by Bob Barr | Sep 23, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall.com In every life there comes a moment of “clarity,” in which a decision must be made to stand up and do the right thing, or fold and take the easy way out. For Senate Republicans, that moment is staring them in the face. If they cannot muster 50 votes to confirm a Supreme Court nominee submitted by President Donald Trump, the “Grand Old Party” will no longer deserve being considered a “major” political party; it will have proved itself unworthy of the heritage bequeathed them by such true leaders as Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Far more important than the political fallout of such cowardice by a handful of GOP senators, however, will be the long-term damage to one of the most enduring and vital institutions undergirding our government – the Supreme Court of the United States, against which the Democrats have declared open warfare. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi no longer even pretend to camouflage what their intentions are. Should the Democrats win a majority in the Senate and also defeat Trump in the coming election, they will at once start the legislative process to expand the number of justices on the High Court (which has remained at nine for a century and a half). They also will move to change the rules according to which future judicial confirmations will be handled in the Senate. If Democrats succeed in these measures, they will all-but-guarantee the Republican Party will never again be able to ensure a “conservative” majority on the Court. The Democrat’s plan to pack the Court will be solidified if they...
by Bob Barr | Sep 16, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall Nicholas Sandmann, the Catholic high school student who recently settled defamation lawsuits against CNN and the Washington Post, is again in the crosshairs of the Left as he prepares to enter college. In a vivid display of the degree to which the Left — this time those embedded in academia — will mercilessly hound anyone they do not like (particularly someone who has successfully challenged them), members and alumni of Kentucky’s Transylvania University, a school which has admitted Sandmann, publicly are talking about him as if he were a Manchurian Candidate on a mission to destroy the university. He is being called a dangerous “provocateur in training” and a troublemaker because he likely will disrupt classes by daring to question their teachings. Avery Tompkins, a professor at Transylvania and one of its “diversity scholars,” criticized Sandmann for belonging to groups that hold “anti-intellectualist views.” Media reports quoting the professor did not clarify which groups she considers to be “anti-intellectualist” or what she believes the term means. Her dislike for Sandmann was echoed by Samuel Crankshaw who is an alumnus of the University and a communications official with the ACLU. Crankshaw labeled Transylvania’s decision to admit the young “provocateur” a “stain” on the institution. Compare the manner by which the media and academia are treating Sandmann with the fawning praise they lavished on another high school student who found himself in the media spotlight — David Hogg, one of the students who survived the 2018 mass shooting at his high school in Parkland, Florida. Unlike Sandmann, who comports himself publicly with quiet reserve, Hogg became the Left’s foul-mouthed poster child for gun...
by Bob Barr | Sep 9, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall.com Serving as the U.S. Attorney in Atlanta from 1986 to 1990 was in many respects the most rewarding and enjoyable job of my life. Enforcing federal laws under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush according to the solemn oath I took to protect lives, property and businesses in the Northern District of Georgia, allowed me to work with many fine local prosecutors and then-state Attorney General Mike Bowers, who all shared my commitment to the rule of law. That experience is why it deeply disturbs me now to see a number of current district attorneys and even some state attorneys general who have twisted their oaths of office in ways that actually pit them against law enforcement, and in support of criminals rather than victims of crime. The longer such officials remain in office and are allowed to abuse their power, the more deeply will the essential and fundamental underpinnings of our justice system be damaged. For several election cycles, this design has been the center of billionaire leftist George Soros’ evil plan to remake America’s justice system in his warped image of a socialist-based system pitting rich against poor and condoning mob rule. In this worldview, prosecutors simply refuse to prosecute laws on the books if doing so offends their personal philosophy of “social justice.” Accordingly, people who steal and loot are immune from prosecution if they engaged in such criminal acts in order to get things they need or want but were not able (or willing) to obtain them lawfully. Examples can be seen in so-called “Blue State” cities everywhere, including of course, in California. In the Golden...
by Bob Barr | Sep 2, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall Monday, after months of self-quarantine in his basement, former Vice President Joe Biden emerged to deliver a speech in Pittsburgh. However, rather than present an image of a revitalized, coherent candidate, Biden confirmed what many in America have long-known about him – that he plays fast and loose with the facts and remains clueless about what is happening in the world outside his Washington-centric bubble. Most telling in this regard were Biden’s repeated efforts to blame President Trump for the violence that for months has plagued cities from coast to coast and in the country’s heartland; communities that have been living for years if not decades under ineffectual Democrat Party control. Blaming Donald Trump, a Republican president, for violence in Democrat-run cities even after he has repeatedly denounced it and offered assistance to help quell it, bordered on the ludicrous, but was not the only mendacious story offered up by the former vice president on Monday. For example, the former vice president charged that Trump deployed “secret federal troops” to protect federal property. This claim would be startling if true, but it is utterly without foundation. The Trump Administration did order federal law enforcement officers to protect federal facilities, buildings, and personnel in Portland, Oregon, for example, when they were attacked repeatedly by violent mobs. There was, however, nothing “secret” about the deployment, and there were only civilian federal law enforcement officers involved, not “federal troops.” Considering the many research staff and speech writers available to Biden as both a former vice president and a current presidential nominee, we are left to conclude either that he knew...
by Bob Barr | Aug 26, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall Parents across America being forced to deal with the technological and administrative burdens of “distance learning” face severe consequences, even potential criminal charges, if they fail to meet these challenges. One might think that actually getting a student to sit in front of a laptop for hours on end would be a victory in and of itself. Now, however, parents have the added stress of making sure nothing that might be seen on camera behind and around the child shows anything that could be considered politically incorrect, or that might trigger a report to the “authorities.” Failure to do so could result in a visit from the police. This is exactly what happened to the mother of a fifth-grade boy in Baltimore. The student was a Boy Scout and his mother a Navy veteran. They made what turned out to be a serious mistake during a distance learning session, when they failed to realize that hanging on a wall behind where the boy sat for his video learning session were two BB guns, including a fabled “Red Ryder” model. This oversight was sufficient to trigger fear in the fifth-grade teacher on the other end of the video session, who quickly reported the “disturbing” images to her school principal. Up the chain of command the report went, from the teacher, to the principal, and to the police who were summoned to search the house for “weapons.” Even more disturbing than the fact that a teacher apparently became traumatized at the sight of a BB gun on a bedroom wall, was the fact that, according to media accounts, the initial call came from...
by Bob Barr | Aug 19, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall To some extent, most crimes are relatively easy to explain. For example, greed leads to theft; anger often is a predicate to violence; a desire to “belong” pushes many teenagers to join gangs; and marital discord lies at the root of far too many murders. But the cold-blooded murder of a young child, like 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant, defies all rational understanding or explanation — a senseless act by an individual who has lost all touch with humanity. It is the very definition of inhuman. It is difficult to recount the details of young Cannon’s murder without being moved to tears. Although the incident was largely ignored by the mainstream media, the pointlessness and savagery of the murder, apparently without any conceivable explanation or motive, is deeply unsettling. Cannon Hinnant’s murder starkly illustrates the reality that America’s moral soul is dying. America was founded as a sanctuary for religious refugees. At its core and since its creation, our country has been a society with a shared belief in God and on the moral virtues to which our Founders explicitly paid tribute. It was this spirit of moral integrity that helped turn America into the world’s guiding light for hope and freedom. Today, that light is decidedly dimmed. Looking at the violence-torn streets of Portland, Chicago, New York, and so many other cities and communities, it has become virtually impossible to recognize the country “made only for a moral and religious People,” as John Adams once wrote. On the surface the looting and violence may appear to some observers as political acts; but roving mobs beating people within an inch...
