Gore and Barr; A Strange but Dynamic Duo

While Bob Barr, a former Republican Representative from Georgia, was on my television set night after night for what seemed like 100 years, I found him to be one of the least likeable creatures in a group of world class unlikables, the US Congress. Especially during the Clinton impeachment hearings, when his mug was in front of me nearly every time I turned on the television set, spewing on and on about how Clinton broke the law and should be removed from office. Now, he’s seen standing side by side with Al Gore, while Gore delivers a magnificent speech to the Liberty Foundation, demanding essentially the same thing regarding Boosh. And Barr is standing with him. So, has the world turned upside down? Did I misread Bob Barr? Question one, the answer is yes. Question two, the answer is probably yes and no.

The world has turned upside down when, without much opposition, the President of the Untited States breaks the law, announces it to the world, and states that he has no intention of discontinuing this activity. In fact, just the opposite. He calls for the launch of an investigation to find out just what un-American type leaked this news to the press and the world. Says revealing that he is a criminal is a danger to this country. It never crosses his twisted mind that the real danger to this country is in having a President who thumbs his nose at the law, the American citizens, and the entire world. In the world of George Boosh, we should be happy that he simply allows us to share in the use of “his” air.

As for Bob Barr, I don’t know if it was the pathetic little mustache he wore, or the nauseating and smug sound of his voice, or that he truly believed that Bill Clinton should be removed from office for a sexual encounter with an intern and then lying about it. There was just something slimy about him. I couldn’t help but believe that Barr should have been a character on the Hogan’s Heroes television show, on the side of the Nazi’s, of course, rather than an elected member of our government. With his recent pairing with Gore to blast Boosh, I think that maybe Barr was actually trying to take the Constitution seriously. It was hard, during the Clinton impeachment proceedings, to not see Barr as merely a partisan hack, one who seemed to be taking it way over the top. I believe that were the punishment left up to him, Clinton would have been drawn and quartered. But now he appears to be taking the same stance in regards to Boosh. What am I to think? Befuddling, to say the least. Now, to the speech.

Gore called for a special counsel to be appointed. He mentioned Patrick Fitzgerald on more than one occasion, though I doubt that Fitzgerald would be the man chosen should we be lucky enough to get special counsel appointed. Special counsel is a real longshot, that person being Fitzgerald an impossibility. If Boosco has learned nothing else, they have learned that Fitzgerald is not the person they want breathing down their necks. Instead, we will likely be stuck with the Specter charade. Although I admire Specter for his stance, nothing will come from any hearings that are held in secret by members of Congress. It will all be glossed over, some hands will be slapped, and it will go away. There is a better chance that the ACLU lawsuit that is to be filed today will accomplish something positive than any photo-op Senate hearings.

The most poignant thing that Gore said, in my view, is the following.

“At present, we still have much to learn about the NSA’s domestic surveillance. What we do know about this pervasive wiretapping virtually compels the conclusion that the President of the United States has been breaking the law repeatedly and persistently.

Can it be true that any president really has such powers under our Constitution? If the answer is “yes” then under the theory by which these acts are committed, are there any acts that can on their face be prohibited? If the President has the inherent authority to eavesdrop, imprison citizens on his own declaration, kidnap and torture, then what can’t he do?”

Indeed, what can't he do? In the mind of Boosh, there is nothing that he can't do. Simply frame it in the context of the phony "war on terror" and it's all systems go. After all, he's doing it all for us.

Boosh clearly broke the law, and has stated that he will continue to do so. I believe that, in the end, no matter what one’s political persuasion, the American people will not stand for this. Maybe I’m giving too much credit to the American people. Generally, I lean the other way, not giving them enough credit. In this instance, what we need is someone from the Democratic party to spell this out to the American people on the same terms that Gore did, the terms of the law, and stick with it. Suck up your guts, take what Al Gore said, and run with it. Run as far as you can, screaming as loudly as humanly possible, until someone shuts you up. Or someone hears you. Someone like the American people.

I am going to go out on a limb here. A skinny limb at that. I believe, that after Gore’s words yesterday, the stars are beginning to align. And, should we somehow survive until the ’08 elections, a longshot I admit, I believe that Al Gore’s hat will be in the ring. And, I think he will win the Democratic nomination, should he run. He has spent the last 5 years thinking, defining himself for himself, and has learned a lot about politics. He was robbed the first time, we are now bearing the fruits of that robbery. I don’t think that the American people have forgotten that, and I think he deserves a chance to clean up the mess left by the worst administration in the history of our Republic. President Gore. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Cyclone