by Bob Barr | Oct 2, 2019 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com Today’s Democratic Party resembles less the days of John F. Kennedy and the romanticism of Camelot than it does the set of “Kids Say the Darndest Things.” Long gone are stirring speeches encouraging the best from Americans regardless of their political persuasion. Instead we now are treated to profanity-laced riffs from teenagers scolding the rest of us about everything from school shootings to global warming. Today’s Democrats have dived head-first into the shallow end of the Fountain of Youth. From the foul-mouthed David Hogg as the Left’s new voice of gun control, to the shrill scolding of Swedish 16-year old Greta Thunberg as their new global warming cheerleader, Democrats have pushed radical-minded children to the Party’s vanguard. Adult Democrats, of course, would like us to believe this is an organic transformation; with talented young people flourishing in the zeitgeist of the moment. The reality is that this movement represents a deliberate and cynical tactic by Democrats, that more than anything else illustrates the shallowness of their “progressive” platform. There is a reason why the adults of the Party, including Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, are noticeably in the background when kids take the microphone and call for policy positions so extreme they can be taken seriously only by the most rabid activists. This tactic affords Party leaders the benefit but not the risk of being directly associated with an extremist platform that in earlier times would have been laughed out of the halls of Congress. These teenagers are essentially serving as human shields for politicians who love the fervor the kids create, while allowing plausible deniability...
by Bob Barr | Sep 30, 2019 | Uncategorized |
The Daily Caller The spectacle of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff reading a made-up script of the July 25 phone call between President Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky would make it easy to dismiss the entire “Ukrainegate” matter as comic relief. But it appears to be the vehicle by which Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her House majority have decided to begin impeachment of a sitting president of the United States. There is a stench emanating from this episode that reveals it to be something far more sinister than the well-intentioned and patriotic move described by the acting director of the Office of National Intelligence (DNI) in his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee. The person — more accurately, persons — behind the Aug. 12 “whistleblower” complaint sent to the chairmen of both the House and Senate Intelligence committees that has fueled this drive, is not in any reasoned manner a true “whistleblower” complaint. The lead complainant reportedly is employed by the CIA, but clearly is working in cahoots with others embedded in the intelligence community who feed him or her information and corroborate his or her conclusions. Collectively, they are saboteurs; intent on bringing down a duly elected president of the United States of America. While these conspirators hide behind the cloak of “whistleblowers,” theirs is not an effort to simply bring to light evidence of government “fraud, waste or abuse.” Theirs is a cleverly calculated plan, hatched over a period of at least several months, and with the assistance of outside forces, including a so-called “public interest” law firm. The façade here is one of a...
by Bob Barr | Sep 25, 2019 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com It is the end of the world, and progressives are dancing in the streets. If this seems a rather curious, if not bizarre response to a fast-approaching global calamity, you probably do not understand today’s “progressives.” This week’s #ShutDownDC global warming demonstrations have been less a protest than a public exhibition of costumes, dance moves, and pet political causes, many of which are only at-best tangentially related to environmental stewardship. There were LGBT activists gyrating in the streets as confetti rained over them. There were Black Lives Matter advocates and assorted anti-capitalists. Most notably, of course, there were plenty of cameras to capture the pageantry. You would hardly know mankind was only a few “impossible burgers” away from global calamity. Farcical is the only way to accurately describe this circus of a “protest.” No mature and rational person would view the menagerie and think to himself, “You know, this event convinces me that I must do more to protect the environment.” Fundamental changes to public policy, much less sweeping cultural shifts, requires years, if not decades, of hard work – marshalling data, building coalitions, and developing long-term strategies and workable tactics; with the entire endeavor predicated on clearly defined and realistic goals. Ideally, policy changes occur in tandem with private sector advancements. In contrast to the mainstream media’s treatment of the week’s climate change protests as a serious, if not game-changing event, it appears to be more of an opportunity by many participants to see and be seen; an undertaking where the more outrageous the antics, the greater social credibility one gains in the eyes of one’s peers. ...
by Bob Barr | Sep 18, 2019 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com In a world not that long ago, a newspaper’s “Editor’s Note” was used primarily to address minor, factual errors; mistakes like a wrong date or misspelling of a name. Today, however, it increasingly appears to be the only place where actual journalism is transacted; albeit, only after the original article has been published. “Report, thenverify” should be the new masthead motto for The New York Times and other news outlets that have lost all semblance of balance and professionalism. This phenomenon is especially prominent in articles about President Trump and his administration. A “blockbuster” scoop about the president, or Republicans in general, seems to be followed shortly by an editor’s note clarifying the “facts” of the story; and, in many cases, repudiating it altogether. Recall the infamous BuzzFeed article from January, reporting what would have been a devastating blow to Trump, but which was quickly debunked by Robert Mueller himself. And, this week, we see the Times going once again after Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on alleged past sexual misconduct, only to have the crux of the article dunked by a follow-up editor’s note detailing the accuser has no memory of – wait for it – the accusations on which the hit piece is based. Editors blame weak fact checks in the rush to publish first in today’s 24/7 news cycle, but the Mainstream Media’s abhorrent treatment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh made clear the much more disturbing truth; that when it comes to weaponizing bylines against political enemies, facts are irrelevant when the damage of accusations alone will serve nicely. To cover themselves and their precious “ethics” in this repulsive practice, the Mainstream Media...
by Bob Barr | Sep 17, 2019 | Uncategorized |
The Daily Caller Boone Pickens, Jr. was well-known to contemporary political and corporate leaders, but likely not so much to today’s millennial generation. This should hardly be considered a surprise, insofar as Pickens pretty much exemplified many characteristic millennials are widely known not to share; especially that he was a consummate risk taker. Although born in Oklahoma, Pickens came to personify the bigness that for generations has defined his adopted state of Texas, where he died last week at the age of 91. Pickens’ ancestry can be traced back to American pioneer hero Daniel Boone; with whom he shared much of the daring that made his forebearer one of our country’s first folk heroes. Pickens’ long and colorful career in business was anything but a straight-line trajectory; in large measure because of deliberate decisions he made throughout his nearly seven decades in the rough and tumble world of energy production. Eschewing a career as a geologist with Phillips Petroleum in the early 1950s, and in a classic entrepreneurial risk-taking move, Pickens started his own drilling company from scratch; a company which became the publicly traded Mesa Petroleum that made him a multi-millionaire. What largely defined this Texan for future generations of business leaders, however, were his decisions in the 1970s and 1980s to engage in a series of so-called “hostile” corporate takeovers of oil companies; not designed to enrich corporate managers but to place more power in the hands of shareholders. To be sure, Pickens’ moves in this regard catapulted him into the rarified atmosphere of those whose net worth was measured in the hundreds of millions of dollars;...
by Bob Barr | Sep 11, 2019 | Uncategorized |
Townhall.com The “public nuisance” legal theory cited recently by an Oklahoma judge as the basis on which to hold a drug manufacturing company liable for opioid abuse in that state, joins other dubious legal and public policy mechanisms as tactics with which the gun control movement aims to achieve its long-desired goal of disarming law-abiding Americans. The movement’s advocates are framing the legal and public debate about gun violence in much the same way as that surrounding the opioid problem – as an “epidemic.” The strategy is the same – driven by fear, not facts. Headlines designed not to educate but rather to stoke emotions are the norm. Language and semantics are employed with little if any regard to accuracy, but with every intent to elicit the public’s fear. Factually, for example, firearm violence is down. Millions of AR-15 style rifles are owned and used safely by millions of law-abiding citizens regularly. Fully automatic firearms still are unlawful except in the hands of the military, law enforcement, or the very few individuals specifically licensed by the federal government to possess them. Regardless of facts such as these, however, the media and Democrat presidential candidates continue to scream that “weapons of war” like the semi-automatic AR-15 rifle — claimed by them to have been designed for the “sole purpose of killing as many people as possible as quickly as possible” — are everywhere and must be banished from every home and business in the country. With histrionics like these, it is no wonder politicians and even judges look to every possible way to “do something”; even if it means...
