22 July, 2008

Bob Barr Endorses the Constitution

It's no secret I'm thrilled that Bob Barr is running for President. I'm hoping he'll draw off a good number of reluctant McCain supporters: he's just conservative enough to manage it. And now I have a whole new reason to recommend him: he's a privacy advocate who's decided that FISA is poison to privacy. He's endorsed the Strange Bedfellows coalition by way of saying, "That's just about enough unbridled government power, thanks so much:"


A lot of media attention has been focused on our privacy or, more appropriately, the invasion of our privacy by the government. The recent law that allows the government to intercept our phone calls and emails without any legitimate probable cause is the most glaring example. Ultimately we lose some freedom with virtually every new law or government regulation, but this particular law, FISA, is the granddaddy of all invasions of our privacy.

For the last several years Bob Barr has been fighting the government’s intrusion into our privacy at every step. There have been other organizations standing shoulder to shoulder with Bob. But, the recent focus on the invasion of our privacy has motivated a whole new group of concerned activists to join together in an effort to stop the government’s encroachment into our lives.

Some of the names of the organizers of this new group, AccountabilityNowPac, may be familiar to you. They come from a large variety of backgrounds and political beliefs joined in the common interest of protecting our privacy.

If you get a chance please take a look at their web site to learn more about them.

Feels pretty good to be recognized by a presidential candidate. I hope his stand shames the other two into remembering this little thing called the Fourth Amendment. Maybe then we'll see that nice, embarrassed shuffle sideways. That delightful, "What FISA fiasco? Oh, that. Yeah, I, uh, now that I've had some time to think about it, I've realized I was temporarily insane in supporting that idiotic bill. My first act as President will be to kick that bit of legislation to the curb. Yay, Fourth Amendment!"

Look, one can dream.

1 comment:

Cujo359 said...

I think Barr is going to draw some votes away from Obama, as well. Barr has been an outspoken critic of our involvement in Iraq, and is on record as favoring as quick a withdrawal as possible. Plus, he's the only candidate who seems to take the Constitution seriously.

Obama's trip abroad has helped him with the first issue, but his actions in the FISA debacle and elsewhere show that he's not inclined to protect the Constitution when push comes to shove.