron Paul (of questionable mental balance) and Lynn Woolsey (far-left Democrat), standing on the Capitol steps and calling Iranians on a “red phone”.
Let us all remain alert concerning Barr’s Libertarian presidential candidacy: the Presidency of the United States is too valuable to fall into the hands of a one-time radical leftist antiwar activist with connections to Islamic hotspots which can no longer be ignored!!!!
With Sincerest Concerns,
A Patriot