by Bob Barr | Nov 10, 2021 | Townhall Article |
Townhall The COVID pandemic is over. Thanks to the work of President Donald Trump, a vaccine is widely available to anyone who wants it. And, coming from that research, a new pill from Pfizer that cuts the risk of death and hospitalization by 90 percent in individuals who contract COVID, is in front of the Food and Drug Administration for approval. Those who want to protect themselves from COVID can do so easily, and those who chose not to take advantage of the vaccine or the pill (when it is approved) are in any event are unlikely to die from the sickness. By all goals and measures set at the beginning of the pandemic, this is moment for which we have waited. The return to “normalcy” can begin right now; except, that is, for Dr. Anthony Fauci and his band of merry Biden Administration fearmongers standing in our way. Democrats know that as soon as the pandemic is over, the COVID power party will end, and all those “emergency” powers they have enjoyed for two years will run dry. For a political party that invested so much of its identity into using COVID to moralize, mandate, and manipulate, the end of the pandemic is a worst-case scenario. It is not that they do not believe the pandemic is over. They just cannot afford to let it end. The powers enjoyed for nearly two years wielded by numerous mayors, city councils, governors, and a bevy of unelected health department bureaucrats have produced a rush of political adrenaline, the likes of which have not been seen since the post-9/11 rush of...
by Bob Barr | Nov 3, 2021 | Townhall Article |
Townhall In recent years, the Left has let no incident, no matter how trivial, pass without turning it into a vehicle with which to virtue signal their outrage. Six years ago, it was horror over the shooting of a lion in Zimbabwe. Two years later, it was President Trump’s statement about a demonstration in Charlottesville. Today, it is a Southwest Airlines pilot’s use of an anti-Joe Biden slogan. Brandon Brown seems to be everywhere these days, a previously unknown NASCAR driver who has become the poster boy for progressive outrage. Last month, when NBC reporter Kelli Stavast interviewed Brown immediately after his first victory at Talladega, she exclaimed that the background crowd was chanting “Let’s go Brandon!” instead of the clearly discernible “[Expletive] Joe Biden.” Thus, a star was born. Stavast’s transparent switcheroo quickly made the phrase a commentary on the Mainstream Media’s habit of intentionally distorting objective reality to favor Democrats. Then, as it quickly spread in conservative circles, “Let’s go Brandon” became harmless, if slightly immature internet gag with which to mock Biden. Never content to let a jab at Biden remain just that, the Left has imbued this cheeky expression with all manner of sinister mysticism, just as they did for “learn to code” and the “OK” hand gesture before that. The perception by the Left that there is an Alt-Right boogeyman behind every meme, and a KKK sympathizer hiding under every red “MAGA” hat, is approaching a clinical psychosis that induces bizarre behavior from the Left. What, then, is to be done to the Southwest Airlines pilot, whose un-apropos attempt at humor while preparing to land a...
by Bob Barr | Oct 26, 2021 | Townhall Article |
Townhall The American people are done hearing from Dr. Anthony Fauci. We do not need another word from him about the “science” of COVID-19, what America “must do” to defeat the pandemic, or anything else that this demonstrated liar and Deep State denizen has to say. That he continues to serve as the oracle of truth for America’s pandemic response, is beyond rational comprehension. A popular aphorism reminds us that sometimes “the cure is worse than the disease.” If Fauci is considered the “cure” for the government’s response to COVID-19, that shoe fits perfectly. Fauci has been wrong about virtually every aspect of COVID-19, with dreadful economic, social, and public health consequences, yet he remains in the media throne. Conveniently ignored by the Left, is the fact that Fauci was the one who, early on, created massive confusion about facemasks; first by berating Americans for attempting to secure personal protective gear in the pandemic’s early days, and later scolding the public for not wearing them, even if fully vaccinated and safe from serious cases. Fauci has been perhaps the single biggest roadblock to moving American society back to normal, with his doomsday pronouncements like needing to cancel Christmas, or constantly warning another “wave” is just around the corner. The Good Doctor seems to relish striking panic into the hearts of people who just want to know the facts in order to make the best decisions for themselves and their families. Fauci is, however, a shrewd operator. He understands perfectly that panic ensures his longevity as a Washington fixture. President Donald Trump likely had no clue of the monster he...
by Bob Barr | Oct 20, 2021 | Townhall Article |
Townhall California has long been a refuge for people big on ideas but short on realism. Whether it is the famous sunshine, its gorgeous coastline, or the state’s tolerance for even the most extreme buffoonery, California has played center stage for more than its fair share of “movements” – from beatnik and other counterculture revolutions to murderous cults. Knowing this history helps to understand why a state with an economy larger than most countries in the world, is swiftly heading towards total collapse. The people running California today are the same ones who for decades believed they could change the world with music and sit-ins but are joined now by millions of young “progressives” even less-anchored to reality than their hippie mentors. The result of this strange brew is a series of public policy responses to major issues that would be utterly laughable, if not for the very real and extremely serious consequences born of such ineptitude. Thus, while the populations of other sun-belt states like Texas and Florida are increasing rapidly, California’s population is shrinking. What should be even more troubling is that some 23 percent, nearly one-fourth of California voters, report they are “seriously considering” leaving the state. This includes the rich and famous as well as many businesses which, when leaving, take with them significant tax revenues the state desperately needs to fund its lavish social spending. How are California’s political leaders responding? Not with any apparent measure of concern, and with some expressing anger at exiting businesses. Last year, for example, state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, upset that Tesla founder Elon Musk did not share her...
by Bob Barr | Oct 13, 2021 | Townhall Article |
Townhall The COVID crystal ball is murky. Will it clear or darken further? In what seems like a lifetime ago, elected officials were selling two weeks of economic and social sacrifice as the price to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Today, more than a year-and-a-half later, there remain cities and states in which citizens need permission from the powers that be, in the form of vaccines and masks, to do everything from eating in a restaurant to keeping one’s job. The extremes to which local, state, and federal authorities have gone to exercise their newfound COVID “emergency powers,” is no surprise to anyone familiar with the way modern government works. Still, the speed by which America turned from a quasi-free society to one reflecting a patchwork of punitive policies, rules, and mandates, caught all but the most cynical critics of government power off-guard. Even private-sector requirements come with tightly wound strings trailing back to the White House. Of course, consistent with the universal law that “no matter how bad things are, they can always be worse,” it could be worse. We could be Australia. Whereas here in the United States enforcement of COVID regulations has been mostly reactive, authorities in Australia have been far more aggressive. Aussie police cars and officers in battle gear roam the streets and sidewalks of the country’s cities, on the lookout for unmasked senior citizens, who then are wrestled to the ground and forced to mask-up before being arrested. Videos of such brutality from countries like Russia and China, are unsurprising, but in Australia – a western-style society with a long history...
by Bob Barr | Sep 29, 2021 | Townhall Article |
Townhall Magic acts have always been a popular draw in Las Vegas. These days, however, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer could take their $5 Trillion Disappearing Budget Act show on the road, and give David Copperfield a real run for his money. With one sleight of hand, these congressional charlatans can turn a $5 trillion budget to $3.5 trillion, and in the next wave of the political wand, make it disappear altogether. We’ve come a long way downward from the late 1990s, when national leaders like then-Speaker Newt Gingrich and then-President Bill Clinton (not yet severely wounded by impeachment), could negotiate and pass through both parties’ membership in the Congress, a federal budget that actually was balanced. No black magic; only facts and transparency. Today’s Congress under the leadership of the Democrat Party in both houses, has proven itself utterly unwilling or incapable of such effort, which explains their latest magic act. And, as magic acts go, it is certainly one for the ages. There is no rabbit in this magician’s hat; just massive, historically high spending that will saddle future generations with the bill for a cradle-to-grave welfare state. Rather than treating the public with enough respect to be honest about the true cost of their plans, Democrats instead are gaslighting Americans into believing it costs nothing at all. President Joe Biden took to Twitter over the weekend to boast how his plan “costs zero dollars,” while House Budget Committee member Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D) ballyhooed the “zero-dollar” narrative to The Hill. This, of course, is a flat-out lie, and an absurd one at that. Even the “lesser” $3.5 trillion...
