by Bob Barr | Feb 3, 2020 | Uncategorized |
The Daily CallerSen. Elizabeth Warren declared at a campaign event last fall that for a person to be considered as her Secretary of Education if she were to be elected President, that candidate first would have to be interviewed and approved by a nine-year old transgendered student. Notwithstanding the sheer lunacy of such a declaration (made by the candidate with a straight face and to a round of applause from her audience), it got me thinking – applying such selection criteria to other positions, what might a Warren cabinet look like? For the post of attorney general, the candidate would be vetted by a panel of convicted felons. This would help guarantee President Warren’s “top cop” would possess extensive, first-hand knowledge of how the federal penal system operates. It also would essentially guarantee we would have an attorney general whose dislike for law enforcement would fit the mold that seems to be the litmus test for Democrat Party candidates – supporting prosecutors who see the police rather than criminals as the bad guys. Secretary of state candidates would have to pass muster by a panel limited to citizens of other countries — preferably countries whose leaders despise the United States and share the Obama administration’s “America last” world view. Advocates of this philosophy adhere to the mindset of today’s Democrat Party, which is that every serious problem facing the world in the 21st century has been caused by the United States. The only candidates who could be considered by Warren’s transition team for the post of secretary of commerce would be individuals who previously worked for the federal minimum hourly wage....
by Bob Barr | Jan 29, 2020 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.comIn years gone by there existed an understanding that one’s personal information surrendered to private companies was a voluntary choice – the “cost,” if you will, to obtaining the benefit of a company’s goods or services. Importantly – and constitutionally – such a “trade off” was far different from the government obtaining personal and private information by way of surveillance or other information-gathering actions undertaken without a warrant. There was a relatively clear line between private company collection of personal information voluntarily provided, and the government gathering such information without one’s knowledge or consent. Today, that “line” has been blurred to the point of near erasure.Government officials, of course, have never been short on creative ways to circumvent the Fourth Amendment’s restrictions on unreasonable and warrantless gathering of information. We all are familiar, for example, with the abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act procedures by previous administrations, whereby the federal government was able to unlawfully surveil U.S. citizens’ private communications. Some of us also may recall the FBI’s use of Best Buy’s “Geek Squad” technicians to browse computers for illegal content while on service calls. But with the digital age have come new opportunities for companies and government agencies alike to spy on citizens. The rise of social media and other technological advancements — geo-tracking and at-home DNA testing — have led to an explosion of highly personal information shared openly with third parties — and in turn, government agencies as well. Like throwing chum in the water to attract sharks, this treasure trove of data in the hands of private companies has caught the attention of government agencies at all levels;...
by Bob Barr | Jan 27, 2020 | Uncategorized |
The Daily CallerIn one of his more outlandish pronouncements during last week’s never-ending impeachment managers’ Opening Argument in the Senate trial of President Donald Trump, Rep. Adam Schiff declared it vital that the President be found guilty and removed from office right now, because he has shown himself to be an electoral “cheater.” As seen through the hate-colored lenses by which Schiff and his Democrat Party view the political landscape, if Trump remains in office November’s election results cannot possibly be trusted.While voters clearly have reason to be concerned about vote manipulation, it is not Donald Trump who should worry us; it is Google.“Search engine manipulation effect” (SEME) has been familiar to behavioralists for several years. It is the process of manipulating internet users’ preferences through deliberate but subtle – more precisely, surreptitious – algorithmic changes in search engine preference rankings. One way to achieve this is through the “autocomplete function” that search engine Google provides users to facilitate their searches; directing them based on secret algorithms and user history.The autocomplete function used by internet search engines completes a search term or phrase being entered by a user before the user deliberately completes it himself or herself. In this way, the search engine interposes its search preferences for those of the user, in such manner that the user is not consciously aware of such manipulation. While the vast majority of instances in which a search engine engages autocomplete are those in which the user is simply searching for a factual term or phrase (e.g., “the Bill of Rights was ratified in what year?”), there is far more room for...
by Bob Barr | Jan 21, 2020 | Uncategorized |
Daily CallerThe House impeachment managers and the lawyers for President Donald Trump have both filed their memorandums for the Senate impeachment trial which gets underway in earnest today. While the two documents are nearly identical in length, the president’s is by far the stronger document.Neither memorandum breaks new legal, political or constitutional grounds, but there was no expectation they would. The only “new” evidence – if it can be characterized as such – is that the managers’ memorandum includes references to matters that came to light in the month since the two Articles of Impeachment were passed by the House. The managers discuss statements recently made by Ukraine-American operative Lev Parnas in television interviews and refer also to a Government Accountability Office memorandum released last week after being requested by Democratic Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen. The GAO report found fault with the grounds on which the Office of Management and Budget temporarily delayed the release of military assistance dollars to Ukraine last summer.Even if the Senate decides to consider this “new” evidence, however, it adds nothing to the underlying question confronting the upper chamber – whether President Trump is guilty of the offenses alleged against him by the Democrat majority in the House and should be removed from office. If the grounds on which this seminal question is to be answered are to be gleaned from these first filings, the answer is a resounding, “Not Guilty.”While the trial brief filed on the president’s behalf is over 100 pages long, the operative language, capturing the full essence of why the Senate trial should result in acquittal, is set forth...
by Bob Barr | Jan 15, 2020 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.comVirginia Democrats flexed their muscle in Richmond this week; passing four gun control bills through the Senate Judiciary Committee. This action had been promised by Gov. Ralph Northam since his Party gained majorities in both houses of the state legislature last November. As with other state governors who believe that the best way to stop criminals from committing murder is to make it more difficult for law abiding citizens to purchase and possess firearms, these measures will do just that – make it harder for law abiding citizens of Virginia to exercise their rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment.Specifically, the Northam-endorsed proposals will limit citizens to one handgun purchase a month, mandate universal background checks, and allow local governments to selectively ban firearms from public events. Most troubling, one measure authorizes law enforcement to preemptively seize firearms from individuals they deem to be a threat (a so-called “red flag” law). But there’s more.The “crown jewel” of Northam’s expansive gun control agenda is a ban on so-called “assault weapons.” This measure is expected to pass through committee this week, which then will trigger a long-anticipated showdown in the General Assembly.In a concession of sorts, Northam agreed to include in the gun ban a “grandfather” clause allowing individuals who currently own a to-be-banned firearm, to continue to do so without automatically violating the law. They would, however, be required to register their newly banned “assault weapon” with state authorities. This change illustrates the true fraud behind Northam’s gun control push – it was never really to address an “emergency” about public safety. Rather, it is a partisan “spiking the football” following the...
by Bob Barr | Jan 13, 2020 | Uncategorized |
The Daily CallerUsing traditional criteria to measure a candidate’s likelihood of success, it would be easy to dismiss former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s presidential candidacy. Doing so, however, would not be a smart decision by either Democrats or Republicans.Sure, Bloomberg’s was a late entry into the already crowded field of Democratic presidential wannabes. And yes, his polling places him in single digits among Democratic voters; behind Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, former Vice President Joe Biden, and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. However, unlike the other billionaire still in the Democratic field, Tom Steyer, Bloomberg is a well-known figure to voters across the country.Bloomberg’s enviable name id is due primarily to his having served for a dozen years as mayor of the Big Apple. He also, of course, is well-known (and widely reviled) thanks to his long-standing and very public attacks against the National Rifle Association and his support of virtually every gun control measure on the Democratic Party’s agenda. It would, however, be a mistake to view him as a single-issue candidate.Bloomberg earned his position as one of the 10 richest people in the world based on demonstrable financial and technological acumen. Unlike many others on Forbes’ list of billionaires, Bloomberg’s wealth is “self-made.” Attacks by Sanders and Warren against Bloomberg for being a “billionaire” may resonate with some voters; but there are many more who either openly or quietly admire someone like him who earned his wealth by hard work and intelligence.Like Donald Trump, Bloomberg is a creature of the city he led for three terms. But here again, pigeon-holing and criticizing him for...
