Bob Barr for President 2008 - The Thread

[KenH]

www.bobbarr2008.com

I totally and unequivocally throw my support behind Bob Barr for president of the United States. :thumbs:

 

[KenH]

Bob Barr will get several times more media coverage between now and November 4 than all of the party's previous presidential candidates combined.

Bob Barr wins Libertarian presidential nod
Posted: 05:50 PM ET

From CNN's Rebecca Sinderbrand, CNN's Steve Brusk

(CNN) — Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr is now the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee — and a potential headache for John McCain, as he reaches out to conservative voters who might otherwise vote for the GOP nominee in November.

The former Georgia congressman — who left the Republican Party two years ago, citing differences over fiscal policy and concerns over civil liberties — was nominated on the sixth ballot at the party’s convention in Denver. The vote on the sixth ballot was 324 for Barr, and 276 for Mary Ruwart, the last remaining candidate out of 14 originally seeking the Libertarian nomination.

- http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/05/25/bob-barr-wins-libertarian-presidential-nod/

 

[KenH]

Bob Barr will be on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal" call-in program on Monday morning, May 26, at 8:30 a.m. CDT.

 

[KenH]

Bob Barr asked the LP convention to nominate Wayne Allyn Root(one of the other presidential candidates) for his running mate and the convention has just done so. :thumbs:

 

[Ps104_33]

Oh boy here we go with KenH's candidate of the month.:laugh:

 

[KenH]

I stuck with Ron Paul all the way through. I will do the same with Bob Barr.

 

[ajg1959]

I hope he beats obama

AJ

 

[KenH]

I hopes he beats both Senator Obama and Senator JSM III.

 

[Pastor Larry]

I stuck with Ron Paul all the way through.

All the way through what? He is still running apparently.

You switched to Obama declaring that you would vote for him. Now you have changed again. Quite frankly, you are more believable when you don't speak.

 

[KenH]

You switched to Obama declaring that you would vote for him.

That was before Bob Barr entered the race or I even had any inkling that he would do so.

I could only support Senator Obama on foreign policy and civil liberties issues. I can support Bob Barr on those issues and economic issues as well.

Also, Senator Obama has taken to bashing oil companies and that certainly doesn't set well with me.

 

[Ps104_33]

The way things look around here Barr will be stealing votes from Obama.

 

[Magnetic Poles]

It's too bad the Libertarian ticket isn't reversed. Then we could have the Root Barr ticket! Nothin' beats a frosty mug of Root Barr.

 

[KenH]

That's a good one, MP. :laugh:

Also, it's a balanced ticket - Barr-Root. Four letters each.

 

[KenH]

"I'm a competitor and I'm in this to win. I do not view the role of the Libertarian Party to be a spoiler and I certainly have no intention of being a spoiler." - Bob Barr

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h__Y67IpXiQ2tpHYzBMDIpRNfqYwD90T01S00

 

[Andre]

Hello Ken:

I admit up front that I have a very superficial sense of what "libertarianism" is all about. Nevertheless, I do think it is a tricky position to reconcile with the gospel. Here is something I found on the web describing libertariansim:

"The core idea is simply stated, but profound and far-reaching in its implications. Libertarians believe that each person owns his own life and property, and has the right to make his own choices as to how he lives his life - as long as he simply respects the same right of others to do the same.

Another way of saying this is that libertarians believe you should be free to do as you choose with your own life and property, as long as you don't harm the person and property of others."

Now here is the problem as I see it: The appeal of libertarianism is, of course, the freedom it promises. However, my suspicion is that libertarianism does not fully address the inter-connectedness of all things - how my decision, say, to drive an SUV affects the other people in the world (e.g. increasing pollution). My intuition is that if one really takes the "as long as you do not harm the person and property of others" bit seriously, your "freedom" begin to shrink to the point where the "libertarian" position becomes indisitinguishable from other positions.

I am interested in any arguments you can mount as to how liberterianism can be reconciled with the demands of kingdom living that are placed on us in the Scriptures.

 

[Ps104_33]

Libertarians are basically for keeping government at the most local possible level. If you want to read a good book on the subject, I would suggest "Why I am a Libertarian" by Chas. Murray.

I am interested in any arguments you can mount as to how liberterianism can be reconciled with the demands of kingdom living that are placed on us in the Scriptures.

You may want to elaborate on this statement a little. What "kingdom" are you talking about?

 

[Andre]

You may want to elaborate on this statement a little. What "kingdom" are you talking about?

I am talking about the "Kingdom of God" - the kingdom that Jesus taught so much about and which was initiated by him over 2000 years ago.

I will try to illustrate in the context of a specific issue - universal health care.

I believe that the scriptural position on this is that we should have it, even though the specific issue is obviously not specifically addressed in the Bible. I would cite the parable of the lost sheep as support for the concept. Despite people's attempt to shrink that parable into a "salvation of souls" issue, I think it has wider implications - including that society should be structured to ensure all are guaranteed a certain level of care.

Now, there is a price to pay for this. Let's say that Fred gets cancer. Because Fred has been living in a society where he has been taxed to support universal health care, he has less money than he otherwise would have. So Fred cannot afford to "go outside the system" and pay for special high-tech treatment not available under universal health care.

So, in a sense, Fred's "freedom" to act in the interests of his own health has been limited or constrained by what I think is a kingdom value - using our collective resources to ensure that everyone gets a minimum level of care.

Would a libertarian oppose universal health care? I suspect that they would (but let them speak for themselves).

If we are going to follow Jesus fully, I think this means giving up some of our "freedoms".

 

[Ps104_33]

Are you Roman Catholic? Well, this is a debate for another thread. Lets get back on topic.

It was Barr who in 1996 wrote the Defense of Marriage Act, which said states didn't have to recognize gay marriages performed in other states; it was Barr who protested when he learned the military allowed soldiers to practice Wicca. A former federal prosecutor, a firm social conservative, and a strong supporter of the War on Drugs.
Does he sound like a Libertarian to you?

 

[Andre]

Are you Roman Catholic? Well, this is a debate for another thread. Lets get back on topic.

I am not Roman Catholic. As to the matter of this being on topic, I think it is. If the thread is about Barr, the values of libertarianism are obviously relevant. And, assuming that we are all serious Christians here, what the Scriptures have to say is indeed relevant. I am not intending to turn this into a debate about universal health care. I used it is an example in response to your question.

It was Barr who in 1996 wrote the Defense of Marriage Act, which said states didn't have to recognize gay marriages performed in other states; it was Barr who protested when he learned the military allowed soldiers to practice Wicca. A former federal prosecutor, a firm social conservative, and a strong supporter of the War on Drugs.
Does he sound like a Libertarian to you?

Not in these respects, no.

I am still interested in how people integrate a libertarian philosophy with a Christian worldview.

Now if Barr is not really a libertarian, and is not generally promoting the values of libertarianism, then indeed what I am talking about is for another thread.

So. Is Barr a liberterian (generally) or not?

 

[TomVols]

I watched quite a bit of the LP debate Sat night. Barr had some good moments and good points. He seemed a bit inconsistent at times, though, and came across occasionally bitter that he was left out of the power structure of the GOP. Root came across very passionate and principled, more so than Barr. I am following this candidacy very closely. I didn't care for Barr in the house, so something just nags me about him now. But like I said, I'm very interested. No question he's more of a federalist and originalist than Obama. Has some advantages to McCain as well. But I'm not pouring my Kool Aid yet. :laugh: