Bob Barr Blasts The GOP's "Conservative" Values

A couple of weeks ago, OTB community member Edwin Rutsch interviewed Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr at Netroots Nation in Austin. Barr is a busy candidate, if not the most frenetic campaigner. As he pointed out yesterday at his blog, there are only three months until the election and, while the two major-party candidates bicker over TV ads, he has at least chosen a running mate! In fact, the Libertarian candidate is kind of a good blogger, launching barbs with a righteous vigor undiminished by the fact that the targets of his attacks will take no notice. What is a non-billionaire third-party candidate to do? As he puts it: "...compliments of CNN, we don't know where McCain stands on the issues but we do know that he stands in a pair of $500 Italian shoes... CNN spends more time talking about Senator McCain's fashion than about my campaign!"

Rutsch asked Barr about the "conservative values" that have dominated much political discussion on the right in recent years.

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BARR: The term "conservative values" means so many different things to so many different people. To me, what has utterly failed in the traditional conservative movement is any understanding of or respect for true individual liberty and our constitutional system of government, which was designed expressly to provide protection for individual liberty.

We now have a government which calls itself conservative, yet believes it's okay to spy on American citizens within their own country without a court order. We now have an administration which calls itself conservative and supports conservative values that believes it's okay to detain a citizen or non-citizen in this country and never give them access to courts to determine under habeas corpus if they are being held properly.

So if in fact respect for individual liberty, respect for the Constitution are conservative values, we certainly don't have that in Washington nowadays.

[...]

BARR: Family values are part and parcel of the same notion of individual liberty. Where you have a Federal government, or in the cases of many of our state governments, state governments that want to tell individual citizens or the Federal government to override the decisions of the citizens.

For example, if the citizens of a particular state wish to legalize medicinal marijuana, or to change the definition of marriage in their state, why should the Federal government have any right, if in fact if it respects individual liberty and individual conservative values, have any power have any power to come in and override the position of the people of the state. Yet that's what we have in Washington. That's not conservatism. That's big government.

The value that is most important to me, is that which is most important, for example, to the great 20th Century philosopher Ayn Rand, and that is the value of individual privacy. As Ayn Rand said, the value of privacy, the notion of a person being freed from the interference of other people, is the essence of civilization.

And where you have a government that can come in and can invade your privacy, as Ayn Rand also said, you take away a person's freedom when you do that. That's the most important and fundamental of all values.

It's simply an understanding and a recognition that the notion of privacy in virtually everything you see and do government-involved-in nowadays -- whether it's surveillance cameras, whether it is wiretapping, whether it is trying to dictate to individuals or the states how one must behave, whether it's the government believing it can have access to our most personal financial and medical records without ever telling about it, or without showing a probable cause, it is under assault everywhere, and if we don't get a handle on it pretty soon, we'll lose the opportunity forever to do so.
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Intro: John Tomasic

Comments

[ultrabop]

The neo-conservative is a throwback to tribal warfare...­.you kill me, I kill you...I eat you...I stronger than you...I kill you...I eat you....

the idea of living life gets thrown out the window for the idea of creating super ego.

[atomic]

You have to remember the main stream media like CNN cut their teeth on promoting the agenda of the elite. For example the Gulf war also based on several lies told by Bush Sr. - CNN helped fabricate the facts and beat the drums for that war which put that network front and center to cover it. That made CNN the News Network to watch and their revenues soared to the cosmos. The major news organizations are part of the elite structure in place that instigates resource wars and allows spying on our own citizens. They stand to gain by it and therefore can not be trusted to deliver the truth ... media must be held accountable ... but not for swearing or nudity. It should be accountable for lying about war and protecting the elite status quo.

[AmericanSinceFeb08]

This man needs a lot more attention from the MSM. Now those are conservative values I like. Keep the government out of my life. Reproductive rights, marry who I want to, no spying on citizens, wall between church and government.

What do these Re p u b l i c a n s not understand?

[JLee]

My commitment to O is unwavering, but I still sent this guy money. He could woo more voters away from Johnnie Mac than O ever could; the only man who can do that job more effectively seems to be Mac himself.

[Bitsko]

They edited the part out where Barr called the right-wingers "Marxists.­"

But mark my beery words, the libertarian wing of the republican party will take over the party, and they'll be sponsored by the same big business interests that back the present party (and most of the democrats, by the way). Their convention might be interesting to watch for once. Then again, maybe I'm just bored and want to see a good brouhaha amongst the jingos. I thought the 2000 G0P convention was going to feature an apocalyptic battle with the Buchanan wing, but the big money gang always wins out at these things. Well, thanks for listening.

[ultrabop]

Yer right...it­'s about the money.

[EdwinRutsch]

Is Bob Barr correct that Conservative Values have Failed? What are the values that have failed?
I'd suggest ;
authoritarianism
fear
secrecy
dogmatism
greed
selfishness
indifference
self-righteousness
intolerance
division
etc. what do you think? is that accurate?

[littleblackcat]

These "values" have certainly failed the American people. By the people, I mean the working class citizen who has, sadly, been so certain that theirs was the best, the most honest, the most opportunity-filled, most lawful nation on earth, run by men and women of impeccable character and integrity that they have failed in doing their own part. Every person past a certain age should make it a point to attend meetings and learn about the people in office and the laws of the land. Only through knowledge can the people be certain that their elected leaders are truly doing the work required to make sure the will of the people is being represented.
We are all, in fact, breaking the Constitutional laws of the nation. We have been directed by the persons who drew up the Constitution in the first place, to remove from power any government that did not operate to the letter of the law and replace that goverment with a new goverment that DID obey the law.
We have not demanded that Congress do its required duty and remove this administration from power.

[lewes17266]

the way they invoke God in their powermongering bothers me most,
and they misuse the scripture to manipulate trusting souls who genuinely desire closeness with God
the way they focus so much attention on certain sins and then enlarge those sins and turn them into political issues, a reason to vote for one party and a reason to hate the other party,
THEY, the conservatives, are God-fearing and are authorized to tell gullibles how to vote and how to think, but most importantly, who to hate and who to fear
they only want what is best for us, which is God's will, which conveniently fits their political goals
the Christian Right has undermined democracy with its meddling and gossipmongering and manipulation and teaching prejudice and with outright lies

[RMcAelfinn]

His "conservatism" isn't the conservatism I used to subscribed to. He replaces the Federal government, with its control over the individual, with state government control over the individual. This may resonate with the conservative talk radio fans, who like to proclaim judicial activism when the Supreme Court doesn't rule their way. But it still tramples over individual rights all the same. This is basically why I plan to vote for Obama and not the GOP or Libertarian candidate. And this after 25 years of voting Republican. If the GOP and the Libertarians would dump the Religious Right entanglements maybe I'd vote different.

[MiddleRoadLiberal]

I wouldn't want to dissuade anyone from voting for Obama, but as a libertarian wouldn't it be wise to accept his brand of conservatism at the federal level and then make sure your brand of conservatives are elected in your state?

[ohmercy]

I will say at the start I don't know enough oabout Barr but I intend on checking him out... oddly... even thiough I've been a life long Dem.

I think if states have control the citizens within the states can organize, do grass roots activism and actually vote as they see fit.
Far easier to do on a state level than on a country wide level.

[Pdubya]

the point is that state government is more so, and should be, representative. legislated, not mandated. taxes stay in the communitte and are allocated and voted upon more locally. "he" doesn't replace anything. YOU do. And me and the rest of us.

[Bitsko]

He's right of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil." The consumer knows all, the consumer knows nothing.

[qh4dotcom]

If you don't like the control a state has over you....you have the option of moving to another state who has less control over you....if you don't like the control the Federal government has over you...then you need to move to a foreign country...­seems to me like state government control is a far better option.

[EdwinRutsch]

I've interviewed a lot of people talking about the Failure of Conservative Values.
you can see them at:
http://progressivespirit.com/InterviewStories/ProgressiveValuesStories.htm

here's what Arianna Huffington had to say.

Failed Conservative Values: Arianna Huffington on Family Values Hypocrisy
http://democracyforamerica.com/blog_posts/25664

Arianna Huffington is a well know progressive speaker and activist. She started the popular Huffington Post website and it seems you can't turn on a progressive TV show without her popping up on it and taking a swipe at the conservatives. I saw Arianna at our local bookstore where she was promoting her new book, The Right is Wrong. During the Q and A, I asked her how conservative values have failed. She had plenty to say. ..........­...

[EdwinRutsch]

The question I asked Bob Barr was if conservative values have failed?
looks like Bob Barr's website picked up on the interview I did with him. see
http://blog.bobbarr2008.com/2008/07/27/bobs-take-on-the-failures-of-conservatism/

Also, there was a conservative 'infiltrator' to Netroots Nation who took a photo of the interview.
photo: http://www.fontcraft.com/images/rutsch-barr.jpg

He also mentioned the exchange in an article.
http://www.fontcraft.com/rod/?p=376
"One of the people in the crowd talking to Barr turned out to be Edwin Rutsch who is making a documentary about Progressive Values. He was wearing a shirt which read "(Failed) Conservative Values: Fear, Authoritarianism, Self-Righteousness, Hypocrisy," so I had to follow him around for a bit to see if I could get an opportunity to point out to him that those terms were not values, but actions or types of behavior." Republic of Dave.

 

[tajitj]

This is a battle the GOP is fighting. Along with Ron Paul, Bob Barr represents the new modern day conservative.

It serves no Americans interest to have more govt spying, a 3.2 trillion dollar budget and endless war in the Middle East.

[EdwinRutsch]

looks to me like the Libertarians and Conservatives are having a civil war on who represents real conservative values?