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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Boortz vs. Barr on Iraq, and Barr-o-metric readings from the blogosphere
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta talk radio provocateur Neal Boortz and Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr had a fascinating exchange on Iraq this morning.
The WSB radio host was particularly troubled by Barr’s description of U.S. troops there as an “occupying force.”
I don’t have time to give you a word-for-word transcript, but you can listen to the entire conservative vs. conservative, Libertarian vs. Libertarian discourse here and here.
And if you don’t have time for the audio, here’s a taste of the conversation:
Boortz: “I would call them a liberating force, and I have a problem with someone who refers to these men and women in our armed forces as an occupying force in a foreign country.”
Barr: “Neal, they’ve been there five years now. When do you cross the line from basically protecting a domestic regime over there, propping it so that we provide the security blanket in terms of their economic system, their political system and their security system — I don’t think it’s an insult to the troops. I don’t think it’s an insult to the troops. It’s a fact. We’re occupying the country. We’re basically providing the mechanism whereby the country runs itself.”
Boortz: “Look, there is no time limit on trying to liberate a nation….”
Barr: “That’s what McCain says, too, I guess….There’s no despot or dictator over there. What are we liberating them from?”
Boortz: “Bob, an occupying army does not train the locals to replace them. A liberating army does. An occupying army does not.”
Barr: “I understand that people can argue over the use of a term, but my goal is not to play semantics with it. My goal would be to start very quickly, upon assuming office in January of next year, start reducing our financial and security and military footprint in Iraq.”
It’s also worth taking a stroll through the blogosphere to see what they’re saying about Barr’s announcement this week that he would seek the Libertarian nomination for president.
This is from the Democratic site Riverdaughter:
Both John McCain and Barack Obama could take a hit. Obama is running as a Libertarian Democrat (Oh, he won’t say it out loud but Donna Brazile pretty much admitted as much). There goes the mountain west that Obama was hoping for. Colorado? Nahgahappen.
John McCain will sweep up the Republicans in the fall. They’re mad at him now but whisper sweet tax cuts in their ears and they’ll follow him anywhere. Barr will probably get all of the poor deluded Ron Paul voters.
From a Constitutional Party web site called Ben and Bawb”s Blog:
Barr has some political baggage that might lose him support from libertarians. Barr was one of the GOP’s more strident drug warriors as well as supporting the GOP’s stance against gay marriage. He has since backed off on both.
Another ding on his record is that he voted for the Patriot Act (like just about every other congressman, except Ron Paul), but only after demanding a sunset provision in the bill. He now says he regrets voting for it.
PrezVid has posted a videotaped discourse by Barr on the rise of the “nanny state.”
And Matthew Yglesias on the atlantic.com says this:
Barr, a former wingnutty member of the House GOP leadership, is an unusually credible LP standard-bearer and his biography is well-designed to attract the votes of conservatives who loathe the war and Barack Obama with equal passions.
Photo credits: Rich Addicks/AJC, Rick McKay/Cox Washington bureau
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Again, WWJD: Where would Jesus drink?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gov. Sonny Perdue has approved legislation to permit the Sunday sale of alcohol in Gwinnett County stadiums and over the Internet.
And we’ve just gotten word that Perdue has also signed the Merlot-to-go bill, so that half-emptied bottles of wine can be taken home by restaurant patrons, even on Sundays. Call them doggy bottles.
Remember that, in the governor’s phrasing, these were all matters of economic development and not actual policy.
Even so, the new exceptions leave us with a drinking map in Georgia that resembles a slice of Swiss cheese — which experts recommend should be served with a fine Gewurztraminer.
On the day that most Christians celebrate as the Sabbath, you may not purchase that bottle of white wine in:
Grocery stores
Convenience stores
Liquor stores
But you may buy your inebriants in:
Restaurants, and bars that sell food
Wineries
Ballparks and arenas
In limos
From wineries out of state (via the Internet or phone on Sundays)
Now about the last entry, the result of Perdue’s signature on H.B. 1061. Same-day service is unlikely, but it certainly would be legal. Nothing in the bill prohibits it.
Moreover, there’s nothing to keep you from ordering on Saturday, and paying the extra fee so that UPS can bring it to your doorstep on Sunday. That, as our governor once said, is time management. But slightly expensive.
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An attempt to shut down a Democratic state House candidate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Someone, perhaps a friend of a friend of Republican Mike Jacobs, has challenged the residency of Keith Gross, the Democrat in the House District 80 race in north Atlanta.
Filed with Secretary of State Karen Handel, the complaint alleges that 24-year-old Gross still has a Florida drivers license.
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With Mississippi burning, the GOP wants to change the subject — to Jimmy Carter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Despite heavy campaigning by Gov. Haley Barbour and Vice President Dick Cheney, Democrats grabbed a third congressional seat from Republicans on Tuesday, this one in Mississippi.
In the Jackson, Miss., Clarion-Ledger, Republican Greg Davis promised Democrat Travis Childers a rematch in November.
CQPolitics is reporting that Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the Republican congressman in charge of congressional races, may be in danger of losing his job:
“I expect we’ll discuss changes that may be needed to deal with the atmosphere we’re facing,’’ Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters after a House Republican Conference meeting at which Democrat Travis Childers’s eight-point win Tuesday in Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District provided a major focus for sometimes-pointed discussion.
Democrats, obviously, are giddy. This from today’s Washington Post:
“No one could have imagined the tsunami that just crashed on Republicans in Mississippi,” Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said in an interview after the victory. “There is no district that is safe for Republican candidates.”
House Democrats now hold a 236 to 199 majority, up from 203 seats they controlled two years ago.
In each of the last three congressional races — special elections to fill vacant seats — the GOP has attempted to nationalize the contests by linking the local candidates to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
None has worked.
This morning, the Republican National Committee is tossing another name into the mix, hoping it catches fire: Jimmy Carter.
The RNC has posted on YouTube a video comparing Barack Obama’s opposition to a suspension of the federal gasoline tax, and the candidate’s support for a windfall profit tax, to the Carter policies of the 1970s.
The ad may be tipping the GOP hand on the themes it intends to strike during a general election campaign — Obama’s alleged elitism, and his inexperience.
Or, in the closing words of the ad, “Out of touch. Not ready to be president.”
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