by Bob Barr | Aug 14, 2019 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.comLast week I wrote about the speech America needs to hear from President Donald Trump, specifically, a forceful and unequivocal denunciation of extremism, including calling out those who camouflage their noxious racism behind the façade of support for the President or the GOP. It is high time the Democratic Party does the same, for its leaders to clearly, publicly, and expressly disavow extremism on the Left. For too long, Democratic political leaders – including the many currently vying for their party’s 2020 nomination – have been allowed to address the violence infecting contemporary American society by not addressing it, and piously pointing the finger of blame at Trump.While Trump’s signature direct and thinly varnished rhetoric makes it easy for his critics to pin blame on him for misdeeds of others, such a simplistic and deliberately biased assessment misses the point entirely. Deeply divisive and dangerous forces have been eating away at the foundations of civil discourse in our country long before January 20, 2017. It is disingenuous in the extreme for Democrats to absolve themselves of any liability for this downward trajectory of civility. As with alcoholics seeking to recover, a willingness to admit the problem exists is the essential first step to recovery; in its absence the underlying problem – whether alcoholism or violence – simply worsens. This is the stage at which the Democrats find themselves now, as the party decides whether or not to recognize that it, too, is blameworthy for the violent wreckage that has become political discourse in America.The New York Post described Connor Betts, the Dayton shooter, as perhaps “Antifa’s first mass killer.” Before his murder spree, Betts praised...
by Bob Barr | Aug 12, 2019 | Uncategorized |
The Daily CallerSome Republicans in Congress are seeking to pass a “red flag law,” which would grant law enforcement to do what legal precedent has rarely permitted — forcefully enter homes and confiscate lawful firearms without any evidence of a crime.The effort is being led by members such as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.). Beyond the bite such a law would take out of the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure, it would permit the government to override both the Second Amendment — which guarantees the right to possess a firearm — and the 14th Amendment, which requires the government to provide “due process” based on “equal protection” before it may take a person’s property or otherwise abridge their fundamental rights.The trigger for such confiscatory power is not that the person committed a crime with a firearm; but rather that someone fears he or she might do so. This is, of course, a legitimate concern, but one that must not cavalierly be cast into law. Any reasoned view of responsible government recognizes that there will be times law enforcement should act to prevent a crime from occurring, especially one likely to cause harm or death. The question is how and under what circumstances the government may so intervene. If we are to remain a nation “of laws not of men,” preventive government action always must be consistent with and not undermine existing constitutional provisions; including the Second, Fourth, 14th Amendments, and others.Many of the 17 state-level red flag laws have been adopted since the February 2018 Parkland, Florida mass shooting; all are constitutionally defective to one degree or another. Many permit non-law enforcement individuals to...
by Bob Barr | Aug 7, 2019 | Townhall Article |
Townhall.comThe dual mass shootings last weekend exposed two uncomfortable truths. First, there is a cancerous undercurrent of extremism in our society; and second, this phenomenon is not relegated to one side of the political spectrum or the other. In El Paso, the shooter killed in the name of white supremacy. In Dayton, the killer previously praised the violence of Antifa. Law enforcement agencies and legislative bodies at the federal, state, and local levels now must address whether new authorities are needed, more funding made available, or simply better enforcement of existing powers required; in order to cope with the rising tide of murders that affect families and communities from Chicago to Texas and from California to Baltimore. But there is a vital role political leaders can and must play, in addressing the extremist and violence-oriented thinking that clearly is grabbing the minds and hands of far too many American men. Trump’s initial address to the nation Monday in the immediate aftermath of the El Paso and Dayton rampages, was appropriate — as a first step. The brevity of the statement was fitting; his visits to the cities-in-mourning respectful and proper. What follows in the coming days and weeks, however, is far more consequential and important, and can emanate only from the Oval Office – a forceful and unequivocal denunciation of extremism in all its horrible visages, and especially white nationalism. It should not have to be said, but it does — there is absolutely no place for white nationalism or racism of any kind within the conservative movement or the Republican Party at any level. For too long...
