Bob Barr Totally Explained

Everything about Bob Barr totally explained

Robert Laurence "Bob" Barr, Jr. (born November 5, 1948) is the Libertarian Party candidate for President of the United States in the 2008 election. He is an American attorney and former member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2003.
Barr attained national prominence as one of the leaders of the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. and as of 2008 serves on its National Committee.

Early life

Barr was born on Guy Fawkes Day 1948, in Iowa City, Iowa. Barr also joined the Young Democrats of America, much to his parents' chagrin, who threatened to cut off financial support if he continued his involvement. Barr completed his B.A. from University of Southern California in 1970. to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia -- a post Barr held until 1990. The primary was very close, with Barr losing by less than 1,600 votes in a runoff election. The election became known as the "Republican Revolution" because it resulted in the first GOP House majority in 40 years -- since the 1955 adjournment of the 83rd Congress.
Barr was later re-elected three times, serving from 1995 to 2003. The majority of the new district 7 was composed of regions formerly associated with district 11, then represented by Republican John Linder. Much to the Democrats' delight, this redistricting led Barr to challenge Linder for district 7 representation. This was pleasing to Georgia Democrats, including then governor Roy Barnes, because it meant the inevitable defeat of an incumbent Republican (for example, either Barr or Linder). Barr was soundly defeated by a 2-to-1 margin. However, before the medical marijuana ads were aired, and Pat Gartland, southeastern director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, saw the race as "too close to call". In 2002, he was described as "the idol of the gun-toting, abortion-fighting, IRS-hating hard right wing of American politics". and libertarian. While in Congress, he was a member of the Speaker's Task Force for a Drug-Free America. The task force crafted legislation specifically designed to "win the War on Drugs by 2002".}}
Barr advocated complete federal prohibition of medical marijuana. In 1998, He successfully blocked implementation of Initiative 59

-- the "Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative of 1998" -- which would have legalized medical marijuana in the District of Columbia (DC). The "Barr Amendment" to the 1999 Omnibus spending bill not only blocked implementation of Initiative 59 but prohibited the vote tally from even being released. Nearly a year passed before a lawsuit

filed by the American Civil Liberties Union eventually revealed the initiative had received 69% of the vote. In response to the judge's ruling

, Barr simply attached another "Barr Amendment" to the 2000 Omnibus spending bill that overturned Intiative 59 outright. The Barr Ammendment also prohibited future laws that would "decrease the penalties for marijuana or other Schedule I drugs" in DC. This preemptively blocked future attempts by Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) to reform marijuana laws in DC via the initiative process. Barr's response to the ruling was defiant:
Barr is best known for his role as one of the House managers during the Clinton impeachment trial. It was Barr who first introduced a resolution directing Judiciary Committee to inquire into impeachment proceedings — months before the Monica Lewinsky scandal came to light. Chief among the concerns Barr cited at the time was apparent obstruction of Justice Department investigations into Clinton campaign fundraising from foreign sources, chiefly China.
In 1999, during the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt offered money to anyone who could provide evidence that a prominent Republican had engaged in an extramarital affair. According to the American Journalism Review, "Barr was one of 13 House Republicans chosen to act as prosecutors in Clinton's Senate trial. Barr, Flynt's investigators found, "was guilty of king-size hypocrisy": An outspoken foe of abortion, the Georgia lawmaker had acquiesced to his then-wife having an abortion in 1983.

Criticism of Bush Administration

In 2006 he debated the architect of PATRIOT Act, Viet Dinh, on terrorism and privacy issues.

Departure from Republican Party

In the 2004 Presidential election, Barr abandoned the Republican Party and publicly endorsed the presidential ticket of the Libertarian Party.

Political associations

Barr sat on the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association from 2001 to 2007.
   More recently, Barr has become a prominent member of the American Civil Liberties Union, sometimes doing paid consulting on privacy issues.
   Barr is a commentator on political and social issues and is chairman of the American Conservative Union Foundation's '21st Century Center for Privacy and Freedom'.
   In January of 2006, to emphasize the bipartisan nature of the event, Barr planned on introducing Al Gore at a speech cosponsored by the Liberty Coalition and the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy to address what they called the "NSA Spying Scandal", although technical problems interfered with Barr's live satellite feed.

Libertarian Party

On December 12, 2006, Barr became a regional representative on the Libertarian National Committee, representing the Party's Southeast Region. Barr said: "I'm happy to announce that I'm now a proud, card-carrying Libertarian who is committed to helping elect leaders who will strive for smaller government, lower taxes and abundant individual freedom."

Marijuana Policy Project

In Congress, Barr's strong stance against medical marijuana put him at odds with marijuana policy reformers such as the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) (see War on Drugs in Congressional career above). Despite this historic antagonism, in March 2007, Barr reversed his stance on medical marijuana and begin lobbying on behalf of MPP. 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.,
Barr's reversal on drug policy surprised many, and perhaps none more so than MPP. He is also a member of the Constitution Project's bipartisan Liberty and Security Committee.

Other activities

In Spring 2008, Barr became an adjunct professor at Kennesaw State University and was scheduled to teach a course on privacy rights titled "Privacy and Public Policy in 21st Century Business and Society."
Barr appeared in the mock documentary Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. He met with "Borat" (portrayed by Sacha Baron Cohen) in the United States Capitol where he was given cheese that Borat described as being made from his wife's breast.

Publications and commentary

Barr authored the 2004 book The Meaning of Is: The Squandered Impeachment and Wasted Legacy of William Jefferson Clinton (ISBN 978-0974537627) He briefly wrote a regular column for Creative Loafing Atlanta, an alternative weekly newspaper serving the Atlanta, metropolitan area.
In 2008, in his column "The Barr Code", he lambasted the new policy of Boston police of allowing warrantless search for firearms in teenagers' homes.
Barr hosts a political talk radio show on Radio America called Bob Barr's Laws of the Universe, on which he's had guests including Trent Lott, Tom DeLay, Oliver North, and Robert Bork. His first "law of the Universe" is that "the world is full of idiots", and he features an "Idiot of the Week" on his show, along with a top ten of "Idiots of the Year" selected from the Idiots of the Week.

Presidential campaign

Libertarian Party banner. Activists began a Facebook group dedicated to drafting Barr into the nomination contest, and Barr later confirmed his interest. He launched a presidential exploratory committee and campaign website

on April 5, and formally announced his candidacy for the Libertarian nomination on May 12. His announcement came a mere 10 days before the start of the Libertarian Party Convention, where delegates select the presidential candidate. Rasmussen Reports has Barr polling at 6% nationwide against Barack Obama (42%), John McCain (38%), and Ralph Nader (4%). The study identified Barr as the Libertarian candidate, but most voters said they didn't know enough about him to have an opinion of him personally.
Further Information

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