On the Barr-Paul brawl

1. Robert Kraus, Acting Executive Director of the LP wrote,

   This pattern is something that we never wanted to disclose but holds true to previous treatment where staff members for Paul's campaign tried on more than one occasion to have Bob Barr uninvited from events, including Bob's gracious introduction of Ron Paul at last year's CPAC conference.
   
   I do doubt that Dr. Paul was aware of these antics.

   Last week I was privy to negotiations in Minnesota during the RNC week which strongly corroborate the pattern described by Kraus.



2. Is the hearsay reported here true? Does anyone have evidence?



3. The worst vitriol seems to come from the seething tensions of rule-of-men advocates. If I'd met Ron Paul last week, I would have asked him directly his own opinions on the inalienability of rights and due process, two issues regarding which rule-of-menners tend to devolve, though only perhaps at the state level.
   

Version 1.1 - added detail to point 1

Bob Barr speaks at September 1 picnic hosted by Minnesotans for Limited Government

Bob Barr spoke September 1 at Langford Park at a picnic event hosted by Minnesotans for Limited Government (MNLG), of which I'm a member. Soon afterwards Ron Paul took the podium. Langford Park is in the St Anthony Park neighborhood of St Paul, Minnesota. This was the day before the Rally for the Republic.

My second liberty pole

Related Post:

• Grapes and liberty pole

Here I am meeting Bob Barr

"Ron Paul has done a tremendous job," says Barr in St Paul, Minnesota

The other day Bob Barr expressed his appreciation for what Ron Paul has accomplished and argued,

As the nominee for the Libertarian Party, I have the honor and the ability to do what Ron Paul cannot do. He is not the nominee. He was a great candidate on the Republican side and did a tremendous job getting these ideas out there, and he's continuing to do so, but the only way that we can go to the next level is through my candidacy with the Libertarian Party between now and November 4.

Barr spoke on September 1 at a dinner with the Minneapolis Bob Barr Meetup at Muffuletta in St Paul, not long after two speeches, one by him and another by Ron Paul, in Langford Park a few blocks away at a picnic hosted by Minnesotans for Limited Government (MNLG).

Nader discusses National Press Club press conference with Barr, Paul, and McKinney

Ralph Nader at his "Open the Debates" rally in Minneapolis on Sep 4, 2008, discussed the upcoming National Press Club press conference on Wednesday morning, Sep 10, 2008, with Bob Barr, Ron Paul, and Cynthia McKinney. He revealed 4 points of common agreement.

Next week we're going to have a news conference with Cynthia McKinney, Bob Barr, and Ron Paul in Washington, D.C. We will have a preliminary manifesto where we agree on four categories....

1. to reverse the militarization of foreign policy ...
2. to hold the Federal Reserve accountable ...
3. to repeal the Patriot Act ...
4. to treat the massive deficit ...

We obviously see a convergence of people on both sides of the political spectrum on things like civil liberties and the militarization of foreign policy ...

The video of Nader's statement has been uploaded to Vimeo and should be available there soon, too.

Update (Sep 9, 2008, 9:16 pm Central): According to a Houston Chronicle blog, Texas on the Potomac, "Houston Chronicle Washington correspondent Bennett Roth obtained an advance copy of Rep. Ron Paul's remarks planned for delivery tomorrow at the National Press Club." The blog has posted the purported copy.

Update (Sep 9, 2008, 11:00 pm Central): CNN Political Editor Mark Preston reports information from senior Ron Paul aide, consistent with purported copy of Paul's planned remarks.

Update (Sep 10, 2008, 10:30 am Central): Here's the official statement Ron Paul made to the National Press Club.

Update (Sep 10, 2008, 11:11 am Central): What about Bob? by David Weigel at Reason. By the way, I met Austin Petersen last week at the Libertarian Party booth at Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic.

What's good for the goose - Bob Barr in Texas

My mother warned me long ago that the day might come when 2 + 2 would equal 5. In Texas, there's some basic arithmetic now in play. What day is 1 day before the November 4, 2008, election? What day is 70 days before the November 4, 2008, election? I just looked on a calendar. 70 days would be 10 weeks. That day would be Tuesday, August 26, 2008. Apparently the Democrats who filed on August 27 disagree.

The Bob Barr 2008 campaign is fighting to keep the Democrats off the Texas ballot.

Why so adamant? What's a day among friends?

Well, the problem is that third parties have been regularly left in the wilderness when it comes to ballot access. I've seen the barriers to political competition over the past decades. The two major parties rigidly claim preferential treatment both in the form of election and debate access. Let's make a deal. If the Bob Barr campaign pulls back and lets Texas let the Democrats off the hook, then let's have some quid pro quo.

What's the quid?

1. A debate open to civil candidates with noticeable percentages, such as Bob Barr and Ralph Nader. Perhaps the time allotted could be weighted by their polling percentages, apart from equal time in their opening and closing statements.
   
2. A truly general form of election with no favoritism towards the two major parties.
   

There may be a problem with the Republican Party's candidate filing, too, in Texas. The Bob Barr 2008 campaign thinks it has a case. I highlight the Democratic Party's failure to file on time because it is so clear-cut.

What a week! - RNC 2008 - part 2

According to Amy Goodman in this interview, when Goodman asks how the press could do their job without arrest and charges, St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington made to her a sordid suggestion, that the press be embedded in the "police mobile field force". (!!!!!)

How about citizen journalists with a Flip video? How do citizens peacefully assemble and exercise the 1st Amendment, and do so with witnesses?

Someone I know was arrested blocks away from a concert in Minneapolis she was leaving, trying to leave, other streets having been blocked by police.

Were the troops wearing names and jurisdictions? Do they need badges?

How does one stay innocent? How does one disperse when the question "Which way?" goes unanswered? How does one witness?

Need we be embedded citizens?

Update (Sep 9, 2008, 2:00 pm Central): Melissa Hill, whom I trust on this, writes,

I was arrested on Wednesday night after the RATM concert on 7th Street. I stayed on the sidewalks and didn't do anything but apparently I'm being charged with "obstructing traffic??", being a "public nuisance" and "unlawful assembly"??? They handcuffed us and we had to sit there for hours on the street. They also arrested MN Peace Team members and freelance journalists and people simply going home.

Source: Wall on public Facebook group "I went to the RNC 08 and all I got was arrested!" (Sep 8, 2008, 7:56 pm Central)

As I understand it, the MN Peace Team tries to mollify crowds.

Update (Sep 9, 2008, 2:47 pm Central): Why We Were Falsely Arrested by Amy Goodman

What a week! - RNC 2008 - part 1

Video by Melissa Hill
Song: Handlebars by Flobots