...The end of freedom predicted in George Orwell's "1984" has arrived, "not in the form of a brutal dictatorship but in the guise of modern governments using the tools of digital technology and the fear of terrorism to take away what vestiges of privacy remain to our citizens."
Bob Barr has entered the presidential stakes as a Libertarian. He only needs the blessing of the Libertarian party. The convention is in a couple of weeks.
The great thing about Bob Barr is his intransigence in the matter of government power and civil liberties. Neither of the two presumed nominees has dealt with that issue -- an issue which the behaviors of the Bush administration have pushed into the forefront but which has been with us for decades.
The Washington Times reports that the Republican party is not particularly thrilled with the prospect of Barr's candidacy. But some Republicans are quietly patting him on the back.
The former Republican congressman from Georgia formed an exploratory committee last month and told The Washington Times that he has since been subjected to the behind-the-scenes pressure from Republicans not to run.
Mr. Barr says even people who have tried to dissuade him understand why he thinks it important to raise issues from what he calls a "genuinely conservative" perspective and to offer alternatives to the positions of the two major-party candidates.
"In the month since we formed our exploratory committee, not a single Republican who has spoken with me to try and convince me not to seek the Libertarian nomination has disagreed with my reasons for considering a run," Mr. Barr told The Times yesterday in an e-mail exchange before leaving London on a flight to Atlanta.
Most Republicans who asked him not to run "also said they understand why I'd run and why John McCain is not conservative and will not seriously tackle the growth in government power and spending," he said. "Some said they would vote for me if I ran, but for the sake of the Republican Party, they would prefer I didn't." ...
...To the dismay of some Republicans who consider the ACLU a champion of liberal causes, he has consulted for the civil liberties group on informational and data privacy issues on which many liberals and conservatives see eye to eye.
Even a Democrat might vote for a candidate who runs on that issue.
