Earlier, IPR reported on a pair of incidents between Bob Barr and rank-and-file libertarians at Freedom Fest, in which Barr allegedly refused to give them the time of day. In our comments section emerged this counter-report from Justin Grover, an unpaid volunteer at Freedom Fest.
Mr. Grover claims Marc Victor, a libertarian portrayed sympathetically by the Classically Liberal blog which was the source for IPR’s first report, was “demanding” and “hostile and peevish” when first approaching the Barr booth. Later, he returned and was “loud” and “combative” in his questioning of Barr, according to Mr. Grover.
Mr. Grover also says that he has interviewed Barr and has never seen the alleged coterie of “handlers” that supposedly separate Barr from libertarian questioners.
The 2nd time I ever spoke with Barr on substantive topics (other than if I wanted a coffee at the Starbucks in Orlando) was regarding marijuana vs. alcohol, and the ability to drive a car. I was, to be sure, confrontational with Barr. Plus, he had no entourage with him . . it was just him.
I am not sure, exactly why his reaction was what it was, but I think he was somewhat taken aback that little ole me had the cojones to confront him. BTW, his reaction to my analysis of the topic was simply, “Ok, I see that”. His next reaction was, somewhat nervously to suggest that we (meaning me, Barr and another fellow) get some of the food at the buffet.
Frankly, my own personal experience is that Barr isn’t all that good at handling confrontation.
I don’t doubt that Barr, with handlers around avoids confrontational situations.
*sigh*
But I can’t tell him he’s wrong on the issue I want to question him on because he’s said nothing at all
nothing at all
nothing at all
Sorry, Simpson’s flashback.
Anyway, my questioning him on something he was bad about in the past isn’t to say he’s wrong in the present but to find out if he’s right or wrong in the present. Then I won’t have to ask him anymore.
Lance – My personal take is that Christine Smith was not 100% mentally stable. If Alden link was at 10%, Imperato at 1%, and Barr (or Kubby, Ruwart, Phillies, etc. — the fully sane candidates) were 100%, then Smith might have been at about 80% or so. (Milnes, -10 trillion%).
I personally think she was offended that Mary, as another woman, entered the race.
This led her to celebrate the hatchet-job press release issued by the Haugh/Cory axis of evil, despite her previously hateful words for Cory.
That’s where the bad blood comes from.
Libertarians spend more time eating their own than any political party I have ever known. Really, folks. The Republicans and Democrats can really aggressively disagree internally with one another, but at least they have the sense to finally put their all that aside and get to work on getting their candidate elected.
It’s little wonder that, in thirty-six years, the LP hasn’t made a bigger splash in American politics. Libertarians have the very finest ideals out there, but they are so busy fighting each other, they don’t have anything left to go up against the tired rhetoric of the RP and DP.
Many mainstream Americans, who by the way have a distinct libertarian bent on many issues, see the way we act toward one another and they say, “kook fringe.” I’ll tell you–Bob Barr is a long way from being my preferred LP candidate, but he’s lightyears more “libertarian” than the jokers from the other parties. He might not give us everything we want in one campaign, but he comes in with a lot of political gravitas that other candidates in the LP did not/could not have.
If Barr can manage to draw even as much as 10% of the national vote, he will have done more for the libertarian movement than all of the other “purist” candidates of the past combined.
Listen folks, were not going to be able to take this statist, authoritarian nation of ours into “pure” libertarianism overnight! It must be done by degrees–slowly, bit by bit, election by election. If Bob Barr manages to move the electorate even partially in a libertarian direction, we should all thank him. Then we need to get our heads together and figure out how we’re going to mine MORE support from mainstream Americans.
That was “a waste of everybody’s time” I meant up there. Obviously, I suppose.
Hey G.E./Austin, any chance we could have it so we can edit our comments for, say, 3 minutes after posting them? That would be great. I’ll hunt down the plugin, if that would help.
Also, not to defend Barr necessarily, but at this point in a campaign, I think a presidential candidate is in a position where picking and choosing what to discuss, with who, and for how long is a necessary part of getting the task at hand done. It’s good to talk to critics, etc., but if Barr is settled on a position, then taking flack from detractors on that stance isn’t going to do much of anything for anybody. It’s basically a waste of everybody’s side.
Which isn’t to say Barr couldn’t be approached by dissenting voices effectively…it just means that folks walking up and being like “you’re wrong!” in his face probably isn’t the context where that’s going to happen. Sitting him down with some folks from L.E.A.P. perhaps, to let Barr know just how great prohibition is working at the state and local levels…I’m sure he’d listen then. Still might not change his stance on drug laws (which may be as much about a political calculation as it is about Barrideology), but I think Barr has shown that he is in fact open to considering new ways of seeing things. It would seem a prerequisite to opposing laws that you previously drafted.
G.E. – I’m curious, why wouldn’t Christine Smith want to meet with Mary Ruwart? Barr I get…from what I saw on C-Span, Smith’s head would have exploded if she tried to have a conversation with Bob Barr. But Mary Ruwart?
I’m not a huge fan of Barr (although I have donated to the campaign and intend to vote for him), but this kind of thing is all too typical of Libertarians (and libertarians). There are many potential Libertarians (and, again, libertarians) out there who are turned off by the abuse from those involved in the movement. L/libertarians really do need to learn how to behave in a calm, civil manner when debating if we ever plan to implement any of what we want.
What annoyed me about the Paul campaign (other than his over-the-top adherence to and emphasis of gold standard dogma and his completely unlibertarian view on immigration) was how annoying his supporters were. Listen, it is one thing to be enthusiastic and engaged, but entirely another thing to harass, berate, and threaten those who disagree.
Remember that much of our guiding philosophy is counterintuitive and foreign to most people.
Remember that IT IS legitimate for people to have disagreements.
Remember that disagreeing with someone and hating their guts are two entirely different things.
Remember that it is possible for people to differ on policy while still working together on a particular issue.
These folks exist in other parties and movements, but not to the extent of the L/libertarians — in my opinion, perhaps the largest contributing factor to the failure of the LP to go anywhere electorally.
Maybe someday he’ll campaign in Los Angeles, so you can intruce me to him then. I’d love to ask his opinion on religious equality before the law.
I will second Shana’s comments, RE: the Denver convention. I also asked Christine Smith to talk to Mary Ruwart and Smith made it clear she would not even consider it.
I can offer yet another perspective, though not from the Liberty Fest. I worked Bob’s booth at the Denver Convention and there was never an instance of Bob avoiding an interview just because there was a chance of disagreement or tough questions. After talking to Anthony Gregory several minutes about his concerns regarding Bob, my response was to bring the two of them together, which resulted in a very long conversation between them. In fact, anytime someone came to the booth with reservations, our response was to encourage them to talk to Bob. I can’t remember everyone, but at least Anthony and Walter Block can attest to this. I even invited Christine Smith to talk to him, but she made it clear she wasn’t interested.
I don’t recall anyone being bold enough to confront him face-to-face in a hostile manner, though. All of that was focused on his staff and supporters. I guess we were easier targets.