Republican Congressman Says Totalitarian Regime a Danger (Yes, in the US)

"Republican Congressman Says Totalitarian Regime a Danger

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/december2005/111205totalitariandanger.htm

Bob Barr says military dictatorship close

Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones | December 11 2005

Former Republican Congressman and CIA official Bob Barr says that there is a danger recent developments describe a trend of America slipping into a totalitarian society and that the Bush administration are doing everything in their power to see that this happens.

During a radio interview with host Alex Jones, Barr outlined where the country is heading.

"Basically, as long as you smile when you demand to see somebody's ID at gunpoint sitting on a bus I guess it's OK for the government, that's sort of the way they operate. It can be a totalitarian type regime."

"I think it's a real danger where we have the military becoming involved in all sorts of domestic matters and we have the government being able to seize very private personal records on people without any suspicion that they've done anything wrong. This is a dramatic turn of events that has accelerated greatly since 9/11."

Barr made comments very similar to those of current Republican Congressman Ron Paul in stating that natural disasters could be used by the government as a pretext to abolish posse comitatus."

...

...glad to see others are starting to say the same thing.

http://www.cato.org/dispatch/04-28-05d.html

"...

"Gore said the path to a quasi-Republican dictatorship is paved by an end to judicial filibusters. 'Their grand design is an all-powerful executive using a weakened legislature to fashion a compliant judiciary in its own image,' Gore told members of MoveOnPAC."

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He should know. Republican. He hung out with the worst of them when in Conress.
Wonder how the GOP and Bush are taking this.

so what's he been eating. ;)

because the banana republicans have co-opted the term "conservative" for their own brand of activist, reactionary, christofascism, we tend to forget that they have little in common with genuine conservatives.

REAL conservatives are scared sh*tless by the shrub misadministration.

But beware.

The will make minced meat of Baob Barr once this is publicized.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Barr

"...

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 . 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 his 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.

..."

but he is sounding like a genuine conservative in this case.

frankly i've always been AMAZED at how effective the banana republicans have been at getting virtual unanimity within their party despite the GAPING CHASM of political philosophy between the true conservatives and the christofascists.

T: Totalitarianism
D: Dictatorship

I doubt he'll do it, but we know he espouses it.

Surprise me Bob Barr; be true to your convictions.

Call W on the carpet and lay your opinions about the Patriot Act and W leading this nation into totalitarianism.

to implement W's radical RW agenda, most of which is foreign to what REAL conservatives have stood for.

...Anyone whose been on usenet for the past ten or twelve years has seen the grass-roots RW moving relentlessly towards fascism because it -worked- in the usenet groups. They took over and isolated all opposition. Give 'em a taste of raw, ungoverned power and they =liked= it.

Bush and Rove are the ultimate expression of that power. They believe in unlimited government, under the thumb of the President.

The Senate's vote against the Patriot Act is an act of self-preservation. it's either that or end up being a rubber stamp.

Bush's lame-duck presidency may be starting, which means he'll be most dangerous as he seeks to control events.

I'd expect another war. I wouldn't be surprised if he engineers an 'incident' to panic the people.

Speaking of which the anti-tinfoilers will be along soon
to show us all how to keep our heads stuck in the sand.

Please in the spirit of the season humor them for they know not of which they speak.

http://www.bobbarr.org/

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http://www.bobbarr.org/default.asp?pt=doc&doc=bio

""Bob Barr occupies the 21st Century Liberties Chair for Freedom and Privacy at the American Conservative Union, and serves as a Board Member of the National Rifle Association and the Patrick Henry Center. He also serves as the Chairman of Patriots to Restore Checksand Balances, and provides advice to several organizations, including consulting on privacy issues with the ACLU, serving on the Legal Advisory Board for Southeastern Legal Foundation, serving as the Chair for Youth Leadership Training at the Leadership Institute in Arlington, Virginia, and as a member of The Constitution Project’s Initiative on Liberty and Security, based at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute. Bob served as a Member of the Long-Term Strategy Project for Preserving Security and Democratic Norms in the War on Terrorism, at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University from 2003 to 2005. Recognizing Bob Barr’s leadership in privacy matters, New York Times columnist William Safire has called him “Mr. Privacy.”"

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Barr Blasts Patriot Act Reauthorization Cave-in By Republicans

http://www.bobbarr.org/default.asp?pt=newsdescr&RI=688

"Thursday, November 17, 2005 at 2:00 PM

Atlanta, GA (November 17, 2005) – Former Congressman Bob Barr slammed House and Senate members for failing to adopt essential privacy and civil liberty safeguards in legislation that would reauthorize the U.S.A. Patriot Act, when it comes to a vote on the floor as early as Friday, November 18th."

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Problems with the USA Patriot Act

http://www.bobbarr.org/default.asp?pt=newsdescr&RI=695

"Tuesday, December 06, 2005 at 3:00 PM

The USA PATRIOT Act was passed by the Congress in the weeks following the devastating attacks of September 11th 2001, and quickly signed by President Bush. The legislation was an amalgam of provisions, most of which had been sought unsuccessfully by federal law enforcement agencies during the Clinton Administration. It made both substantive and technical changes to many different sections of the federal criminal code. Many of the provisions are non-controversial and have had a positive impact on the government’s ability to fight acts of terrorism. However, there are a number of provisions that raise serious questions of constitutionality. It is these provisions that a number of individuals and organizations from across the political spectrum are seeking to have amended this year in the Congress.

For the first time since the Act went into effect, the Congress in 2005 held extensive oversight hearings into how the Act’s many provisions have been used, whether they have been used consistent with congressional intent (for example, do we want the government to continue using them in non-terrorism related investigations?), and whether changes need to be made. The Congress is now poised to decide whether to re-authorize the handful of provisions in the Act that “sunset” at the end of this year (the vast majority of the provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act do not sunset at the end of this year). This is why everyone (a) who is concerned with limiting government power to those powers it actually needs to fight terrorism – as opposed to all the power it would like to have; and (b) who is concerned with ensuring that in giving the government power to fight acts of terrorism we do not also surrender to it our vitally important rights secured by the Bill of Rights, should be engaged in this debate."

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Experts Available to Discuss Controversial Patriot Act Records Searches

http://www.bobbarr.org/default.asp?pt=newsdescr&RI=670

"Landmark Court Decision Brings Section 505 to the Forefront of Reauthorization Debate

Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 1:12 PM

Although the Administration has criticized as “hysterical” the concerns of librarians that the Patriot Act is being used to access personal records, a recent Connecticut court case involving “national security letters” (NSLs) suggests that librarians’ concerns are well placed. Section 505 of the USA Patriot Act greatly expanded the Justice Department’s access to NSLs, which are non-judicial administrative subpoenas allowing them to obtain ordinary Americans’ personal financial, library, credit card, telephone, email and other records."

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Barr Expresses Disappointment in House Action on Patriot Act

http://www.bobbarr.org/default.asp?pt=newsdescr&RI=656

"More Confident in Senate Version

Friday, July 22, 2005 at 9:00 AM

Atlanta, GA. Former US Representative Bob Barr (R-GA) today expressed disappointment in last night's vote by the House of Representatives to reauthorize and extend the USA PATRIOT Act. The 257 to 171 vote came after intense pressure by the White House and Republican leadership. While praising the fact that so many Members voted against the premature reauthorization of the Act by the House -- the sunsetted provisions were not set to expire until the end of this year -- Barr nonetheless said the fact that a majority of Members were so ready to ignore significant constitutional problems with several provisions in the Act and permanently extend most provisions, illustrates the difficulty in today's environment of fear to rationally consider limitations on ever-expanding government power."

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Barr Blasts Government's Unlawful Gathering of Private Information on U.S. Fliers

http://www.bobbarr.org/default.asp?pt=newsdescr&RI=642

"Calls for Congress to Conduct Oversight

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 at 9:00 AM

Atlanta, GA – Former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr slammed the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) for ignoring a directive by the U.S. Congress and continuing to gather private information on airline passengers for a secret government data-mining program, dubbed “Secure Flight.” The privacy violation took place in June of 2004, when TSA collected personal details on probably hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of U.S. citizens who flew on commercial air carriers that month. The information was combined with other data from commercial companies, for use by the TSA in its most recent passenger profiling system, “Secure Flight,” which followed the previous, discredited program, “CAPPS II” (Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System)."

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Barr Hails Passage of Bill Limiting Patriot Act

http://www.bobbarr.org/default.asp?pt=newsdescr&RI=641

"Urges President to Work with Congress to Reform Law

Friday, June 17, 2005 at 9:00 AM


Washington, D.C., (June 17, 2005) – ormer Congressman Bob Barr commended the House of Representatives for its bipartisan support of an amendment that would reform the controversial “library records provision” of the USA Patriot Act. Barr also urged President Bush to work with Congress to fix provisions of the Act that violate Americans’ constitutional rights."

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Testimony on the Continued Oversight of the USA PATRIOT Act

http://www.bobbarr.org/default.asp?pt=newsdescr&RI=625

"First, however, I would like to make clear that, even though I voted for the PATRIOT Act in October 2001, as did many of my colleagues in the House and almost the entire roster of this Committee, I did so with a hesitancy born of the understanding it was an extraordinary measure for an extraordinary threat; that it would be used exclusively, or at least primarily, in the context of important anti-terrorism cases; and that the Department of Justice would be cautious in its implementation and forthcoming in providing information on its use to the Congress and the American people.

I believe now, however, that perhaps my faith was misplaced. The Justice Department has repeatedly disclosed its use and desire to use the expanded authority in the USA PATRIOT Act in run-of-the-mill criminal cases. Furthermore, the Administration has repeatedly stated its intention to expand the authority in the USA PATRIOT Act, and has floated various pieces of legislation that would do so."

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Do you think that Bob Barr is a left-wing commie too?

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=428431&category=OPINION&newsdate=12/12/2005

"True patriots

A bipartisan group of senators vows to push for a better USA Patriot Act

First published: Monday, December 12, 2005

...

Former Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia, who now heads a group called Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, sums up the issue this way:

"Lawmakers could have easily fixed these controversial record search provisions by simply adopting the Senate-passed amendment to Section 215, requiring the government to show a connection between records sought and a suspected foreign terrorist, and by applying a similar requirement to the NSL (National Security Letters) powers. The decision of some lawmakers to rush this flawed Patriot Act legislation to a vote may allow them to leave a little earlier for the holidays this year, but it will also leave the civil liberties of their constituents in jeopardy for years to come."

..."

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Bush: Constitution Just a Goddamned Piece of Paper

http://www.conspiracyplanet.com/channel.cfm?channelid=39&contentid=3035

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Several provisions of the act, passed in the shell shocked period immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, caused enough anger that liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union had joined forces with prominent conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly and Bob Barr to oppose renewal.

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Phyllis Schlafly. I said PHYLLIS SCHAFLY!

is already a possibility...or maybe the military already has a Richard Dryfuss impersonator as in Moon Over Parador disguised as Bush and pulling the levers of power.

Who would know the difference ? The family is right out of Stepford anyhow...

As for Bob Barr, how many active duty or former CIA employees are either members of Congress or on members of Congress' staffs ? They've managed to infiltrate the whole fabric of the Capital to do the bidding of their corporate masters. Hell, the pay is good and they can get them to up it automatically. GS-15 and beyond, with oak leaf clusters !

Welcome to the United Police States of America. It has been moving in that direction for years.

:eyes:

It's almost here.

http://english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/399/16508_axioms.html

"Axioms of the world
11/22/2005 18:02
Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely

...

The truth, however, is not as complicated or self-serving. I simply want to remind readers that there were some, like myself, who recognized the corruption, venality, hypocrisy and mendacity of George W. Bush and his minions long before his dictatorship's popularity fell to what some have described as "record lows." So, as a way of review, this article will revisit some axioms discussed in previous articles, and examine how they continue to be relevant today.

Before progressing to this review, however, readers should be advised that it required no gift of prophecy to recognize the evils of the Bush dictatorship, only a knowledge of history, an understanding of human nature, and an acknowledgement that evil has an uncanny ability to triumph over good. Unfortunately, these elements are often obscured in a culture dominated by a corrupt corporate-controlled media more obsessed with sensationalism and superficiality than truth.

..."

Talk about times-are-a-changin', Pravda making an argument that the US is a dictaorship!

let me point out that American Conservative Magazine really despises Michael Ledeen, pointing out what a fascist he is. Remember, Ledeen is Bush's brain's brain:

http://www.amconmag.com/06_30_03/feature.html


Neocon theorist Michael Ledeen draws more from Italian fascism than from the American Right.

but is it too late? Are they now stuck with the "guy what brung them"? Their voice was useful to sway the skeptical, rockefeller repubs, who said "well if it's OK with them, how bad could it be". But I fear that all of their hollering now will not have the media-megaphone it did then.

Check the link to Bob Barr's website, above in post #8

Wouldn't you like to return to the good old days of the Clinton Inquisition? You must have been out of the loop when the Republican Syndicate were setting up their plans to steal the 2000 election with 6 years of Republican Congressional investigations of a Democratic President who really was doing the people's business.

Then there was the time he just missed plugging his largest backer while farting around with a loaded pistol at a fundraiser....

He must have been a real "asset" at the CIA.....

at least two years before anyone had ever heard of Monica Lewinski.