Barrwatch: Jessecide?

Shortly after news of Sen. Jesse Helms' death became public, Bob Barr released a statement expressing condolences to his family.

Today, as we celebrate our freedom and independence, we should stop and give thanks to God for the life and work of Jesse Helms. As a nation we are stronger and the world is freer for his commitment to liberty. May God bless his family.

It was enough to drive blogger G.E. off the reservation, in a statement approvingly linked by Barr delegate Doug Craig. (UPDATE: Originally, I mistakenly identified G.E.'s comments as Craig's.)

I will not vote for Bob Barr for president and, if by some miracle he wins the state of Michigan, I will not cast my electoral vote for him either.

It's not just that Barr "sent condolences" to the family of racist dictator-lover Jess Helms. That would have been fine. No, Barr went so far as to call on ME to "give thanks to God" for the "life and work" — racist life and work — of Jesse Helms. That, I find completely outrageous and absolutely unforgivable.

Barr is a collectivist, anti-intellectual moron who does not understand that Communism was brought down under its own inefficiency — not the deficit spending and Fed-financed fascism of the disastrous Reagan administration. Barr is a pitiful disgrace to the Libertarian Party and libertarianism and I have diminished respect for anyone who continues to support him and call themselves a libertarian. Sorry.

A friend in the Barr campaign was exasperated by the tete-a-tete. "Somebody's who's a leader in the fight against communism dies, you say something nice about him, and someone who read a negative profile of the guy in the Washington Post walks off the field?" But I'm told Craig is the only Barr supporter to publicly protest the Helms press release.

Other than that, Barr had a decent holiday weekend. A new Zogby poll showed him pulling 6 percent of the national vote (most of it from conservatives), triple the support of a fading Ralph Nader. The New Jersey LP launched its statewide campaign from Atlantic City, which is really the sort of thing that need to happen if Barr's vote totals are to approach his poll numbers. And his brief interview with ABC News's George Stephanopoulos is here: