Barr on Beck last night, did anyone else decide?

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

I watched the hour with Bob Barr on Glenn Beck last night. Prior to last night I was really up in the air about who I was going to vote for. I had been looking into both Barr and Baldwin and I had been reading the opinion of my like minded compatriots here on RPF and I just could not decide. Last night sealed the deal. I am voting for Baldwin as Barr just strikes me as a neocon taking us all for a ride. So I guess I will either be voting Baldwin or writing in Ron Paul. Did anyone else make up their mind based off of the interview last night?

[RJB]

He strikes me as jumping on the bandwagon. I had trouble believing him on issues he claimed to stand for based on his prior voting record. He also seems to be for foreign intervention based on his approval for black ops.

I'll wait to see who RP endorses.

[newyearsrevolution08]

I don't make a decision based on a tv spot with predetermined questions and answers.

I am waiting for the chance to drink with each of the candidates to see their true colors.

[gls]

I tried watching it but Glenn Beck's stupidity was just too much for me.

[nobody's_hero]

For those who are interested, Barr's blog has it posted in 6 parts:

http://blog.bobbarr2008.com/2008/08/29/video-bob-on-glenn-beck/

[RJB]

I tried watching it but Glenn Beck's stupidity was just too much for me.

lol I agree. Somehow I watched it but I'll probably puke if I here Beck claim to be a libertarian or a constitutionalist when he claims to want to invade the world in the next sentence.

[Menthol Patch]

The fact is Bob Barr is just a neocon who is using the Libertarian Party to advance his political career.

The neo-cons "lites" that took over the LP and gutted the platform a while back are more than happy to support him.

[Imperial]

I saw about 1/3 to 1/2 of it. While I noticed he back-pedaled on a few things, some things he stuck to. And, his general pragmatist streak is something I like myself. While I love Ron Paul's principle, I can also realize Bob Barr is far better than the two generics we have from the Republicrats.

I am surprised none of ya'll mentioned his points on gun rights. While he supported some regulation(as do I to a certain extent), I thought many would be in an uproar.

I would be interested in what he said about black ops though.

I also noticed he was unequivocally against the Fannie/Freddie bail-outs, even though before he had not been. Although, he had then been pushed into a conditional corner when he had conceded to a bail-out earlier.

I still plan to donate to Barr, b/c at the very least his campaign gives us visibility and builds the LP. Also, he can answer off the cuff fairly well, and seems to have at least versed himself in liberty. I can love the message but not the messenger.

[dsentell]

I have tried to like Bob Barr and last night I did enjoy his sense of humor. But he indicated that RP's foreign policy is isolationism which earned him one mark for stupid in my book.

Barr is certainly no Ron Paul, but then again, he sure beats the heck out of McCain or Obama.

[Nietzsche's Stache]

The fact is Bob Barr is just a neocon who is using the Libertarian Party to advance his political career.

The neo-cons "lites" that took over the LP and gutted the platform a while back are more than happy to support him.

While I agree in principle, I don't think completely dismissing him is the right idea.

If we're going to do anything with this movement, we're going to, for better or worse, have to comprimise some of our views in order to start a large-scale liberty-based movement.

While Barr certainly isn't perfect, he's a Ron Paul clone compared to the garbage platforms of Obama and McCain.

If the Libertarian/liberty movement is to succeed, it's not going to happen overnight and it's not going to be an immediate switch. We must take things in stride. One of the first steps in doing so would be fhaving the election day results display a record amount of independent party votes with many in the Libertarian/Constitution parties's respective camps.

Hopefully, in the instance, many of the 80%+ people that are not satisfied with our current congress will realize that there's an alternative to the two party system.

Then, at this point, it would be up to us to compromise some of our individual beliefs in order to create a party that's a major step in the right direction and could challenge the big two.

I'm not voting for Bob Barr because I think he'd be a good president. I'm voting for Bob Barr because of the greater message it would convey to our society if all of us champions of liberty would get on board and actually try to make an impact instead of quibbling about minor details.

As a side note, Wayne Allen Root is fantastic. He makes me feel much better about being in the LP camp.

[Nietzsche's Stache]

Think of it as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. They most certainly, certainly did not see eye-to-eye on many things. But, they were both aware enough to come together where it counts and make steps to create this country and leave it with an excellent foundation.

[tron paul]

Bob Barr is not in danger of winning. People are acting like

"OMGZ WHAT IF BARR IS ELECTED AND HE'S *A*SECRET*NEOCON*????!!11!"

Vote for the message and the future of the Libertarian and other 3rd parties.

Don't worry, Barr won't win; your FUD and paranoia are MOOT.

If I were McCain, I'd hire people to go spread FUD about Barr...

[1000-points-of-fright]

He also seems to be for foreign intervention based on his approval for black ops.

He never said he was for foreign intervention. He said that intelligence is the first line of defense. If we have accurate intel that someone has done or is going to do harm to US citizens or property then we should act in a deliberate and precise way. That's a legitimate use of force and even Ron Paul would agree with it. He mentioned the black ops as an alternative to expensive full scale invasions when military force is required.


But he indicated that RP's foreign policy is isolationism which earned him one mark for stupid in my book.

No, he said that he himself was not an isolationist. Ron Paul's foreign policy was not even mention in that part of the conversation. Beck mention Penn Jillette and other extreme libertarians.

Dislike Barr all you want for real reasons, not reasons that you imagined you heard.

[fedup100]

Barr is running to pacify his friends over at the ACLU.....the more candidates they can run third party means no effin way the good guys will ever break the controlled duel twins of red and blue and take her back!

[SteveB-NY]

Thank you 1000 Points. Sometimes I wonder if people actually watch and listen or if they just hear what they want to hear and see what they want to see.
Barr made a major point during the conversation about how if the LP wants to be a political PARTY as opposed to a political DEBATING SOCIETY it needs to be more pragmatic and more gradualistic. This is a perfectly legitimate point of view. Complete ideological purity is fine for a think tank or a lobbying outfit but not for a PARTY that wants some chance of victory.