Charles Jay, presidential candidate of the Boston Tea Party (BTP), posted an interesting essay, “Declaring Your 'Independence,'” on his candidate's page on July 5. In it, Jay gave a first glimpse of what looks to be the fringe party's election strategy this year: Smear Libertarian Party (LP) candidate Bob Barr.
I use the word “smear” advisedly, since Jay's approach is thoroughly dishonest. Not that he states any falsehoods (well, no more than one): rather, he relies on implication and insinuation to communicate them. The facts and quotes he presents are mainly old news, some of which I've written on previously. What is dishonest is to imply that they are facts and quotes having anything to do with Barr's campaign as the Libertarian candidate, an implication that Jay makes throughout. As in his first two examples:
- In the history of the LP, has there EVER been a party leader (and let's operate on the principle that a presidential candidate is a party leader) who has led a moral crusade as something fundamental to the advancement of his career; in fact, as something that was essential to his very existence as a “public servant”?
- In the party's 37-year history, has any Libertarian candidate for national office ever said this?: “America has lost its moral way. I support legislation to allow states and local governments to allow prayer and displays of the Ten Commandments in public places, without violating federal law or the Constitution. I believe this would lead us one step closer to renewing America's moral foundation.” (1)
Barr has admittedly said and done those things — as a Republican Congressman a decade or so ago. Jay has to be aware of the dates. As the Libertarian candidate, and in his years as a LP member, Barr has said and done nothing of the kind; Jay has to know that as well. One has to conclude that Jay is deliberately misrepresenting.
Marijuana misrepresentation
Misrepresentation is compounded in Jay's next example:
- Is it not antithetical to ANY interpretation of libertarian principles to not only crusade against freedom of choice for a group like medical marijuana patients, but to publicly denounce medical marijuana as “bogus witchcraft” while vigorously campaigning to prevent the votes from being counted in a referendum that would let the public's voice be heard on this issue? Has any leading figure in the Libertarian Party EVER pro-actively tried to override the democratic process in such an odious manner?
Not only has Barr done no such thing as a “leading figure in the Libertarian Party;” during his time in the LP, he has done the exact opposite. As Wikipedia tells it: “in March 2007, Barr reversed his stance on medical marijuana and began lobbying on behalf of MPP.[Marijuana Policy Project]. Incredibly, this new partnership saw Barr working to repeal his very own “Barr Amendment” — the amendment that overturned a voter-approved medical marijuana initiative in Washington, D.C. and prohibits consideration of similar initatives.” (2)
Rob Kampia of the MPP (who seconded Barr's LP nomination) has stated that “Bob Barr has done more to roll back the federal war on drugs than almost anyone I know in the country.” (3)
Not to be nasty, but what is Jay's record on the drug war? What, if anything, has he ever done for “medical marijuana patients?”
To be fair, Jay may not have been aware of Barr's record over the past two years. But he certainly should have been, before pontificating on the subject.
Playing the Racist Card
For those still unconvinced, Jay next insinuates that Barr is a racist. That puts this next example into a class by itself, as it takes the war of words up a notch.
- Has any national leader in the libertarian movement ever embraced a group like the Council of Conservative Citizens, which state, as part of its “Principles”: …
Jay then gives considerable space to quoting several odious examples of that group's “Principles.” What he does not give are any facts about where, or when, as a “national leader in the libertarian movement” or at any other time, Barr ever “embraced” any of them or not.
Let us examine the facts that Jay is not giving.
During the Clinton impeachment, Barr (who was one of its House managers) spoke to groups around the country about the impeachment process — including a June 2, 1998 talk before the Council of Concerned Citizens (CCC), an incident he mentions in his book, The Meaning of Is:
I had been invited by the top Republican official in South Carolina to speak on impeachment to a particular group, so we made the reasonable assumption based on his recommendation that the group was legitimate. Needless to say, that was one meeting I left as quickly as possible. (4)
Soon after, Barr and two other prominent Republicans became embroiled in controversy for speaking to the CCC, a group identified by both the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith (ADL) as a white-supremacist, “neoconfederate” organization.
The ADL conducted a thorough investigation of the incidents, and reported on its Militia Watchdog website in February 1999:
Of the three major politicians implicated in the scandal, Bob Barr is probably the one who deserves the least criticism. His connection appears to have been limited to one event, and it is true, as he has said, that some of the literature he was given (you can see one example for yourself) is not overt about racism. Moreover, and to his credit, he has strongly denounced the Council multiple times and been quick to do so. (5)
So: Jay insinuates that Barr (as a “national libertarian leader,” no less) “embraced” a group that in fact he has strongly denounced, not once but repeatedly, for roughly a decade. Not exactly a lie, but nothing at all like the truth, either.
The Strategy
But enough of all that. At some point one has to take Ayn Rand's advice: to stop examining the folly, and look instead at what it's meant to accomplish.
Part of Jay's goal is of course obvious; he wants Libertarians who backed Barr's main rivals for the LP nomination (Ruwart, Kubby, Phillies, or Gravel) to join the BTP, and to work, donate and vote for his own campaign:
And if the national party has left YOU, you might consider leaving IT, at least as it concerns this election cycle and the top of the party's ticket…. we have a genuine alternative – a REAL libertarian alternative – right here at the Boston Tea Party.
However, Jay adds a new twist. He does not ask Ruwart, etc. supporters to leave the LP. Rather, his suggestion is that they become more active within it, at the state level, working to keep the Barr/Root ticket off the presidential ballot:
I wonder if it wouldn't be a pretty potent way of sending a message of dissatisfaction for a state chapter of the LP to say to itself, “Hey guys, instead of putting your anti-libertarian candidate on the ballot, we are going to do something that may seem foreign to you – we're going to put a REAL libertarian on the ballot instead.”
That has already happened in two states, though the BTP had nothing to do with either. In New Hampshire, where Barr is currently polling in double digits, the state has refused to let his name be substituted on the ballot; placeholder candidate George Phillies is listed instead. The same in Massachusetts, although that state's LP (including Mr. Phillies, the state Chair) and the American Civil Liberties Union are suing to have Barr's name substituted.
If the BTP can add a few more states to that list, that could seriously spoil the LP's chances in this election. If they can convince even one state LP to nominate Jay (who otherwise will not appear in all but five or so states) instead, so much the better for them.
———-
Sources
(1) All quotations in italics are from:
Charles Jay, “Declaring your ‘Independence,’” Charles Jay ‘08, July 5, 2008. http://www.cj08.com/ [emphases added]
(2) “Bob Barr,” Wikipedia (accessed July 13, 2008). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Barr
(3) “Rob Kampia from Marijuana Policy Project Nominates Bob Barr,” You Tube, June 3, 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS2BQjoCn0A
(4) Casey Bowman, “Comment” on “Novak and Carney: ‘McCain’s Libertarian problem’,” Independent Political Report, June 20, 2008. http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/06/novak-and-carney-mccains-libertarian-problem/
(5) Mark Pitcavadge, “The Council of Concerned Citizens in the News: A Chronology of Events: Introduction,” The Militia Watchdog, ADL, Feb. 4, 1999. http://www.adl.org/MWD/ccc.asp
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