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.