Bob Barr Speaks Out!

[SparrowHawk]

Bob Barr At CPAC: 'How Would You Like To Be Waterboarded?

One-time Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr riled the conservative CPAC crowd on Friday, when he declared that civilian courts were appropriate for handling terrorists and insisted that -- if a trial was what they wanted -- those who used waterboarding should be brought before a judge.

The Georgia Republican appeared on a panel about the balance between national security and personal freedoms.

What I find disturbing is the Huffington Post keeps referring to Barr as a Republican throughout the balance of the text. This is a stunning example of how the left tries to manipulate the news. Bob Barr is a Libertarian and a FORMER Republican.

"There is nothing magical about a military tribunal," Barr said, as boos from the audience began cascading around him. "They don't have, necessarily, better lawyers than in a civilian sector. I think I have a lot more faith in our U.S. attorneys who are non political, than my colleagues on the other side of this debate do. We can try them. We should try them. That is precisely... what our law provides for. And if next time we are faced with a situation we say: 'Oh, you know, we want to have them go to the military. Let them torture them for a while. It's not enhanced interrogation techniques. Waterboarding is torture. How would you like to be waterboarded? Try that!""There is nothing magical about a military tribunal," Barr said, as boos from the audience began cascading around him. "They don't have, necessarily, better lawyers than in a civilian sector. I think I have a lot more faith in our U.S. attorneys who are non political, than my colleagues on the other side of this debate do. We can try them. We should try them. That is precisely... what our law provides for. And if next time we are faced with a situation we say: 'Oh, you know, we want to have them go to the military. Let them torture them for a while. It's not enhanced interrogation techniques. Waterboarding is torture. How would you like to be waterboarded? Try that!

It is my understanding he was seated next to Dick Cheney. So there you have it. Barr's comments are one of the little appreciated differences between the libertarians and the neocons.

This is also the conflict within the Tea Party movement. The original movement is made up of people like Barr (Ron Paul supporters) who don't like the Patriot Act, don't approve of "enhanced interrogation", and don't think America should be playing global cop and starting wars in Iran.It's one of the little appreciated differences between the libertarians and the neocons.