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Libertarian National Convention in Denver Today: Opening or Barring the Door?

May 24th, 2008
By DR. CLARISSA PINKOLA ESTÉS, Assistant Editor, TMV Columnist

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bob-barr.jpg

I’ve got a junior reporter down on the Libertarian National Convention floor today. Rachel Hawkridge, is a Libertarian activist and delegate from the state of Washington to the Convention being held in Denver over five days.

She phoned in to me just a few minutes ago to say the front runners in the race for nomination to run for POTUS have now been tallied in the first ‘tokens’ vote. The people with the highest votes will now be placed into major debates tomorrow… to be followed by delegates’ final vote for who will become the Libertarian Candidate for POTUS.

The candidates thought to be in hottest contention for the final nomination are:

Senator Mike Gravel from Alaska, 78 years old, who also ran on the Democratic ticket to be nominated for 2008 President. Senator Gravel, is revered by many for long ago reading into the congressional record, non-stop- the entirety of the Pentagon Papers which Nixon was trying to suppress. He believes in “direct democracy” wherein sovereign authority is kept by the citizens to govern themselves, rather than “representative democracy” with an elected representative who works and lives at arms’ length from the people. He’s a Unitarian Universalist

Representative Bob Barr, age 59, a Republican from Georgia, and a Methodist who entered office when Newt Gingrich’s Republican Majority (first time R majority in forty years) was going sweep clean and bring a new day, but Barr was turned out of office by a huge margin eventually. Since, he now has helped to found an organization called Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, a bipartisan group wanting to eliminate clauses of the Patriot Act that could wrongfully penalize innocent citizens. He is also recently involved with the ACLU.

Dr. Mary Ruwart, 59, is a Libertarian activist with a Ph.D., in biophysics. With F. Kendall and L. Louw, Dr. Ruwart is the author of Healing Our World in the Time of Aggression and Short Answers to the Tough Questions. She has a large number of supporters from her 30 years of libertarian activism. Amongst other human concerns, she advocates that people ought to be able to choose how they die and when, if confronted with grievous illnesses. Her sister was a person who engaged Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s aid. Ruwart spent 19 years as a pharmaceutical research scientist for Upjohn Pharmaceuticals and has written extensively on the subjects of government regulation of the drug industry. She holds three patents for life-giving procedures.

Mr. Wayne Allen Root, soon to be 48 years old, is Jewish, and a millionaire Las Vegas odds maker. He runs a media corporation, also has penned books, and some say, he seeks to “finish the job that Ron Paul started.” He is a self-described S.O.B. (son of a butcher), who plans, amongst other things, to eliminate the Department of Education, and “end all federal income taxes immediately and move all of them to the state level… The Founding Fathers never envisioned a government that could take away 50 percent of the money we make…” He graduated from Columbia in the same class as Barack Obama, and he and his wife home school their children.

The Denver Post today speculates that Bob Bar can win the Libertarian nomination “ for his fame.” Meaning, his profile in the nation is higher than other candidates here today. But, my girl-reporter on the Convention floor today says some of the reaction to Bob Barr is very much otherwise:

“Many delegates are walking around with big buttons that feature a rainbow, with Bob Barr’s name over it, and over his name a huge red circle and slash…”

“ There is a large GLBT contingent in the Libertarian party,” says Miss Hawkridge, and “Bob Barr was the author of the ‘only man-woman marriage allowed’ bill.” In additional to issues for GLBT regarding marriage, for Libertarians, the intrusion of ‘church’ into state, is anathema.

Also, according to Hawkridge, a significant number of the delegates remember Barr as one of the most conservative and loud members of the Federal Congress.

Barr not only wrote and sponsored the Defense of Marriage act, but also voted for the Patriot Act; proposed the Pentagon ban a religious group from practice in the military: Wicca; and advocated complete federal prohibition of medical marijuana—succeeding in this last with his “Barr Amendment”– which also forbid any future law that would decrease penalties for marijuana use.

Hawkridge says it is clear that Barr has had some kind of change of mind that led him from being a Republican to being a Libertarian.

That changeover occured after he, with high moral indignation, plowed into impeaching then President Clinton, but had secretly enabled his own wife to have an abortion while also supporting anti-abortion measures in Congress (outed by Larry Flynt)…

But Hawkridge says that most poignant, today, when speaking with Barr this morning, he could not look Hawkridge in the eye.

“He spoke to me, but kept looking at the floor… he couldn’t look at me, just kept saying in answer to my deeper questions, that he was misled about the Patriot Act, that he was lied to about the Patriot Act, and that ‘we were not told the truth about the Patriot Act.’”

The Denver Post reports that Dr. Ruwart, who has been a Libertarian since the 1980s, said the strongest candidates are herself, Barr, Gravel and Root. She is the only one of them who isn’t a Johnny-come-lately, she said.

“They [suddenly appearing-out-of-nowhere Libertarian-converts who want to run as candidate for POTUS] are kind of like the newly converted wanting to go preach from the pulpit,” she said.

Bob Barr may be the most recognizable, although I’d say it’s Senator Gravel who has passion to ‘make things better’ –similar to Barr’s– but with genuine charm and casting his nets to help far more broadly… and Gravel has a whole set of street creds ‘for the people,’ not just some for ’some very few of the people.’

And as for Dr. Ruwart, she sounds like one heck of a strong woman who keeps being point woman… and who herself, can’t and won’t, be Barred.

—————
CODA
Disclosure: Rachel Hawkridge is a young ‘daughter of spirit,’ a sharp observer/ straight talker. I’ve known her and her gallant engineer husband Gene for over ten years. They are Libertarian activists and Convention delegates from Kenmore, Washington.

Errata: A sentence, “John McCain won that race.”, was inadvertantly placed in this article. It has been removed. It belongs to another article entirely. Sorry. The error is mine.



This entry was posted on Saturday, May 24th, 2008 at 4:55 pm and is filed under Patriot Act, Moral Values, Newsweek Blogitics, Bob Barr, Libertarian, Homosexuality, Third Parties, War On Terror, GLBT Issues, Terrorism, Christian Conservatives, Abortion. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Viewing 5 Comments

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    Barr was/is also a big supporter of the "war on drugs," which is/was anathema to many Libertarian-types.

    You can download Dr. Ruwart's Healing Our World in an Age of Aggression online for free (the original version).
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    Great article, Dr. E!

    I would also point out that included among the Libertarian Party presidential contenders are Steve Kubby, medical marijuana activist and former Libertarian candidate for governor of California, and George Phillies, a physics professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and former Libertarian candidate for congress in Massachusetts.

    Fans of South Park may remember the political ad created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone featuring Steve Kubby as the Libertarian alternative to Democrat Gray Davis and Republican Dan Lungren during the 1998 California Gubernatorial race.

    Back when I lived in New Hampshire, I actually had the chance to meet George Phillies at an evening "Meet the Candidate" type event. I attended the event completely expecting to find myself surrounded by a bunch of middle-aged to elderly voters. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the majority of the people there were in their 20's and 30's. Perhaps stemming career as a college professor, Phillies pointed out just how crucial it is for the Libertarian Party to reach out to college-aged voters around the country.

    With all due respect to former Republican Congressman Bob Barr and former Democratic Congressman Mike Gravel, voters should be aware of the Libertarian Candidates who have a long history in the Libertarian Movement and don't carry the baggage of having supported some rather unlibertarian positions (i.e. Bob Barr on the War on Drugs and Gay Marriage and Mike Gravel on Universal Healthcare).
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    In defence of Bob Barr, I would just like to add that a change of mind or perspective does not always have to be regarded as a weak point for a potential leader. To my mind, it shows the human factor in a leader, in a good way. The image of a seemingly flawless candidate is much more dangerous to the subject of the ruling polity, despotic even, in my opinion. The subjects of a visibly human leader can stand to learn much more, about themselves, and the nature of human truth, inherent within the laws that they vote for, and the ideals they uphold, than they would from a leader with a public and perfect face of power: since it allows for the possibility of identification with the leader, and breaks down the power difference within the governing dynamic of the functional polity. This situation opens up the very real possibility for true and heartfelt change within the minds of all participants of the polity.

    An error in judgement need not be regarded as a personal failure within one's record of leadership quality. A change of mind may also be regarded as a testimony to the person's genuine spirit of truth, and can be seen in a very good way, as a means for transformation, to which this person is 'humanly' dedicated to. That Bob Barr is still visibly uncomfortable with his change of mind is also very human, and therefore, also a very good quality, in my mind, for a leader to possess.
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    Dear JillyDybka, nice to see you again. Be more here. We miss you. And thank you, that is a valuable piece of info. I will try to take a look at it before tomorrow. You mentioned it just in time. See last para.

    Dear Nicrivera, thanks. and great info you provided, esp the inisght into younger voters awareness; and Mr Kubby, and also what I call 'baggage blow-back,' from former fed. congress people running... that inhibits to some extent gaining a clear pathway through the Libertarians.

    Dear Embarr: I'd agree that you are ESPECIALLY accurate about seemingly "flawless candidates"... alarms rather than stars ought be going off in most cases, I think. And you are also on the right track about transformations and learning from error. God knows we've all made enough of the latter and too few of the former, often enough.

    In Mr. Barr's case, I ask your patience, for in this article I did not add in the severe criticisms from various sources at the convention who dont buy his 'change.' To put it more politely than they said it... they see his entire gestalt as pure career ambition.

    However, I will let you know more as I rec'd an email earlier today from the media arm of the Libertarian National Convention, and they have been kind enough to have press credentials waiting for me in the morning. So, God willing and the crick don't rise, I will go see with 'me own eyes,' tomorrow. And I promise if I find out, see, note anything new, same 'ol, strange, funny or blessed, to let TMV readers know.

    dr.e
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    I look forward to reading more about the convention, if you were able to go, thanks. :D
 
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