Sunday, May 25, 2008

My Favorite Bob Barr Quotes

On the occasion of the Libertarian Party nominating Bob Barr as its presidential candidate, it seems fitting to recall some of Barr's classic sound bites from years past.

"Clearly, the court today has ignored the constitutional right and responsibility of Congress to pass laws protecting citizens from dangerous and addictive narcotics, and the right of Congress to exert legislative control over the District of Columbia as the nation's capital."
- Barr in 2002, after he stopped D.C. from enforcing its voters' wishes to legalize medical marijuana

"There is no legitimate use whatsoever for marijuana. This is not medicine. This is bogus witchcraft. It has no place in medicine, no place in pain relief."
- Another Barr quote about from the same time

Military chaplains at Fort Hood, and other bases "are sanctioning, if not supporting the practice of witchcraft as a 'religion' by soldiers on military bases."
- In 1999, Barr explains why he tried to ban the practice of the Wiccan religion in the military

"The homosexual agenda calls for taking these so-called marriage licenses to the mainland and the other 50 states, the other 49 states, and trying to force these other states, the citizens of these other states, to accept their bizarre view of marriage."
- Barr on his Defense of Marriage Act, in 1996

"Information was gathered at that interview under false pretenses."
- Barr is none too pleased to learn that he was tricked into making a fool of himself in the Borat movie (clip below)

5 comments:

jwpegler said...

Well, then I guess the election is going to come down to weed versus Big Macs…

We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times ... and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That's not leadership. That's not going to happen. – Barack Obama, May 16th, 2008

LOL!!!!!

LibertyRepublican said...

People can change. I believe that Bob Barr's expressed change is very genuine. If people like Stephen Gordon are signing up for his campaign, then that should say something.

For some reason, I'm getting the sense that Barr will be your primary target through Election Day, rather than John McCain.

Mark said...

No, no, I assure you - the McCain attacks will return soon. Barr's just been more newsworthy recently.

Jake Featherston said...

"There is no legitimate use whatsoever for marijuana. This is not medicine. This is bogus witchcraft. It has no place in medicine, no place in pain relief."
- Another Barr quote

Actually, that sounds pretty close to being right to me. With the possible exception of some limited efficacy in the treatment of glaucoma, and in stimulating the appetite of people undergoing chemotherapy, or suffering from anorexia ("the munchies" as therapy, essentially), I don't think there's much hard evidence marijuana has any great deal of medical utility.

For what its worth, none of the people I know who obtain "medical marijuana" are doing so in order to combat glaucoma, or to stimulate their appetites so as to avoid wasting away. In each and every single case, they are obtaining it through fraudulently claiming to have ailments they don't have (usually involving the term "chronic pain"), and which if they did have, smoking weed probably wouldn't help much. They perpetrate this charade in order to facilitate their recreational marijuana use. I've always been under the impression that this was the real intent behind the various "medical marijuana" initiatives ie., de facto legalization for those of us astute enough to connect with a sympathetic physician.

I don't really have a problem with that, as I fully support the full legalizaton of marijuana for all persons over the age of 18, but I've never been inclined to let my medical/scientific opinions be dictated by my political views. Other than in a relative handful of cases, weed just ain't "medicine."

And while I do have some sympathy with the purpose which animates this blog, I really don't understand all the hostility to Bob Barr. While Barack Obama may be better, from a libertarian perspective, than John McInsane, I think its pretty obvious that, from a libertarian perspective, Bob Barr is a LOT better than either Senator Obama, or that senile old coot from Arizona.

Ricky Cain said...

I assume this site is a joke, right? Call yourself a libertarian if you want to. You're free to do that, at least right now. But you're not really a libertarian if you're supporting Barack Obama for President. Period.