Barr was surrounded by scribblers taking down his latest jabs at the president. He had just finished his floor statement advocating impeachment in which he had referred to John F. Kennedy’s “Profiles in Courage.” Patrick Kennedy wasn’t amused at the reference. He pushed into the clot of journalists around Barr.
“You addressed the White Citizen’s Council and lied about it,” Kennedy yelled at Barr. “Anyone who’s part of a racist organization has no right invoking my uncle’s memory.”
Seems our politicos never paid too much attention to it, though.
What’s going on, by the way, is the result of the de-gerrymandering of Georgia’s congressional districts. The districts had been gerrymandered to create “pure” Democratic districts and “pure” Republican districts. The result was that we had a bunch of wing nuts like Barr and McKinney in the House.
With the de-gerrymandered (or at least more moderately gerrymandered) districts, candidates are required to have some appeal across party and racial lines. As a result, we’re seeing more moderate representatives emerge.
<<What’s going on, by the way, is the result of the de-gerrymandering of Georgia’s congressional districts. The districts had been gerrymandered to create “pure” Democratic districts and “pure” Republican districts.>>
Unfortunately, this has been happening nationwide as well. More security for Congresspersons, less input from voters.
Barr didn’t abandon the 11th district - it was redrawn by the Democratic legislature so that he and Linder would have to face each other in the primary; Linder just got to keep his district number. So while Georgia gained two districts in the last census, one of the incumbents had to lose his seat. Thankfully it was this one. Now, with the loss of Barr and McKinney, Georgia will be represented by the…quiet maniacs.
I saw Barr at the mall a few months ago…it’s a good thing they don’t keep those little axes next to the fire estinguishers anymore, or Mr. Barr would have left Congress a little bit earlier. I hate that heartless thug.
I shall also dance upon Mr. Barr’s political grave.
My favorite riff on Barr- shortly after he accidentally fired a gun at one of his political rallies, a Georgia political cartoonist made mention of the incident by noting it as a newpaper headline:
Not exactly. The 11th was re-drawn in such a way that it incorporated more Democratic voters. It still would have been a close race had Barr stayed in the district, and he might’ve won against a Democratic challenger. We’ll never know, since he left the district to run in the more safely Republican 7th (against Linder).
So the legislature didn’t force Barr to run against Linder. He just chose the chicken-shit route.
So Barr is gone. One less hate-filled hypocrite in Congress, and therefore a small battle won in a big war. Armey, Thurmond, Helms, and Gramm are leaving too, so perhaps we can celebrate. But they were small fry. We still have Burton, DeLay, and Hyde in leadership positions to worry about.
Time to pile on: It’s hard to imagine Barr as a virulent anti-black racist. Judging his ancestry from his photos, I’d expect him to have a hard time getting served at Denny’s, knowhutahmean?
I know I’m late for the party, but this will always stick in my mind. Barr threatened to hold DC’s federal transportation funds hostage until its neighboring state (VA) modified the names of the National Airport metrorail station.
Without Bob Barr and Jesse Helms…who is going to be the ‘poster boy’ of the far right in Congress? Tom Delay? Helen Chenowith (who would insist on being refered to ‘poster boy’ and not ‘poster person’)…is she still around?
