Bob Barr Claims to Have Sense of Humor

Jacob Sullum | July 17, 2008

In an online Q&A session sponsored by The Washington Times, Brendan Conway dares to ask Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr the question on everyone's mind: Has he seen Borat yet? Barr's reply:

It's still true that I haven't seen the movie. I also hear that he's making another film so we're on the lookout to make sure that we don't get taken again. ;) My staff does its best to get as much background information before an interview takes place. They did the same for "Borat's" interview. They called the numbers provided, found a web site through a search and felt it was legitimate. Clearly that was not the case. While it was in good fun and no harm was done, I'm not a fan of this style of movie making as the terms are not honestly presented to the person or group being interviewed.

You have to give Barr credit for signaling (twice) that he understands Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was a comedy. I'm not sure if that proves he has a sense of humor—something I wondered about last year, after Barr discussed his Borat appearance with Arlen Specter during a Senate hearing on the privacy implications of data mining. It might just be that Barr realizes people like a politician who can take a joke. Also note this exchange from a Village Voice interview last May:

VV: Do you have a good sense of humor about it?

BB: Hell yeah! If you can't have a good sense of humor about this business, the way I look at it, you have no business being in politics.

Comments

Colin|7.17.08 @ 5:31PM|#

Given his CIA background and the fact he lived in that part of the world, there's no excuse for him to have believed that people in Kazakhstan eat cheese made from breast milk.

|7.17.08 @ 5:33PM|#

Bob Barr is Roger Rabbit?

Voter: You mean you could have opposed the War On Drugs, War in Iraq, and the PATRIOT ACT at any time.

Barr: NO! Not at any time. Only when it's funny.

|7.17.08 @ 5:43PM|#

Given his CIA background and the fact he lived in that part of the world, there's no excuse for him to have believed that people in Kazakhstan eat cheese made from breast milk.

As I recall, he wasn't told that it was made from "breast milk" until after he'd eaten a couple of bites.

Fluffy|7.17.08 @ 5:47PM|#

The worst thing you can do when confronted by a Borat type situation is get angry about it. It just makes it even funnier and makes your defeat that much worse. The best thing you can do is the moment you realize you fell for it, you jump up and slap him on the back and shout, "Whoa, you got me there! Nice one! You had me going for a second!"

Federal Dog|7.17.08 @ 5:50PM|#

"The best thing you can do is the moment you realize you fell for it, you jump up and slap him on the back and shout, "Whoa, you got me there! Nice one! You had me going for a second!"

Yeah, but just to be sure, stop eating cheese.

NoStar|7.17.08 @ 5:56PM|#

I once had breast milk squirted into my coffee.
Not bad at all. I bet breast milk cheese would be delicious.

Nutter|7.17.08 @ 6:00PM|#

I once had breast milk squirted into my coffee.
Not bad at all. I bet breast milk cheese would be delicious.

Damn! Your local Starbucks sounds a lot better than mine.

Cool Cal|7.17.08 @ 6:10PM|#

I hate to be the asshole who hijacks a thread and takes it somewhere else, but has anyone else heard the latest business about Obama's speech in Colorado that the media (the evil, liberal media, that is ;)) has chosen to remain somewhat silent on. His call for a civilian national security force is all the twitter on the web, and I'm wondering if it might not be something like the Friends of the Visitors in "V". I can see the posters now .... "Change is Universal!"

NoStar|7.17.08 @ 6:14PM|#

Not even breast milk served up fresh from those cute and adorable handy dispensers can make Starbucks coffee drinkable, although I did like the mermaid in their original logo who was more obviously topless.

|7.17.08 @ 6:15PM|#

Damn! Your local Starbucks sounds a lot better than mine.


Nutter FTW.

|7.17.08 @ 6:28PM|#

I'll settle for a politician who realizes it's important to at least pretend to have a sense of humor.

|7.17.08 @ 6:53PM|#

Lol That idiot couldnt spot a sense of humor if it sat on his lap and called him "daddy". Gimme a freaking break.

JT
http://www.FireMe.To/udi

|7.17.08 @ 6:58PM|#

Cal,
I wanted to talk about Obama's call for a new nazi youth program in america as well. I'd love to hear Joe's take on what in the hell Obama was trying to propose?

what about reason? any word on what he the details of his plan are?

Elemenope|7.17.08 @ 7:05PM|#

Barr: NO! Not at any time. Only when it's funny.

Excellent.

Waterhouse|7.17.08 @ 7:30PM|#

If I recall correctly, when he was told the cheese was made of breast milk, Bob Barr got a queasy look on his face and looked away, but kept chewing, and chewing, before slowly...deciding...to...stop. So even if he doesn't find the joke funny, he has impressive inborn comedic timing.

No Name Guy|7.17.08 @ 7:31PM|#

The civillian security force thing just screams "urban legend" especially since the only sites talking about it are LGF, WorldNetDaily, and the "Jawa Report, among other assorted nutty sites.

No Name Guy|7.17.08 @ 7:32PM|#

But hey, I hear John McCain is calling for a draft in his speech.

Cool Cal|7.17.08 @ 8:25PM|#

They've got a tape of him saying it, though I'm unable to play it at the moment. Granted, I always feel shouting "fascism", no matter who it is, is hyperbolic, it just sounded like one of those things that if a Republican said it, you know the entirety of liberals would be throwing their heads over their skirts by now. If nothing else, it's an excuse for me to dust off an obscure "V" reference.

By the way, that Borat thing will remain the sole bane of Barr's attempt to woo the hipster vote. I know a bunch of people who only know him from that movie (incidentally who also get their ideological cues from The Nation), and if they heard me utter that I was considering voting for him, the first thing out of their mouths would be ... "No, not that right wing dude that Borat got to eat the breast cheese ... man."

|7.17.08 @ 8:39PM|#

Cool Cat, I await your tape. Could you email it to me if you have it? I'll take back the urban legend thing then.

(add "@gmail.com", not "@no.com" at the end of my email, I don't enter my real address to avoid spam.)

BakedPenguin|7.17.08 @ 9:20PM|#

I still think the Barr campaign should get Ali G to do a commercial for him. Getting the Borat endorsement would be great free publicity.

GG|7.17.08 @ 9:31PM|#

The civillian security force thing just screams "urban legend" especially since the only sites talking about it are LGF, WorldNetDaily, and the "Jawa Report, among other assorted nutty sites.

The Chicago Tribune reported it:

Is U.S. ready to serve?

Goals set for students

"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set," he said Wednesday. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

No Name Guy|7.17.08 @ 10:22PM|#

By saying that, is he talking about the police and FBI?

SIV|7.17.08 @ 11:46PM|#

NNG,

Cuba has a very effective civilian security/surveillance force. That's probably all Obama meant, a force like in Cuba.

T|7.18.08 @ 9:53AM|#

From the Tribune article:

He said he would make federal assistance conditional on school districts establishing service programs and set the goal of 50 hours of service a year for middle school and high school students.

Am I the only one that gets just absolutely outraged at the idea of of the government forcing my kids to do community service for no good reason? How about we make federal funding contingent on, I dunno, educating children instead of trying to make them involuntary servants for the cause du jour?

|7.18.08 @ 12:11PM|#

No Name Guy :

try reading the Chicago Tribune...as much as the MSM does censor some info...you can be pretty sure they don't complete make up quotes from speeches of presidential candidates.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-obama-national-servicejul03,0,5754842.story

I think Orwell had you in mind when he wrote:

The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them.

|7.18.08 @ 12:13PM|#

T, settle down...your making up conspiracy theories again...the Chicago Tribune doesn't exist. god forbid the government teaches your child to be a nice human being.

|7.18.08 @ 12:16PM|#

i can't believe you guys are even talking to these nutty "Obama Troofers"...anyone that thinks Obama wants national youth service groups as big as the military is a nutty troofer who should be ignored! This is a urban legend damnit!

|7.18.08 @ 6:49PM|#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df2p6867_pw


The segment in question is at the 16:45 mark.
I'm sure he will re-word his proposal next time to make it sound less like the hitler youth.