by Bob Barr | Dec 26, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com Assets at the National Security Agency have intercepted extensive email and internet chatter from sources within the United States and abroad regarding an alleged birth of a special child in a rural farm just yesterday, December 25th, almost certainly a small town known as “Bethlehem” in Pennsylvania. Due to the apparently unique circumstances of the birth, and the potential security threat of a child rumored to be the start of a social movement undermining the role of government as the people’s exclusive moral compass, we request permission to place federal and state security assets on high alert. Federal officials were first alerted to a potential disturbance when an abnormally bright star was spotted in the sky in the vicinity of Bethlehem. Teams at NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported normal atmospheric conditions at the time. However, over the last 24-hours, research teams at both agencies are now speculating that global warming may have caused this unusual phenomenon. Drone surveillance has permitted us real-time gathering of evidence in our effort pinpoint the exact location and circumstances of the alleged miraculous birth. A confidential informant sent to the location has informed us of a shocking situation on the ground. It is said that the child was born in a barn, surrounded by various livestock, without the aid of medical doctors, other care givers, certified midwives, or even a licensed doula. We have therefore sought the assistance of the Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture, as well as inspectors at the Food and Drug Administration, to determine the full extent of federal health and agriculture regulations...
by Bob Barr | Dec 19, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com Rather than jump into the media-led free-for-all clamoring for President Trump to be indicted or impeached (or both) based on the latest court filing by Special Counsel Mueller or the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York, let’s step back for just a moment. It might behoove all sides to consider matters as weighty as these, by at least glancing at relevant historical and legal precedents. In so doing, two cases come readily to mind: the 1998 impeachment of former President Bill Clinton and the 2012 prosecution of former Sen. John Edwards. Such a review would urge caution, rather than the headlong rush to judgment that appears as the default to which so many in the media and political arenas are today drawn. While a Member of the House of Representatives in 1997, I introduced the first formal resolution directing the Judiciary Committee to inquire into whether there were grounds for impeachment against Clinton. This move followed mounting evidence that his Administration had violated a number of federal laws, including most importantly, those designed to protect against foreign government contributions to a U.S. presidential campaign, and guarding against disclosure of national security-related technology to a foreign government. Late the following year, after extensive hearings by the Committee and a vote by the full House, Clinton was impeached on two counts of perjury and obstruction of justice. While these articles of impeachment were unrelated to those that precipitated my initial inquiry, they nonetheless were based on solid evidence establishing the elements of well-known federal criminal laws – perjury and obstruction. Rather than trying to manufacture trumped-up charges of wrongdoing...
by Bob Barr | Dec 15, 2018 | Uncategorized |
The Daily Caller As much as the media obsesses over President Trump, and as much as he exhibits to the media the behavior they love to hate, it is amazing how little the media remembers. The latest flap over immigration policy, and especially the televised Oval Office meeting just last Tuesday with soon-to-be Speaker Nancy Pelosi and still-Senate Minority Leader Schumer, has the left and its media darlings all in a tizzy. The fact is, the episode and its aftermath are vintage Trump — pure stagecraft. And anything the president said at that meeting had a shelf life of precisely one news cycle. The White House meeting was orchestrated by Trump not to announce new substantive policy or signal a major change in policy. Trump has been railing about building the wall since long before he was elected in 2016. His base continues to support him on that issue, and he knows this. He also must know the polling on the question of whether to build a wall has remained relatively constant over the course of his presidency and does not spike or crater depending on what he says. It’s all about negotiating. Think Bill Clinton. Even more important than Trump’s oft-demonstrated ability to control the news cycle, is his notorious habit of maneuvering his adversaries into chasing critters down rabbit holes. This is simply a ploy to then strengthen his own bargaining position by appearing to back away from one of those red herrings. The bottom line for this president is that virtually everything is negotiable, including “the wall.” Well, not the wall itself, but any aspect of it,...
by Bob Barr | Dec 12, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com Last week I wrote about a spate of bills in the New York State Senate, sponsored by a liberal Senator from Brooklyn, intending to squash gun ownership across the entire Empire State. On the other side of the Hudson, New Jersey politicians are upping the ante, with a measure signed into law last month that criminalizes speech. Not just any speech, mind you; but speech relating to the Second Amendment. You can still rant in New Jersey about Donald Trump, or call conservatives any manner of vile names. But, if you try to communicate online about certain firearms matters, Bingo! The “Garden State” authorities will come after you for daring to provide instructions for readers to learn how to print plans for a 3-D firearm. This is not about criminalizing the possession of such an instrument (New Jersey competes with its older brother in making it extremely difficult to legally own a firearm at all). The new law makes it illegal to even communicate how to print one. Insidiously, New Jersey political leaders, whose fear of the right to keep and bear arms knows no bounds, have constructed this latest Second Amendment speech infringement in such a way that it effectively makes it unlawful for anyone to place such plans online anywhere, not just in their state. What prompted this draconian measure? One small company — Defense Distributed, a non-profit defense firm based not in Newark or Jersey City, but in Austin, Texas. Defense Distributed had the audacity to provide instructions for individuals who want to try their hand at printing a 3-D firearm to do so. There is, of course, more to...
by Bob Barr | Dec 5, 2018 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com Not content with enacting some of the most stringent anti-gun laws in the country and abusing its regulatory power by browbeating insurance carriers to not do business with the NRA, New York has launched a new broadside against the Second Amendment. In a move that should set off alarm bells with privacy advocates everywhere and with anyone who uses or has used social media, legislation has been introduced in the state legislature that would force residents seeking to either purchase a rifle or a shotgun from a lawful dealer, or seeking to obtain or renew a pistol permit, to surrender to law enforcement access to their social media history along with their use of internet search engines for the previous three years. This monstrosity of a bill undermines not only an individual’s Second Amendment rights, but those guaranteed by the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments as well. State Sen. Kevin Parker, a Democrat from Brooklyn, is the proud sponsor of the legislation. And, knowing that a majority of his colleagues in the legislature have in the past demonstrated as little regard for constitutional rights as Parker when it comes to the Second Amendment, his bill could very well find its way to Gov. Cuomo’s desk, where it would be gleefully signed into law. In Parker’s view of things, invading a person’s privacy as his bill would do, apparently is a reasonable response to the tragic shooting at a Pittsburgh Synagogue in October. The reality is that Parker’s idea is nowhere close to reasonable or constitutional. What, exactly, would New York’s Finest be looking for, in such canvassing...
