Supporters of Bob Barr have independently organized a “money bomb” for their candidate on July 2. The Web site BarrBomb.com is taking donation pledges now. There is no stated monetary goal of the money bomb, but donors are asked to contribute $10, $25, $50 or $100.
The design of the Web site may give some libertarians pause. Ronald Reagan is prominently featured, along with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ayn Rand, Ron Paul, Robert Taft, Benjamin Franklin, and Barry Goldwater.
I appreciate honesty. I think you may be mistaken on the Fair Tax. What he said in a recent appearance is that he supports exploring the Fair tax as well as many of the other alternative systems. I believe he mentioned the Fair tax during that appearance because it is the most well known alternative to our current system. He also said that he doesn’t rule out adopting some other system but the important thing is that we explore all the alternatives and put an end to our current system. Much better than Obama’s “let the government figure out your tax return for you” solution.
Barr told all of you during his acceptance speech he plans to win! Libertarians don’t contribute enough to do that, he needs Reagan people. Folkes with MONEY…
Anyone even hear that Chuck BaldWIN is having a money BOMB on flagday this Saturday? He is!
https://secure.giftwrapplus.org/b08/eu/contribute/
Send him a U.S. Grant, the LORD knows he needs a bunch of them…
Well an Abe Lincoln would beat nothing…
I’m the only one who’s really complaining about the imagery, and I wasn’t going to donate anyway. Barr got my $25 before I saw he was for the FairTax.
I do think it’s troubling that Barr and the organizers of the moneybomb see fit to put Reagan on a pedestal.
G.E.: You have a valid point. However we are not talking about “extreme” images or ideas. People who are not trusting or offended by the moneybomb site designers could still go to Bobbarr2008.com and donate to the campaign.
It seems that if design of an unaffiliated site is the only reason someone doesn’t donate then they were looking for any excuse. It’s rather trivial in my mind, whether or not to funnel the money through the moneybomb site or go directly to the campaign site.
Barr is not responsible for the money bomb, and bears no responsibility for the figures the organizers chose to associate with it. That doesn’t mean individuals should agree to participate if they’re “offended” by those figures. This is obviously a more extreme example, but imagine if Stormfront organized a white power money bomb for Ron Paul: Ron Paul wouldn’t have anything to do with it, but I’d make sure to not donate on that day.
If it’s not directed by Barr why bother with all the “I’m not going to donate to Barr anymore” talk. Look If your conservative you have reason to like Barr, if your Libertarian you have reason to support Barr, If your Liberal there are reasons to support Barr. Hmmm… a candidate that has a little something to offer everyone. I’ve been waiting for that for years.
Go BOB!!! You’ll get $100 from me!!!
*throw
I think the site is trying to reach out to everyone. Their logic probably went like this: “Well, Barr hopes to attract discontented conservatives, so let’s through Reagan, Goldwater, and Taft on there. Let’s see…the founding fathers are always a nice touch, let’s add Jefferson, Washington, and Franklin. Ayn Rand to appeal to the Objectivists, and Ron Paul of course, and perfect!”
Of course, in this attempt to appeal to everyone, everyone is going to be unsatisfied.
I’m afraid you’re right about not reaching RP-like fundraising, ElfNinosMom. I’ve been doing outreach to the RPMeetup community and find many of them to be quite thickskulled with regards to the next phase of the r3VOLution.
Everytime I mention doing anything other than selling my soul for Dr. Paul, I get the Hate-email deluge speckled with bits of wisdom like “He don’t wear a cape and he can’t fly but he’s my hero” and “why don’t you Ron Paul Haters go bother someone else with your distractions! I’ll write-in Ron Paul or I won’t vote!”.
I used to believe that the Paultard/Cult of Personality cracks were the delusion of McCain supporters trying to make us look bad. I — USED to believe that.
If he is expecting to get anywhere near the kind of money Ron Paul got on his money bombs, he’s going to be extremely disappointed.
Gandhi wouldn’t make too much sense on the Barr Bomb site, of course. That was a bit of a digression.
I have no problem with Washington’s inclusion – he was a key leader in the American Revolution, after all – but Reagan and Goldwater definitely give me pause, and the collection of folks overall doesn’t offer much for left-libertarians to cling to. There are plenty of heroes of the left who were freedom fighters. The early women’s rights movement, the abolitionists…and am I the only one who considers Gandhi and MLK Jr. to be freedom fighters, and revolutionaries for liberty?
The site is also kind of gloomy and grey
A few notes about the luminaries featured on the Barr Bomb page, though:
Ayn Rand hated Ronald Reagan, quite unreasonably really, and supported Ford for president against him.
The Objectivists now, much more unreasonably, hate Ron Paul.
Goldwater was not a “Taft Republican.” He was an Eisenhower delegate and took part in the racial swindle of ’52 that led to Eisenhower’s nomination over Taft. Goldwater was a hardcore warmonger, too, let’s not forget.
Even Taft wasn’t really a “Taft Republican.” The “isolationists” (as they called themselves, even though they really weren’t) saw him as a sell-out, even if he was their leader. A more appropriate figure of reverence is Howard H. Buffett, father of the socialist-leaning billionaire Warren, whose politics unfortunately did not rub off on his son.
George Washington? Very poor choice.
But Reagan really takes the cake. I donated a big $25 to Barr back when he first announced, and even if I were inclined to donate again (which I’m not at this point), Reagan’s mug so prominently displayed would prevent me from wanting to participate in this money bomb.
BarrBomb2 should get rid of Reagan, Washington, Franklin, and Goldwater and replace them with Milton Friedman, Thomas Paine, Grover Cleveland, and …. maybe Buffett is too obscure; if so, how about Patrick Henry?
You’re right that the site is independently organized, and it would be wrong to “hold anything against” Bob Barr in relation to it.
I was pleased to see that the site is not part of the official Barr/Root Campaign. If Ron Paul and his staff had coordinated the RP’08 moneybombs, we’d still be waiting for the ticker to hit 7 figures.
The Reagan picture wasn’t Barr’s call, so why hold it against him?
Hush, Peter, or you’ll attract Dondero. It’s like scattering crumbs for cockroaches.
Crap, I used his name. Now he’s sure to show up.