Zed!

Barr none!

Good afternoon, Dr. Murphy.

Toby, with this news it’s a great afternoon - thanks to Blue Texan for making my day!

Hmm, let’s see now…shall we suggest to Jane or Howie that we support people’s right to choose and invite Mr. Barr to the Lake for a bit of BBQ and fundraising(snark alert, snark alert)?

Excellent! It just keeps getting better and better… heh.

Thanks for the good news, BT. Looks like November will be a spectacular defeat for the GOP, and more than well deserved. Is our national nightmare coming to an end?

Anyone who hasn’t seen this yet, well worth a look: Lawrence Lessig on why he’s for Obama: http://blip.tv/file/647623

Should we be sending Bob Barr some money? Calling all wingnuts! Bob is your daddy!

I look forward to the Barr-Babar ticket.

I can’t wait to hear how Barr’s running will hurt Obama.

You know that’s coming.

Or I should say calling all disenfranchised libertarians, who thought they were wingnuts, but Chimpy really was into big government after all.

Schadenfreude!!

It couldn’t have happened to a bigger gang of thugs.

I like the way RevDeb put it this morning, Barr will be the “Red Nader.”

And that term rocks on so very many levels

but what’s gnawing at me is this: what are the implications for the “Unity? Oh, Wait” campaign?

P.O.P.C.O.R.N.

Oo oo oo ooooo we’re on the Road to Shambala!

CNN will make note of Bob Barr’s entry tomorrow or thereabouts. The script of today is already written and McWorse will take WV handily.

WOOHOO

aww … couldn’t happen to nicer people. I feel so bad for them.

and as to why it’s bad for obama, well, cause barr will take all those independents who were about to vote for him. ;)

Oh boy, this is could get very interesting. If Barr gets enough air time, all conservatives of every persuasion may be forced to debate, chew over & dissect every one of their hot button issues, with each other.

Yeah, please.

Wow, Hannity is freaked out, isn’t he?

Quick, anyone have a connection to KO? Keith Baby — get this guy on pronto!! NO — Laura, Laura Flanders…….calling Laura Flanders — GritTV needs to interview Bob Bar!!

The Republics now have to go after Barr and fast before he gets any traction. If Rover’s helping them, it should be so dirty.

Barr’s really not a libertarian .. I can’t imagine he’d actually get that nomination.

(I’m looking for my handkerchief)

it would be beautiful if mcsame were forced to run against people on both the right and left who were promising to bring troops home. While mcsame seems willing to flip-flop on most any issue, the war will be a really hard one for him to reverse himself on …

This is VERY interesting…

If Barr can raise some real money (difficult), he could spark a dialogue that will shake the gooper coalition…

Libertarians don’t have much in common with the christian right- and while they share a bias for low taxes with the country club portion of the party- that’s about as deep as it goes..

The Libertarian wing is the wing that has been most offended by the Bush Shit.

Would love to see a savage debate for the future of the party.

Makes things a bit more complicated for McBush. As a western gooper- he should have the libertarian vote- but he’s already losing in Colorado and New Mexico- and quite possibly in Nevada….does he go after that vote or cede it?

Getting interesting.

Barr, Barr, Barr
Barr, Barr: I ran

Think Gravel has a better chance at that…

He’s been working for the ACLU since he retired from congress. He shares THAT in common with libertarians…what have YOU heard about him?

Good question, how will the R’s try to shut up Barr? He doesn’t look like a pushover. Meanwhile, the R’s have to juggle trying to discredit Obama & Barr at the same time.

This is an election that goopers expect to lose- it’s the perfect time for the subgroups to position themselves for control after the election is over. This would be a strong bid for the libertarian wing to say “don’t take us for granted like Bush did or we’ll never vote for you again”

{{ pssst, somebody tell Hannity that Ruth Bader Ginsburg is on the Court…. }}

Go Bob GO !!

Play the clip … supports defense of marriage act? supports the ‘war’ on drugs? Supports restrictions on abortion? None of these are consistent with party’s platform.

When Barr starts talking that Ron Paul/libertarian/paleoconservative stuff, he actually sounds reasonable. He should take quite a few votes away from Sen. McCain. Where can I contribute?

And it’ll be great for Rudi 9ui11iani too!

Lessig enumerates quit well.

Let’s start a fundraising drive so he can buy some TV ad time. Let’s call it Operation Nader-Red.

Operation Chaos Redux

Good points.

I don’t agree that the GOPers ever expect to lose. I think they expect to slander and libel Barack Obama as they did with Kerry and then they’ll fix enough votes to make up the difference.

The problem now is that if Barr takes enough of McCain’s votes, it may require such extensive vote-rigging this time that it becomes more likely that the process becomes undeniable.

I’ve never met a libertarian that doesn’t strongly support abortion rights … that’s like the ultimate acid test for them … also, no restrictions on drug trade, none of those farm subsidies or corporate subsidies… barr’s got a terrible record on all of that … I’ll bet you Gravel get’s the nod … you can’t be all upset about one part of civil liberty and then ignore the rest of them… I don’t buy it all.

oh, this youtube is an absolute hoot.

hannity talking about barr running for president sounds just like party dems when they talk about nader.

i like barr v2 much better than v1… but it’s hard to see that barr is doing anything other than remaking himself because nowadays v2 plays better. i wonder what he really believes, if anything.

how does ron paul play into this picture? Is he too tied to being a thug to jump over? A Barr/Paul ticket?

Is it going to be a four way? Is Nader going to run?

So, I guess this takes Barr out of the running to be McSame’s running mate? Or is this a backdoor attempt to get it?

I thought Nader already announced.

Ron Paul ran for Prez on the Libertarian ticket in 1988.

Nader/Gonzales

Then Ron Paul was a lousy libertarian as he has been a vocal anti-abortionite.

Speaking of weird campaigns, there is more Mark ($10,000,000) Penn news. We knew Penn and his business partner Charlie Black helped catapult WMD propaganda. Penn helped promote the Irak Occupation using taxpayer money.

But Penn’s company Burson-Marsteller also used taxpayer funds to promote Iraki con man Chalabi as Maximum Leader. This makes Penn a partner of the neo-cons who were behind Chalabi, especially Feith and Darth Cheney. Or, should I say as with McCain, they are Penn’s clients.

http://www.alternet.org/audits/82325/?page=1

But since BKSH was paid by taxpayer funds through the State Department, it never registered as a foreign agent. Since it was not technically a “lobbyist” for Chalabi, even though that is exactly how it was functioning, it never registered on Capitol Hill either, which would be the norm for a lobbyist. Although the transaction was not classified or secret, journalists, legislators and the American public weren’t told about it.

Ya just keep gettin’ better ‘n better, punster, and somehow always manage to make my heart lighter. *smooches*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Barr

some interesting things in there……

yeah, i can never figure that one out … i don’t consider him a libertarian, actually

presumably being updated in prep for his run ;)

I think he voted for the patriot act too … that one really irritates the libertarians…

I believe friends, with my whole heart (and a huge stogie hanging out of my mouth) - that we need to crank up

Operation SchadenfreudeChaos!

Yes, we True Americans must make ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that Bob Barr’s name is on the ballot in all 50 states.

And Rush can shove this all up his huge right-wing ass.

Good on Barr talking civil liberties and getting Hannity to stutter. I don’t often agree with Barr but that was funny.

you know, seriously, Barr might put Georgia in play for Obama in Nov.

Barr is trying to moderate his positions rather than completely abandoning them saying “the states should decide”..

Yeah- I think Nader’s in- for a quarter of a percent of the vote. Wonder what Barr can get.

Wasn’t Barr a Hannity hero in the Clinton wars?

Having to back McCain over a true believer must rankle.

I wonder if this is why McCain’s Congressional colleagues held off on their contributions to his campaign.

hmmmm - not too sure barr is a libertarian…… more like an opportunist….. knowing that mcinsane is not the strongest nom the repugs have running…… jus sayin…

Barr and Nader will fight for the druggie vote.

It could give Obama Ohio, right now it’s a tossup.

Boxturtle (I hope Hillary campaigns for Obama here a couple times. It could make a difference)

Hannity is concerned if Barr gets 3%. Probably because he expects the R’s to steal at least that much and now they have to double that amount.

i can’t imagine that dog hunting with the real hard core libertarians … they don’t want the state doing things either … they’re really big on repealing those defense of marriage acts, any kinds of control on ‘victimless’ crime like the old sodomy laws, it doesn’t matter the level of government, an actually libertarian doesn’t want any one else making personal decisions … they don’t support school vouchers, all kinds of things..

that’s what I think too … I still think Gravel will get the nod, he’s more correct on the social issues, the religious right, which the repugs have been in bad with for decades now, give libertarians the absolute creeps, Barr’s been hanging out with Lott, Santorium, all the creepy crawlies of the repug party…. i can’t imagine them actually believing him

It’s not that he is a Liberitarian. It is that that party is the closer to where Barr is than where the Rep party is these days. Search through the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Op-Ed archives for some of his columns on privacy. Some of them sound like he’s writing at FDL.

for the last couple of years Barr has been siding with the ACLU more often than not.

Updated unauthorized photo from The Royal Wedding.

yeah i know but he’s late to this party imo - he was one of the rabid impeachment repugs - hypocrite that he is….. i am not amused…..

backatcha, Waccamaw!

Buchanan made the difference in Florida in ‘00 because of the butterflies. It could be less than 3% and still be huge in key states.

methinks he’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing - he gives this girl the creeps….

Libertarians may go for it just to get national attention…Barr would probably end up making some major changes on the issues and libertarians woud tolerate some things that aren’t quite to their taste in order to grow the party….I can see it working. The question is whether it works at the voting booth.

The reason it MIGHT work is that so many goopers are pissed at the party and at McBush.

Some goopers really detest the control the religious right has gained and would like to shock the goops out of their dogmatic slumber.

Interesting at least.

The left and right could likely find quite a bit of common ground on privacy, once Bush is out of office.

The right’s main concern is that somebody not hide behind privacy to commit a crime, the left’s main concern is that the government not abuse that. I’d sign on to a bill that said wiretapping without a warrent as long as a warrent is obtained with all speed. If no warrent, wiretap stops and the info is inadmissable. We’ve already got that, but we’ve also got Bush.

If they can’t get a warrent application in front of a Judge the next business day, give ‘em more judges or staff.

Boxturtle (Seems reasonable)

He’s been WORKING for the ACLU.

So maybe he can quit talking about M. Obama not being proud of America and quit talking about Ob. being enamored of Ayres and Wright. I am not sure he can change the subject; he may be prerecorded for weeks. Those topics have been his programs for months now.

yeah, i would think a bucchanan run would be really damaging to McCain. He’d pull the rethugs that are irritated at McCain like crazy..

yeah, hard to forget Barr v1, creepy. OTOH if he can hammer on civil liberites in the right-wing media, then hey, go for it!

Perhaps autographed copies will be supplied to all families who have lost loves ones from serving in Bush’s wars.

yes, so has Dick Armey

Shammity is really into talking about hero*n and cr*ck, even the Bob Barr is talking states rights. & ooh Bob just said McCain should be “man enough” to stop whining and stand on his own two feet.
Not a fan of Bob Barr here, but I am less a fan of Hannity and Lieberman/McCain.

I’m with the libertarians on the bill of rights and keeping religious/government complex out of our private lives.

They’re a little whacko on taxes and apparently don’t believe in a social net…

I just love it when the Rs eat their old.

It will be good to hear someone speak out about civil liberties too.

It could make a positive difference in the key swing states of Pa, OH, MI and MO.
It gives the disaffected in both parties a place to go other than defaulting to McCain.
I doubt it changes any electoral votes in Dixie, although I suppose GA might be in play.
It is a very interesting development.

yeah, Barr was pushin Hannity’s buttons.

the old guard of the GOP can’t stand the evangelicals, they’d love to find a way to get them out of there

McCain lost his claim to be “man enough” on anything when he sold his soul to the Bush family.

sweet

Well we do have to give BobBarr v.2(?). He could have been attending Hagee conferences with has-been Rickie Santorum and soon-to-be-hasbeen (if Reid stops acting like congress is a country club) Lieberman, instead of working for the ACLU.

states rights hasnt been a good thing for african-americans…. jus sayin

yeah, I have a strong libertarian streak on the social issues… i can’t think of a single reason to have a law on drugs,consensual sex, who can marry who .. anything like that, frankly I don’t even have a problem with polygamy or adrogamy, but i support fiat money and believe there’s some markets you have to intervene in for them to function properly

Yes it’s refreshing to see them do that, rather than see Dems do that (& I am thinking of Feingold, Kucinich etc. getting the shaft of sorts at various times.)
I wonder what’s happening with old wide-stance Larry these days.

Pay it forward, Everyone. Along with this.

Paul got .5% in 88

“In the 1988 presidential election, Paul defeated activist Russell Means (an Oglala Lakota) to win the Libertarian Party nomination for president.[16] Though an early adopter of Reagan, Paul criticized the unprecedented deficits incurred under Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush, Paul’s opponent.[48] On the ballot in 46 states and the District of Columbia,[55] Paul placed third in the popular vote with 432,179 votes (0.5%),[56] behind Bush and Michael Dukakis.[57] Paul was kept off the ballot in Missouri, and received votes there only when written in, due to what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch called a “technicality”.[58]

As the “Libertarian standard bearer”,[59][60] Paul gained supporters nationwide who agreed with him on many positions—gun rights, fiscal conservatism, homeschooling, and abortion—and won approval from many who thought the federal government was misdirected elsewhere. This nationwide support base encouraged and donated to his later campaigns.[33] 2008 campaign chair Kent Snyder first worked for Paul on the 1988 campaign—when U.S. Senator John McCain told him, “You’re working for the most honest man in Congress.”[20][26]

Paul said he sought more during his presidential run than reaching office—he spread his libertarian ideas, often to school and university groups regardless of vote eligibility: “We’re just as interested in the future generation as this election. These kids will vote eventually, and maybe, just maybe, they’ll go home and talk to their parents.”[55] He traveled the country for a year speaking about issues such as free market economics and the rising government deficits:[59] “That’s why we talk to a lot of young people. They’re the ones who are paying these bills, they’re the ones who are inheriting this debt, so it’s most likely these young people who will move into this next generation in government.”[61]

(Wiki)

I think there’s a libertarian, librul x-over with consensual sex, etc. Don’t have to be libertarian to think the government should stay out of people’s sex lives.

Is there really still an old guard of the GOP? I thought Rove purged them in a “Night of Long Knives” way.

I think the country is ready to come together and send Bush & Company to the Hague.

Didn’t McCain get less than 80% of the GOP vote in the last few primaries with nobody running against him? Some GOPers expect him to lose and so they might not vote.
Others want him to lose but they also want their branch of the party to not be blamed for McCain’s expected loss. The Corporate wing of the GOP might have just found their protest candidate.
This leaves the Religious wing of the GOP holding McCains’s bag/bearings and the blame for his defeat.

yeah, definitely

Am happy to send Bob Barr some periodic infusions of worthlesss pennies and worn out Monopoly dough but my now scare real dough is wholeheartedly destined for the brilliant and inspiring Constitutional lawyer from Chicago. ;~)

well, there still is in the middle of the country where I come from … he may have rasputin’d them all in the beltway

That would be justice.

The model for these runs in Ross Perot who actually succeeded in building a party that crossed the magic 5% threshold….

Normally it would be HIGHLY unlikely for the libertarians to accomplish that- but THIS year it could happen- just because of pissed off goopers.

Anyone who hasn’t seen this yet, well worth a look: Lawrence Lessig on why he’s for Obama: http://blip.tv/file/647623

Thanks for that link, and strongly recommend it to everyone here.

It’s a little long — 20 minutes — but very well articulated and entertaining.

I actually have an LBJ button almost identical to the one used as the icon for this post (but mine has a single star on each side of the “for the” text).

“I just love it when the Rs eat their old”.

heh, heh…

I thought that was Pat Buchanan that started that back during watergate. When Lowell Weicker was the arch nemesis.

I’d send some cash ta Barr if he makes the grade—would love to see him take 5% and make EVERYBODY a little nervous in the service.

Wish I could share your enthusiasm for DLC candidate #1.

McCain’s strategy will be along the lines of “Bin Laden! Bin Laden! Terror! Terror! Terror!”. It remains to be seen if that old Bush crony plays along.

As it is the DLC have given us a push button menu for primary candidates, ever since they knocked out Edwards, Dodd et al.

And he was such a dwarf and a nut case; there is so much to run against this time. A kinder, gentle Repub party, I guess.

And my little kibbles and bits go to Blue Americans too!

I’m sure there are lotsa rich wacky Libertarians who’ll support whoever runs on their line. I wish them lotsa luck, but my few dollars go elsewhere, where it matters!

Haven’t heard that expression in years - reminds me of being young. I think Barr will make the Repubs very nervous - they are hanging by a thread already.

i’m with you on that

Here’s another person running for the Libertarian prez candidate slot.
http://antiwar.com/radio/2008/05/07/mary-ruwart/

i’m trying to keep my state from going red at the moment, Landrieu’s not the best, but at least she’s a democrat and will support the majority of the party’s things