Former Republican and current Libertarian candidate for President of the United States, Bob Barr, has changed his mind on the infringement of personal liberty. A former supporter of the USA PATRIOT ACT, he now finds himself against the bill, stating, "In the past I was willing...to accept a greater degree of government involvement in infringing liberty because we did have a fairly large reservoir of liberty we still had available to us. That's no longer the case."

While I applaud anyone who is willing to change his or her position based on new evidence or after learning that a position taken was incorrect at the time it was held, Barr is not saying this. Perhaps this is what he meant by the statement, but found it more politically convenient to avoid stating that he was wrong in the first place. Instead, what is he saying is that he felt we had so much liberty available to us and that it did not matter much if we infringed on that liberty. Basically, he is saying that he felt we would have enough left over after the congress eroded the rights of the American citizenry.

A true Libertarian does not believe there is such a thing as "too much personal liberty". When the government erodes the personal liberty of the American people, regardless of how much liberty we have left, it makes the job far easier the next time that government, or a future government, asks its citizens to give up additional rights. Our founders warned us of this and attempted to put into place a system that would find it difficult to infringe on the liberties of its citizens. Barr missed the point, as so many others have since this nation was founded.

I would find Barr more impressive if he were to simply state the truths that are obvious to some of us:

1. He was backing his party and voted for the bill.
2. He found it politically convenient to vote for the bill at the time.
3. He did not even bother himself with reading the bill before voting.
4. He made a mistake, and did not take into account the lessons of history.

Any man who is afraid to admit, in plain words, when he is wrong is a man not fit for the job of President of the United States and should leave it to better men and women. How he makes the statement above, while keeping a straight face, is a mystery to me.

I am singling out Bob Barr because he is running as a Libertarian and should hold the USA PATRIOT ACT in contempt, but other politicians who voted for the bill have had similar conversions in recent years. Yet, the answer to the question usually does not even go as far as Barr's answer. Most simply state that they wish to "change" the so-called "Patriot" Act so that it infringes less on the rights of Americans. They fail to admit, in plain words, that they were actually wrong in the first place.

I suppose many people would say that I am nitpicking here. Perhaps I should just give Barr and those like him a pass and say that it is good enough that they are against the bill now. Well, it's not good enough. I want my politicians to admit when they are wrong, especially when we are talking about infringing on my rights. I want them to say it plainly in order to set an example for those that follow, and in order to make it clear that the "Patriot" Act was not just some common mistake. It should have been a career-ending move if only more Americans bothered to pay attention to what was happening at the time.

Forget the fact, just for a moment, that most people in the House and Senate did not even read the text of the USA PATRIOT ACT before they voted for it. Forget the fact that I'd be fired if I made such a grossly negligent mistake in the course of doing my own job. The fact still remains that no true patriot would have voted for the bill. Period.

Admit that, apologize to the American people, to our founders, and to the generations that have not yet been born, and spend the rest of your careers trying to erase this horrible attack on our liberties from the law books. Then, those of us who value our liberty and love everything for which our nation stands may forgive you and move on. Until then, here is a list of those who voted for the USA PATRIOT ACT.

» House of Representatives
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