| | Steve Druckmiller, do you believe that Bob Barr had a genuine 180-degree rearrangement of his political beliefs at age 55?
I started writing for libertarian publications in 1971 and for the mainstream computer periodicals in 1988. Feel free to ask me anything you want.
On a forum like this, we float ideas. At least I do. (Other people demand that everyone agree with their rocksolid appraisal of everything all at once.) That is not the same thing as introducing a bill as a Congressman. Legislation is not speculation. But, as did Ted Kerr, ask me anything you want. Better still, ask Bob Barr to explain his sudden awakening.
Jim Henshaw claimed that Mary Ruwart and Bob Barr are in 90% agreement. I met Rurwart about 15 years ago. Having read her first book, Healing Our World, I would say that they are in 90% disagreement. She is a libertarian. He is a conservative. I offer only as coincidence that at that time, Dr. Ruwart lived on Hawk Drive, while the state LP chair lived on (no kidding) Marter Lane.
Ted Kerr referred to C. Jeffrey Small's puzzlement over my views on smoking. Am I in favor of it? Am I in favor of government controls? He did not know where I stand on the issues. I replied that most things are like chandellier crystals, multifaceted. I have no problem with ambiguity, I said, pointing to Penn & Teller's burning (or vanishing?) an American flag.
Bob Barr is not being ambiguous. He has not said that the problems surrounding abortion are complex. He is against legal abortions. He has not said that the depth and breadth of human relationships have brought a challenge to the laws. He is against legal recognition of same-sex couples. Again, these were not theoretical essays on GOP blogsites, these were laws he made.
His 180 on marijuana is actually easier to explain (or explain away). Other lawmakers have come to the same realizations. However, it is painfully obvious that on the Patriot Act and the Iraq Resolution he went with the flow when he voted for them and he is going with the flow in saying he wish he had not.
Perhaps the LP should have tapped the Republican who defeated Barr in the 2002 primary, John Linder.
Linder has also taken a leadership role in the effort to enact fundamental tax reform. His legislation, the Fair Tax Act (H.R.25), is a proposal for changing United States tax laws to replace all federal personal income taxes, payroll taxes, corporate taxes, capital gains taxes, self-employment taxes, gift taxes and inheritance taxes with a national retail sales tax and monthly tax prebate to households of citizens and legal resident aliens. In 2006, he voted against renewal of the Voting Rights Act.
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Rgggh...Horse Jam....
