Spring Break
Leaders must understand liberty, Barr says
Libertarian politician speaks on lack of leadership during visit to campus
Kaitlynn Riely
Issue date: 10/6/08 Section: News
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis had it right, former congressman Bob Barr said, when he said the greatest danger to liberty lurks in the minds of men who lack understanding.
Barr, the presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party, spoke Friday at Washington Hall about the "vacuum of leadership" in the United States, a trend he believes manifests itself in the Democratic and Republican Party presidential tickets this fall.
To fulfill the job of being president of the United States, leaders must understand liberty, Barr said.
"America is not a military. America is not an economy. America is freedom, liberty and the job of the commander-in-chief should be simply and prudently to protect, defend and move forward freedom," he said.
Americans and the media, Barr said, are setting the bar too low for their leaders. He referenced civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who said "the ultimate measure of a person is not where one stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where one stands in times of challenge and controversy."
Barr added: "These are not times of comfort and convenience. There are great challenges out there."
Barr criticized the recent presidential and vice presidential debates, which neither he nor his running mate were invited to take part in, as a poor means of testing whether people are qualified for the presidency.
Barr asked the audience, which occupied most of the lower level of Washington Hall, to imagine, instead of Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential candidate and Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, if leaders like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln had been speaking.
If the players were changed, would they allow the debate to degenerate into "sound bite" ideas, Barr asked, with more focus on body language and "a wink here and a shrug there?"
Barr said he didn't think so.
There seems to be a concerted effort, Barr said, to lower the level of discourse.
Barr, the presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party, spoke Friday at Washington Hall about the "vacuum of leadership" in the United States, a trend he believes manifests itself in the Democratic and Republican Party presidential tickets this fall.
To fulfill the job of being president of the United States, leaders must understand liberty, Barr said.
"America is not a military. America is not an economy. America is freedom, liberty and the job of the commander-in-chief should be simply and prudently to protect, defend and move forward freedom," he said.
Americans and the media, Barr said, are setting the bar too low for their leaders. He referenced civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., who said "the ultimate measure of a person is not where one stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where one stands in times of challenge and controversy."
Barr added: "These are not times of comfort and convenience. There are great challenges out there."
Barr criticized the recent presidential and vice presidential debates, which neither he nor his running mate were invited to take part in, as a poor means of testing whether people are qualified for the presidency.
Barr asked the audience, which occupied most of the lower level of Washington Hall, to imagine, instead of Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential candidate and Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, if leaders like George Washington or Thomas Jefferson or Abraham Lincoln had been speaking.
If the players were changed, would they allow the debate to degenerate into "sound bite" ideas, Barr asked, with more focus on body language and "a wink here and a shrug there?"
Barr said he didn't think so.
There seems to be a concerted effort, Barr said, to lower the level of discourse.