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I have given Bob Barr every last possible chance to win my support. I have overlooked his part in the plot of smear Mary Ruwart. I’ve given him a semi-pass on his continued drug warriorism and love of big-government intervention. And I’m ashamed to say I even looked beyond his blatant homophobia.
But his July 4 press release in support of racist Senator Jesse Helms has pushed me over the line.
I will not vote for Bob Barr for president and, if by some miracle he wins the state of Michigan, I will not cast my electoral vote for him either.
It’s not just that Barr “sent condolences” to the family of racist dictator-lover Jess Helms. That would have been fine. No, Barr went so far as to call on ME to “give thanks to God” for the “life and work” — racist life and work — of Jesse Helms. That, I find completely outrageous and absolutely unforgivable.
Barr is a collectivist, anti-intellectual moron who does not understand that Communism was brought down under its own inefficiency — not the deficit spending and Fed-financed fascism of the disastrous Reagan administration. Barr is a pitiful disgrace to the Libertarian Party and libertarianism and I have diminished respect for anyone who continues to support him and call themselves a libertarian. Sorry.
Let’s take a look at Helm’s history:
Helms’s racist political activities began no later than 1950, when while working on a Democratic primary campaign, Helms helped create an ad that read, “White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories? Frank Graham favors mingling of the races.”
Thirteen years later, Helms had this to say of civil-rights protesters: “The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that’s thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men’s rights.”
That same year, Helms also wrote, “Crime rates and irresponsibility among Negroes are a fact of life which must be faced.”
In 1960, Helms worked on the unsuccessful Democratic primary gubernatorial campaign of I. Beverly Lake, Sr., who ran as a supporter of racial segregation.
Helms became a Republican and in 1972 was elected to the U.S. Senate. He gave support to Ronald Reagan — Barr’s political idol — in 1976 during his insurgent run against incumbent Gerald Ford.
In 1983, Helms opposed making Martin Luther King a national holiday not on constitutional grounds — but on the spurious grounds that King has “communist ties.”
Helms once purposely sought to offend Carol Mosely Braun, an African-American senator, by whistling “Dixie” and singing a song about the “good life” during slavery. “Watch me make her cry,” he said to a colleague once Braun was trapped in an elevator with him.
Helms was also a hardcore interventionist. He had ties to Salvadorian death squads and was an outspoken supporter of fascist dictator Pinochet of Chile.
This is a man Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr considers to be “one of the finest, most courageous and deeply principled men to ever serve in the United States Congress.”
It is clear that Bob Barr does not want my vote or my support and he shall have neither. It is also clear that Bob Barr does want my antipathy — and the antipathy of others like me — and that he shall have. Although I will continue to run Independent Political Report in as objective of a manner as I can, I will no longer hold back in any other forum or setting in exposing Barr for the racist, homophobic, baby-murdering thug that he is.
Baldwin/Jay/Nader/McKinney ‘08.
Okay, c'mon folks are you that blind that you don't see how to get North Carolina votes. Jesse Helms, wether you like him or not, was the MAN in North Carolina, and Barr is already polling at 7% there. This is the smart thing to do if you want North Carolina Votes - pay tribute to Helms.
Lets also not pretend that there are not racist everywhere including Obama who is anti white. So spare me that crap and learn how to win.
Earth to all you Libertarians, there are many people that are NOT Libertarians that will vote for Barr, and Barr has to appeal to them. Here is the bottom line, Helms is dead, but Barr can get that North Carolina support. Damn it I am sick of politically correct bullshit.
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"Earth to all you Libertarians, there are many people that are NOT Libertarians that will vote for Barr, and Barr has to appeal to them."
I understood this, and that's why I gave Barr a chance a month ago. The problem is that as he tries to grab these votes, he is speaking in total opposition to basic libertarian principles. He is losing pure libertarians with every move he makes to gain non-libertarian votes. Barr is not running a libertarian campaign. Why would a libertarian vote for him?
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So it's not enough that the LP should whore itself out to someone like Barr for the sake of a few votes, now we have to pander to racists? If I want to vote for pandering whores there are already two candidates to choose from, and they are actually running with a chance at winning.
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Wow. The Barr campaign has become such I joke that I finally just started laughing out loud at it. It happened just as I read "Helms was also a hardcore interventionist. He had ties to Salvadorian death squads and was an outspoken supporter of fascist dictator Pinochet of Chile."
The Libertarian Party's nominee for President of the United States is issuing press releases in support of a racist, fascist former Republican Senator. Allow me to slap myself and try to wake up from this nightmare.
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Bob is going to do better than any libertarian in history. He is going to grow the party and advance the cause of liberty. You can be bitter all you want about Mary "Child Porn" Whats her Name, but she was a nothing and would have harmed the party. We don't need people like her or you in the party.
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I went to Denver and supported bob Barr. I thought it would be great for the Ga LP.Bob Barr can still get my support but he is going to have to do better.I also know he is the best choice here in Ga. The proplem he needs guys like me and the other hard core libertarians to do the grunt work. I will not do the grunt work for someone is not spreading the Libertarian message
but is showing love to a bigot.
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Interesting reaction. And, you would cast a vote for whom, someone run by the establishment big 2 who put Helms in office and kept him their, just like Byrd?
Sounds more like you are a hitman for the big 2
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Nice post. While I have gone back to the fold after voting for Nader in 1996 and 2000, I understand both your frustration with the Big Two, and also your frustration at Barr. I can see the arguments some commenters are making, but really, Bob Barr is not getting enough votes in North Carolina from fans of Jesse Helms to have put out such a statement. It makes Barr look like is still dragging his knuckles along the ground as he did during the Clinton years. More's the pity for Barr, who should stop listening now to whatever professional political advisors told him to put out that press release.
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