Those who know me know I define myself as an Anarcho-capitalist more than a Libertarian. I was never much on party politics so when describing myself politically I preferred the term Anarcho-capitalist to Libertarian because I did not associate myself with a voting group. With that said I always supported many Libertarian principles and admired several Libertarian candidates such as Harry Brown and Ron Paul.

 

Today I have lost what little respect I once had for the Libertarian Party with their nomination of Bob Barr. Libertarians are supposed to be for less government and more freedom.  The Libertarian Party nomination of Barr as their candidate should be a slap in the face to any real Libertarian. Barr is not a Libertarian, never has been and he has made it obvious never will be.  

 

I recently had a quick email discussion with Karl Dickey the Chairman of the Florida Libertarian Party…or said another way head sheep in Florida. He was nice enough to send me an email letting me know Bob Barr would be in my area giving a speech in case I wanted to attend. My reply was much like I am sure anyone that knows me would have imagined.

 

I asked Karl how he could actually call himself a Libertarian while at the same time supporting a known Nazi like Barr. As you could probably also imagine I received a nice and courteous reply from Mr. Dickey which I am going to share with everyone and I quote, “You have made it obvious you are a complete idiot”.

 

Yes I am the idiot. I am the idiot for pointing out what this Barr Moonie should know already. I guess I am the idiot for not looking at Bob’s long record on crusading for Libertarian issues such as the drug war while he was prosecutor. He even introduced the “Barr Amendment” to stop the use of medical marijuana and he was the author of the “Defense of Marriage Act” even though the Libertarian Party platform declares that government has no place in defining, licensing, or restricting personal relationships between consenting adults.  

 

Karl’s first email to me was much more gracious and I will share that one as well-

 

Mike,

Thank you for your comments, and though I did not vote for Barr to be our nominee, he is...and me being the state chair has but be in a precarious situation with certain responsibilities that I do take seriously.

 

At this point, I look at it that we only have to deal with it less than two months more. Then we can focus on getting LP National back on course.

 

Thank you again,

Karl

 

 

It would seem Karl did not really like Barr either, but found himself supporting him once the flock had spoken. I asked him what made himself any different than a Republican that could so easily replace his Romney sign with a McCain sign or a Democrat who replaced their Clinton sign for an Obama sign. How could someone so easily abandon their principles just because the people had spoken? Not having an answer at the ready Karl was quick to retort with the “You’re an idiot” comeback, further demonstrating that he is not only a sheep, but that he also is not a great debater.  

When Bob Barr was on the Glen Beck show, Beck asked him if he was one of those crazy people that wanted to end the drug war and Barr just chuckled along with Beck and said nothing. Would Harry Brown or Ron Paul have said nothing? This would have been a great opportunity for Barr to stand up for one of the biggest principles of the Libertarian Party (a party he claims to support) but instead he was silent. If he were a true Libertarian he would have been quick to point out that in a free society adults should be able to decide what they do with their property and explained to Beck why he does not support the drug war.

 

A very good friend of mine Marc Victor www.AttorneyForFreedom.com  had a chance to question Barr on this very issue when he confronted Barr at a freedom event (Why Barr was there I am still not quite sure).  Marc specifically asked Barr why he remained silent as Glenn Beck was publicly ridiculing people who support marijuana legalization.   Barr retreated into a diatribe about winning votes from people who did not support legalization.  Marc pointed out that the Libertarian Party nominee should at least support basic fundamental longstanding libertarian positions.  Marc hammered away about the importance of changing hearts and minds with reasoned positions advocating freedom.  Barr would have none of it and was focused solely on simply winning votes.  Barr’s handlers, realizing that a scene was developing, attempted to move Marc along.  Marc, a criminal defense attorney, simply got louder and more determined to expose Barr as the fraud he really is.  Realizing Marc was not backing down, Barr simply ran away from the conversation.   Afterwards, several libertarians cheered Marc’s exposing Barr as a fake and an embarrassment to the Libertarian Party. 

 

You cannot call yourself a Libertarian and support the drug war. What make this worse is Barr as a prosecutor has put many people in cages for doing what the party he represents claims to be against. Now it would be one thing if Barr could say that he no longer believes in the drug war, but when given the chance to clarify his position he goes silent. He told Marc that he decided not to speak up because that position would lose votes…are you kidding me? Barr is nothing more than a political hack by his own admission.

 

It’s obvious that the Libertarian Party sold out plain and simple. Even though I do not participate in the scam known as voting I used to at least have some respect for the Libertarian Party for their principles and some of their positions, but no more. With their selection of Bob Barr to represent them I have lost any respect I once had for them. If Bob Barr can be called a Libertarian then there really is nothing separating the Libertarians from the Republicans and Democrats.

 

I knew that freedom was never going to be found through Dumbocracy, but I thought maybe the Libertarian Party might keep fascism in check somewhat…I was wrong. The Libertarian Party is now just as big of a joke as is the Republican and Democratic Parties, and Bob Barr was the last nail in the coffin. We have all just witnessed the death of libertarianism as we all knew it.

 

The party is over…turn down the lights.