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Bob Barr: Magnificent Hypocrite

Congressman Bob Barr

Thursday, November 6th 1997: Congressman Bob Barr, representative for the people of the 7th Congressional District of Georgia, is a hypocrite and wasting your time and money yet once more.

Barr is again demanding the impeachment of Bill Clinton. No one seems to know on what basis, least of all Barr, who writes prolifically about the subject citing Jefferson, Madison et al in what is almost a comical "thesis" of points of ignorance, not law, which should impel us to take him seriously.

Yet Barr takes big campaign bucks from the very people he regulates through legislation and doesn't think he should be thrown out of office. I wonder why? It never ceases to amaze me how congressman, especially the short ones, think they can attack the kettle when they're the pot. But Barr takes the cake, not only a potential legislative extortionist or extorted one (It depends on your point of view), but also a man who makes his reputation on the backs of minorities, homosexuals and the poor.

Barr loves to point out the Hillary Clinton was a researcher during the Nixon impeachment investigations nearly 25 years ago. He even wrote her an "open letter" in which he "thanked" her for her research which provided a framework for his own, seemingly possessed-by-the-devil, campaign to oust the President.

Few take him seriously -- not even members of his own party save for a few freshman or second termers who hunger for some... any, recognition in the national media.

As a member of the House Banking and Judiciary Committees he's someone to reckon with, and his additional spot on Chairman Dan Burton's Government Reform and Oversight Committee(23rd in seniority) assures him of yet another spotlight, small as it may be, in the campaign finance reform circus which has, to date, only resulted in a Grand Jury Investigation of former Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour and another poor Republican sole caught up in legislative greed.

Barr was first elected in November of 1994 and was re-elected in 1996. He was appointed the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia by President Reagan in 1986, and served in that job until 1990. Barr thinks Reagan was the best president we've had, and has tried to get Washington's National Airport renamed for the Gipper. Why not, I'd vote for that.

During his four year stint at the U.S. Attorney's office, Barr was a crusader for drug prosecutions and public corruption indictments -- he indicted a fellow Republican. But more telling was his service with the Central Intelligence Agency from 1971 to 1978. What he did for them is unclear. But it frightens me.

He has received "awards,"including the Freshman Congressman of the Year, according to the far right American Conservative Union and got a Friend of the Family award from the Christian Coalition. He is also a "Guardian of Small Business" courtesy of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) which among others things wants to abolish the IRS . But one might draw the conclusion that he got a lot more from the NFIB than a plaque -- they gave him lots of money for something -- probably 'cause he's a good guy. [http://www.not4irs.org/]

Barr is even a member of the NFIB -- which pays off handsomely. The Association -- which is nothing more than a lobbying organization for business interests , gave him $7,000 for his last race and may give him more this year for his race in 1998. For NFIB's other "good government donations" see [http://www.tray.com/fecweb/1998/PAC/0/00101105.htm].

Barr is also an avid member of the gun-toting National Rifle Association and former president of the Southeastern Legal Foundation - which bills itself as a conservative public interest law firm, but is seemingly a law firm for the KKK. Here's what they do:

Bash Gays and Minorities by denying them health and other benefits when living together:

In a successful court challenge eagerly waged by a legal team including Southeastern Legal Foundation, the Georgia Supreme Courts in 1995 declared that portions of an Atlanta, Georgia ordinance which defined domestic partners as "family" and "dependents" was "unconstitutional and illegal." Of course, one must keep in mind that this was the GEORGIA Supreme Court -- Super Court of the state that spawned such notables pillers of honesty as Newt Gingrich. A conservative Augusta newspaper said this about the case, which Southeastern Legal Foundation proudly publishes on its own web site: "Georgians should watch the progress of this suit with great interest. It has implications that go well beyond AtlantaÕs school system. It could set a precedent as to whether Georgia will be colorblind or a state that sanctions reverse discrimination against whites. "

Here's a sample of other "active" litigation Congressman Barr's Southeastern Legal Foundation says they have pursued:

Defended parental rights by filing suit against a local school board for providing HIV/AIDS tests, PAP smears and birth control without parental consent. That's intelligent. Let's not find out if our kids have aids or cancer, and let's make sure their chances to become pregnant or contract venereal disease are increased.

Initiated a major case challenging the use of racial quotas in public contracts by the Atlanta School District, and are preparing for several similar suits. Shades of Prop 209?

Successfully challenged the City of Atlanta's Domestic Partnership Ordinance again and prevented homosexuals and unmarried individuals from receiving benefits of City employees in violation of constitutional law. -- They actually boasted this in exactly that language.

Participated in a lawsuit in Georgia in support of K - 12 educational choice. Back to segregation?

And here's an important one that deserves your financial support:

Appealed a taxpayer's challenge against a county for taxing golf carts as 'vehicles' used on 'public roads'. You have to laugh.

And speaking of financial support, of course, all contributions to SLF are deductible from Federal Income Taxes as a contribution to a 501(C)(3) corporation.

If his legal antics aren't enough, here are some of Bob Barr's best legislative efforts, not many of which came to fruition:

1. CLINTON BASHING: H.RES.220: A resolution expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to the failure of the Executive to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Sponsor: Rep Barr .

2. IN PREPARATION FOR THE HOUSE CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM WITCH HUNT: H.RES.298: A resolution amending the Rules of the House of Representatives to repeal the rule allowing subpoenaed witnesses to choose not to be photographed at committee hearings. Sponsor: Rep Barr .

3. DENYING CITIZENSHIP TO BABIES WHOSE PARENTS MIGHT HAVE IMMIGRATED IMPROPERLY: H.J.RES.4: A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to provide that no person born in the United States will be a United States citizen on account of birth in the United States unless both parents are either United States citizens or aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence at the time of the birth. Sponsor: Rep Barr .

4. PROTECTING PEOPLE WHO ABUSE THEIR SPOUSES: H.R.26: A bill to amend title 18, United States Code, to provide that the firearms prohibitions applicable by reason of a domestic violence misdemeanor conviction do not apply if the conviction occurred before the prohibitions became law. Sponsor: Rep Barr .

5. HONORING PAST CONSERVATIVES: H.R.2625: A bill to re-designate Washington National Airport as "Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport". Sponsor: Rep Barr .

6. MORE HELP FOR THE NRA TYPES: H.R.2734: A bill to clarify the standard required for the importation of sporting arms into the United States, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Barr .

7. DENYING POTENTIAL PAIN RELIEF TO CANCER PATIENTS: H.AMDT.114: An amendment, printed as amendment No. 4 in the Congressional Record of May 13, 1997, to prohibit the use of funds in the bill, or any other bill, to be used for the study of the medicinal use of marijuana. Sponsor: Rep Barr .

8. GIVING US MORE WAYS TO KILL OURSELVES AND OTHERS: H.RES.364: A resolution providing for the consideration of the bill (H.R. 125) to repeal the ban on semi-automatic assault weapons and the ban on large capacity ammunition. Sponsor: Rep Barr .- LATEST ACTION: 03/07/96 Discharge petition 11 filed in House

9. THEN, PUTTING GUN TOTERS IN PRISON LONGER: H.R.1488: A bill to control crime by increasing penalties for armed violent criminals. Sponsor: Rep Barr .

9. PANDERING TO THE CHRISTIAN COALITION: H.R.3396: A bill to define and protect the institution of marriage. Sponsor: Rep Barr .- LATEST ACTION: 09/21/96 Public Law 104-199

10. HELPING TO SUE THE PRESIDENT: H.R.3687: A bill to amend Title 5 of the United States Code to provide a civil remedy for the request or receipt of protected records for a non-routine use by any person within the Executive Offices of the President, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Rep Barr .

11. REWRITING THE CONSTITUTION IN THE NAME OF BARR: H.AMDT.950: An amendment, printed as amendment No. 2 in House Report 104-480, to modify a study of ammunition capable of penetrating police body armor. The amendment would also eliminate provisions of the bill which, 1. Require the disclosure of certain records to the FBI; 2. allow the admissibility of wiretapping evidence obtained in "good faith"; 3. establishes streamlined procedures for removal of alien terrorist; 4. authorizes the Executive Branch to officially identify organizations as being "Terrorist Organizations". The amendment would also delete the so-called "should have known" standard and the "reasonable cause to believe" standard for determining criminal culpability for providing material support to a terrorist or terrorist organization, excludes black or smokeless powder from the list of explosives to be reviewed by the Explosive Materials Taggants Study, and deletes provisions allowing the FBI to obtain telephone billing records of individuals. Sponsor: Rep Barr .

Okay, just so you know who you're dealing with.

Now on to the Barr's biggest job -- suicidal clown for the Republican Party

Barr wants to impeach the President. He wants to follow in the footsteps of Sam Nunn and become a great statesman. Only problem is, a few years and tens of millions in expense haven't shown even a scintilla of proof that the Clintons did anything illegal let alone impeachable. So what does Barr do? Well, he retires to his study -- you know the one with bear heads and guns everywhere -- and digs out some gibberish on impeachment written a couple of hundred years ago by Thomas Jefferson -- slave holder and notorious lover of his own private Black slave -- later freed with her brother after Jefferson had his fill. What a fitting source for Barr, who now seeks to re-segregate schools in the name of equal opportunity no less.

For Barr's Press Releases: http://www.house.gov/barr/pressnew.htm

Barr introduced his "impeachment resolution" today. He claims "The rule of law is threatened when a high public official stretches, abuses, and breaks the law." He claims Bill Clinton, is a "master of evasion," and threatens that Clinton "although he may evade the consequences, cannot evade the truth."

Barr wants to hold an inquisition, where he and his colleagues will determine whether the president has "engaged in numerous instances of obstruction of justice." Yet his own party, in nearly a year of Senate wastefulness failed to do so, no matter how hard it tried. It did succeed, however, in sending it's former Chairman halfway to jail for laundering money through non-profits ala Gingrich, and taking money from Chinese businessmen.

Barr, using only the usual innuendo and insult, alleges that Clinton withheld, destroyed, or delayed the production of lawfully subpoenaed evidence.But he fails to state that compliance with Senate subpoenas does not have the same compelling force as judicial writs as so well demonstrated by the nearly complete disregard for such subpoenas from the RNC, and most Republican political operatives.

So, Barr must stoop, scrape and cling onto some obscure and really silly theory to hang Clinton. He does this by disgracing his old law professors at Georgetown and rambling on about what he says a prosecutor would call "a pattern, or course of conduct."

Naturally Barr lists the elements of the pattern, Whitewater, Travelgate, Filegate, INS, and something he calls White House Database Investigations - donor list maintenance, in case you didn't know.

Here's a typical Barr line that makes me think he might have Alzheimers or worse: "The unavoidable heart of the matter, however, is that the President of the United States, while receiving from numerous sources illegal campaign contributions that flowed from agents and surrogates of the People's Republic of China, made decisions in the direction of American foreign, military, and trade policy in regard to the People's Republic of China; decisions of the gravest character, concerning nuclear weapons technology, the direction of the Fleet, and the extent to which the United States will defend the idea of democracy and press for the universal application of human rights.

At this point the press starts chuckling out loud.

But Barr's own campaign may have taken lots of illegal contributions itself. As a matter of fact, he had to return almost 20% of his individually donated campaign funds ($86,410.00 out of $505,220.00) in the 95-95 election cycle alone -- and he's only a petty congressman from a backwater state. Perhaps he had to do it in anticipation of his new role of "Savior of the Republic" His was perhaps one of the highest ratios of mandatory give-backs reported to the FEC by any House or Senate member. Sure, it probably wasn't his fault. Eager-beaver favor seekers always try to give more than they should, or don't understand the arcane FEC regulations. But Barr is blind to his own embarrassing situation, while rabidly focused on Clinton's trouble with the same kind of wanna-be extortionists.

If Barr's resolution was adopted in desperation, it would result in an investigation by the House Judiciary Committee( the only body with the authority to hold a president accountable to the law ) to determine if the issues he reaches for are substantive and therefore worthy of conversion into articles of impeachment. If they are not substantive, they will not be converted.

And so they will not. Not only because Barr's resolution is going nowhere fast, but because his theories have no rational basis. Barr himself wouldn't prosecute the case.

Barr makes a big deal about his successful prosecution of a "fellow republican" when he was US Attorney in Georgia, but that case was so "pat" that he couldn't have done anything but prosecute. Yet Barr, thinks Americans will stupidly trust his motives and back his foolhardiness with a public outcry for impeachment. You had to be there to appreciate what a fool he appeared.

Barr, although educated in Los Angeles at USC and in Georgetown reminds me of something Rep. Peter King said of Southern congressman:

"... they are typical of the South - a union-hating, ignorant, hillbilly, revival-meeting attending bunch that represents everything un-American." But Barr outdoes even this generalization. He not only represents everything un-American, but has the unmitigated gall to represent his racist, gay bashing, despicable manner as the most American of all. That takes a special kind of manipulator -- the same kind of man that gets off on sending poor Black kids to adult prisons because they find their only solace in drugs.

Barr is an unrepenting Clinton/Gore attack dog. And sometimes he gets to throw two hateful spears at once. Witness his jumping on the sad cart of Ellen Degeneris' "coming out" as a Lesbian on ABC television.

"Vice President Gore has once again proven how far out of touch he and the Administration he is a part of are with mainstream America," said Barr, "Praising Hollywood for Ôcaring deeply' about ethical and social issues is like praising a serial killer for his concern about protecting human life. The fact is that large elements within the Hollywood establishment continue to promote values that are fundamentally at odds with what most Americans believe."

But how does Barr know what most Americans believe? And even if he did, would he seriously propose we run the nation by mass hysteria? Perhaps he would, as long as he controlled the media.

Here's another homosexual-battering Barrism:

"Homosexuality is not the accepted norm in our society and most Americans don't believe it should be. By shamelessly soliciting the financial and political support of the entertainment industry and homosexual extremists, Vice President Gore has once again proven how out of touch he is with the beliefs and ethics of the Americans he claims to represent, " Barr spewed.

But there's one more thing, and perhaps the most important, to cover -- and that's Barr's own sources of money.

In 1995-96 Barr was running for re-election. Of a total $1.3 million he raised and spent to get elected, Barr got nearly a third of it from a veritable "Who's Who" of businesses over which he has legislative control by way of his committee assignments. Let's take a look at just a few PACS that gave him money -- cash which could have been a quid pro quo for his vote on donor-sensitive legislation:

Gee? I wonder why these folks gave him so much money? But I assume, as he should assume about the President, that the PACs simply support democracy, and that Barr would never, ever, ever, do anything that would favor these financial giants -- especially to the detriment of his individual constituents.

Oh, by the was Barr also sits on the Financial Services and Consumer Credit Sub-Committee, and the Domestic and International Monetary Policy Sub-committee. I guess that explains why a gaggle of insurance companies, high-interest credit lenders and accounting PACS all greased his palm in the name of "Good Government."

Case closed.

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