Sunday, February 15, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

STEVE SEBELIUS: Taking (civil) liberties

A tough, principled campaigner came to Las Vegas at the tail end of last week. He was here to talk about the issues, and to take the Bush administration to task on a number of fronts. A veteran of Washington, D.C., politics, he knows he faces an uphill battle against a well-financed incumbent president. But he knows that the more people hear the truth, the more will come to his side.

That's why I relished the chance to sit down for a few minutes with former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga. (Who did you think I was talking about?)

Barr has been at the forefront of one of the oddest confluences in American politics: The convergence of left and right in opposition to the erosion of civil rights in the name of the war on terror. Talk to Barr for even a few minutes, and you'll find things are far worse than just the USA Patriot Act.

"What concerns all of us ... is that the government hasn't paid attention, not just enough attention, but any attention, to the civil liberties side," says Barr, who was in town to attend the annual SHOT Show, a huge firearms exposition at the Las Vegas Convention Center. "What I find is that most people haven't focused on it, but once they do, and once they've recognized what we're saying is true, is that fighting terrorism by giving up your civil liberties is not an effective way to fight terrorism. And, you're giving up your civil liberties in the bargain."

It's a message that comes from the left, including the American Civil Liberties Union, and the right, including the American Conservative Union, Eagle Forum and the Americans for Tax Reform. The ACLU, in fact, had a booth for the first time at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., Barr said.

The confluence isn't good for President Bush, either. His administration authored the Patriot Act in the wake of Sept. 11, and he mounted a defense of it in last month's State of the Union speech. Barr believes conservatives who cannot abide the eventual Democratic nominee will simply stay home, as they did in the 1998 congressional elections. "Conservatives stayed home in droves because Republicans were viewed as Democrat Light," he said.

Both Republicans and Democrats stand by the Patriot Act, which takes Barr off a lot of cocktail party lists. "The neocons (neo-conservatives) are calling me names that are just as nasty as the names the Clinton people called me," says Barr, who was one of the leaders of the impeachment of the former president. "People don't appreciate being told they're unpatriotic simply for standing up for the Constitution."

What to do? The former congressman says writing letters and making telephone calls really does work in Washington. (A measure pending in Congress would restrict the Patriot Act to terrorism investigations; not only that, but the act itself will be coming up for reauthorization soon and could be amended.) He also said attending town hall meetings is important, even in the face of reports of Draconian actions like the U.S. Justice Department's demand last week to know the names of those who attended an anti-war rally at Drake University.

Barr, however, doesn't hold out much hope for Bush: "The administration has had a tin ear on this issue," he says.

As the presidential election unfolds, with the ubiquitous undertones of the war on terror, Barr will continue to speak out. And if you stop to think about it, it's not really that odd after all. "To me, the enemy has always been big government, whether it's Republican or Democrat," he says.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist. His column runs Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at 383-0283 or by e-mail at ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.