Over at NolanChart.com, Walt Thiessen has written a critical article on Bob Barr’s Libertarian campaign for President. It is a negative article that I, unfortunately, mostly agree with. Thiessen makes three major points:
Although some polls put Bob Barr in the 6% range in June, all polls now put him in the 1-2% range.
Measuring up to Ron Paul’s, Barr’s fundraising is comparatively non-existent.
Barr has “failed to win over the party faithful”, and has failed to adequately explain his support of unconstitutional bills in his past.
I agree with him on the first 2½ points, but when he and other people continue to say that Bob Barr has done nothing to alleviate the concerns of those who question his part, I strongly disagree. In every interview I’ve seen where people question his past support for the Patriot Act, the Drug War, etc., he has admitted his mistake, and explained how he seen the light and actually worked hard to reverse these things. What else can the man do? Only time will tell whether or not he is sincere or just being political expedient, but that’s not part of this argument. Bob has worked tirelessly for the past 5 years against the Patriot Act and it’s successors, FISA, and has even joined up with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Marijuana Policy Project in support of medicinal drug use. What else can the man do to alleviate concerns? If you simply choose not to trust him, that’s one thing. But to say that he’s done nothing is simply ludicrous.
Thiessen concludes by predicting Barr will get less votes in November than Badnarik’s 397,000 in 2004, which I feel is quite astonishing. I certainly hope this won’t be the case.
Doug Wead will be speaking at Ron Paul’s Rally For The Republic. He was a special assistant to President George H. W. Bush. He is writing a series of stories in his blog related to Ron Paul leading up to the rally. All of them are wonderful. The August 10th entry is entitled, “Ron Paul: The Prophet“. In it Wead is astounded that someone in the House Of Representatives was prophetic regarding the events of September 11th a full year before it occurred.
So it comes as a bit of shock to encounter an honest thinker, and one in government! And to find one in the United States House of Representatives, where the members are perpetually politicking for re-election, is astounding.
But listen to this. Fully a year before the events of September 11, 2001, Ron Paul expressed his alarm at American foreign policy arrogance, particularly how it was increasingly seen in Islamic countries.
“The cost in terms of liberties lost and the unnecessary exposure to terrorism are difficult to determine, but in time it will become apparent to all of us that foreign interventionism is of no benefit to American citizens, but is instead a threat to our liberties.” – Ron Paul (spoken in the year 2000.)
CNN has now joined the fray in reporting on the drug raid in Berwyn Heights Maryland where the Mayor’s two dogs were killed by a Prince George’s County SWAT team. Pay attention to the Mayor’s words when he is interviewed in the 2nd portion of the clip. He mentions that he immediately thought the raid was a home invasion. Now recall the Ryan Frederick case in Chesapeake Virginia where Frederick shot and killed a police officer who was attempting to enter his house as part of a drug raid. Frederick thought someone was breaking into his home at the time.
The Mayor also mentions that such brutality against innocents is not uncommon in PG county. Obviously, it is not uncommon in the rest of the United States either.
When will these idiots realize their tactics waging the drug war is a complete failure? How many more pets, police officers, and innocent citizens have to die?
AP has released an article with more details in this horrifying case representing the continued failure of the war on drugs.
Here is the background:
BERWYN HEIGHTS, Md. – Mayor Cheye Calvo got home from work, saw a package addressed to his wife on the front porch and brought it inside, putting it on a table. Suddenly, police with guns drawn kicked in the door and stormed in, shooting to death the couple’s two dogs and seizing the unopened package.
In it were 32 pounds of marijuana. But the drugs evidently didn’t belong to the couple.
Police say the couple appeared to be innocent victims of a scheme by two men to smuggle millions of dollars worth of marijuana by having it delivered to about a half-dozen unsuspecting recipients.
The two men under arrest include a FedEx deliveryman; investigators said the deliveryman would drop off a package outside a home, and the other man would come by a short time later and pick it up.
In a twist to the recent drug raid on the Mayor of Berwyn Heights MD in which both of his black labs were shot and killed the AP is reporting the 32 lb. bag of marijuana was delivered by undercover police.
Prince George’s County Police said Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo brought a 32-pound package of marijuana into his home that had been delivered by officers posing as delivery men. The Tuesday evening raid was conducted by county police narcotics officers and a sheriff’s office SWAT Team.
The package was addressed to Calvo’s wife, Trinity Tomsic. His mother-in-law had asked the supposed delivery men to leave the package outside. Calvo has not been charged, though police said he, his wife and his mother-in-law are “persons of interest” in an ongoing investigation.
“We never opened the box. We have nothing to do with this box,” Calvo said.
The questions now mount:
Was this a setup by the police based on an ongoing investigation?
Are the Mayor’s wife and mother-in-law truly involved in something illegal?
No matter the answers to these questions, one thing most people agree upon is that the raid could have and should have been handled differently. It’s not like there is time to hide or get rid of 32 lbs. of marijuana before letting the police into the home if they had knocked. Somewhere along the line a poor decision was made and two family dogs are now dead.
Ron Paul appeared for a short segment on FOX News today. He was on to discuss a recent bill sponsored by Barney Frank and co-sponsored by Paul himself that legalizes medical marijuana. He made his points well, but following the interview they had on a lady who refuted everything Paul said and didn’t give Paul a chance to respond. In any case, at least he was able to get some more air time for the freedom message. Watch it below.
The Mayor of Berwyn Heights in Maryland’s Prince George’s County had a rude awakening. Apparently, a 32 lb. bag of marijuana was sent to his house addressed to his wife. A SWAT team busted down his door, shot and killed his two black labs, and held him for questioning for hours. The Mayor claims he has no idea where the pot came from. He also said that if the police would have just knocked, he’d have let them in.
Instead his two dogs are now dead and all members of his household are “persons of suspicion”.
Must I point out how incredibly ridiculous this event is? It demonstrates the lunacy of the war on drugs. In a somewhate related note, CNN today had a poll asking if marijuana should be made legal. Over 65% said yes. When will we learn our current policy is having the opposite of its intended effect? Maybe someday. Watch the news report of the story below.
The final Presidential candidate we will be rating on the Paul-O-Meter is the Green Party’s nominee, Cynthia McKinney. For a description of the Paul-O-Meter see this article. We have previously completed ratings for John McCain, Barack Obama, Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, and Ralph Nader.
It is now Ralph Nader’s turn to be viewed through the Ron Paul colored glasses of the Paul-O-Meter. The Paul-O-Meter rates the candidates on how closely they resemble Ron Paul on the issues. For a complete description and methodology of the Paul-O-Meter please see this article. Thus far we have rated Barack Obama, John McCain, Bob Barr, and Chuck Baldwin.
Quote of the Day: “Politicians never accuse you of “greed” for wanting other people’s money — only for wanting to keep your own money.” – Joseph Sobran
Subject: Falling health care prices
Overall, health care prices continue to rise faster than the rate of inflation, but there are exceptions. The cost of some procedures and drugs is falling, both in terms of time and money.
What happened? Did Congress pass a law or create a new program? No. Congress had nothing to do with it. Instead, it happened because of . . . Read More »
Liberty Maven
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