I have to admit this book might not have been on my 'A' list to read, but Mr. Barr's recent appointment to the LNC prompted me to get this one. While I have already met Mr. Barr and recorded his speech in Portland, I will also be serving with him during this term of the LNC. The most important aspect of this relationship is that Mr. Barr is serious and reasonable. 
While I was rather indifferent to the whole impeachment of Bill Clinton, I didn't have a big problem with the proceedings. Indeed, as a Libertarian it's frequently assumed that most Presidents violate some aspect of the Constitution and should be held more accountable to principle rather than promoting power and partisanship. Putting aside (and I'll come back to it) any reservations about Mr. Barr's past as a drug warrior, it seems certain that Mr. Barr is cognizant of the relationship of principle and power. For that reason alone I recommend this book and support his tenure on the LNC.
The case against Bill Clinton was far greater than a hummer in the Oval Office. Unfortunately even my own distant association with it as an American citizen in upstate NY has more than enough information about questionable fund raisers, foreign influences, Vince Foster and other a sundry details a bad Ann Coulter book bought at a truck stop can elicit. While I'm uncomfortable with the label of 'evil' in general, if Bill Clinton's praxeology amounts to deception, ambition, unprincipled decisions and a basic two facedness, I won't quibble with Mr. Barr about such semantics. The biggest danger to the accusation of 'evil' is that ideological opponents will box one into a sectarian faith based criticism rather than a detailed analysis of action and principle. While Mr. Barr does this affectively, labeling Bill Clinton as 'evil' simply provides argumentative canon fodder for the Sydney Blumenthal's and Alan Dershowitz's that Barr succeeds in dressing down in their inherent foolishness. Who hired Craig Livingstone and whether or not Clinton raped Juanita Broderick are incidental to the ultimate story the Mr. Barr is portraying here. Thus the first part of the book render it a nuisance to those more interested in the facts and inside stories of the impeachment. Editor's and readers being who they are, probably made that tact necessary.
The revealing portions of the book are the Republicans unaccustomed role of pulling the levers power and a tepid membership whose interest in impeachment proceedings was nominal at best. Mr. Barr took considerable risk as an elected Congressman and an individual in his decision to pursue the man sitting in the most powerful office in the world. It does take guts to introduce the courage of your convictions amongst colleagues accustom to the trappings of power. His persistence paid off in the end. People listened, voters galvanized over this divisive circumstance of constitutional workings. Others, including the President, sought to vilify and tar Mr. Barr with various accusations, insults and other notable protestations to one of the chief architects of this event in American history.
While often accused of never smiling, there is a sense of personal warmth with the writing itself. He approaches the additional burden of advocating impeachment on his Congressional duties often strikes an amusing and bemused tone. The fact that the networks are all situated in the same building in order to get the premium shot of the Capitol is just as telling as the cheap food and refreshment they barely keep for their green guests. Barr describes a rather decent, if not moribund, breakfast just before a Meet the Press with former White House chief of staff John Podesta. Each trying to do their best to ignore the other while munching on fresh fruit and other prime time delights. He even delights in the prospect of encountering Michael Moore as he jumps out from trees around the Capitol as his frightful colleagues and their staffs pass memos around warning of the anti-establishment documenatarian darling of the left . Apparently he didn't get the memo on Sasha Cohen.
I would imagine that the average Conservative Congressman from Georgia has not experienced the joy of illicit drugs as the average libertarian has. Working for the CIA and becoming a prosecutor for a Conservative President who's spouse started the 'Just Say No' campaign to reduce teen alcohol and drug use must also contribute to a sense that these laws were in place to stop and prevent abuse that often destroys families and ends lives. Thus he gives us a glimpse of some of his triumphs and attitudes about the drug war in Columbia and elsewhere.
Some people consider the Libertarian position on Drug prohibition to be extreme. Even though it is often based on the highest examples of liberty and personal responsibility. while talking about the Libertarians support for the impeachment he talks about the assault on civil liberties being the worst since Richard Nixon.
Specifically they cited the administration's systematic assaults on cherished constitutional principles principles, most notably those contained in the Bill of Rights. I found myself in full agreement with their logic, and we became close allies in the impeachment effort, although I still disagreed with the party's position on several issues such as abortion and drug legalization.
It's interesting to note that Mr. Barr has since joined the effort over at the Marijuana Policy Project since this review was originally conceived. For those who might use marijuana irrespective of the medical need, be it known that the cause is right and just. Beer enjoys an incredible market and advertising benefits in the free market regardless of the stigma attached to it by some. That people are forcibly removed from their homes and have them taken away because of a weed they enjoy to consume will always be absurd unless you postulate your position from the utilitarian use and righteousness of force in order to comply with a majorities conception of the good. Victim less is victim less.
The reality of any tirade on the this issue or others, that an impeachment is a serious thing. Barr makes an excellent case for this point in history being about serious matters. Perhaps the common notion about the impeachment being simply about a sex act will be diminished with a work like this. While it is natural to lapse into partisan barbs in the arena of politics, if one can get past the all to assured back room prejudices amongst big players in the ring, this piece has value beyond Red & Blue trash talking. When it might be time to actually impeach a president again, this precedent should be studied and dutifully understood before a cavalcade of assumption and misunderstanding is applied to the last one. When a cabal wrapped around the most powerful political office in the world can initiate invasions, suspend hapeus corpus and with impunity create surveillance its own citizens, the threat of removal by the Representatives should a serious one. The last one was.
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