Bob Barr for President?!?

Yes, Freedom Democrats reports that Bob Barr has left the GOP for the Libertarian Party and is considering a presidential run on the LP ticket. Aside from the fact that he's a homophobic right-wing hypocrite who wasted money and energy on the Clinton impeachment, Barr would be an intriguing candidate.

This switcheroo isn't really a surprise. Back in 2004, Barr was seriously unhappy with the GOP, to the point where he wasn't even voting for Bush. But let's not think of this guy as a principled maverick. If he were still in the House, I suspect Barr would be just another rubber-stamp Republican. As far as GOP politicians go, he's like a cross between George Allen, Newt Gingrich, and Rush Limbaugh:

Barr has been embroiled in controversy several times during his career. In 1998 he delivered the keynote speech at the national convention of the Council of Conservative Citizens, which is viewed by many as white supremacist; he later stated he had not known the group's views until after the speech. His speech did not deal with race, however, and Barr publicly distanced himself from the council. Barr has also suffered attacks for his conservative stance on family values, which left-wing periodical Mother Jones deemed hypocritical: "Married three times and embroiled in a messy court battle with his second wife over his failure to pay child support, Barr had been photographed in 1992 licking whipped cream off two buxom young women's breasts and nipples. And this from the man who would later sponsor the Defense of Marriage Act." In the wake of Barr's adamant support for the impeachment of Bill Clinton, porn mogul Larry Flynt paid Barr's second wife, Gail Vogel Barr, for details of the child support battle and of her abortion. This caused significant political troubles for Barr, noted for his strong pro-life stance.


Now, he's a conservative libertarian who believes in privacy rights. Sorry, but I just don't trust this guy. The only thing to distinguish him from the current GOP goon squad is his opposition to the neocons...and in this case, it just ain't enough. In his Creative Loafing piece, Barr talks about the flourishing economy and budget surplus that Bush 43 inherited. And who was responsible for that? The very guy Barr was trying to have removed from office.

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