Penn Jillette sorta endorses Bob Barr, likes Paul better, wants heroin legal
Posted on August 22nd, 2008 at 4:00pm by bile Tags: Bob Barr, Clint Eastwood, Drew Carey, heroin, Jimmie Vaughan, John Stossel, Kurt Russell, libertarianism, Matt Stone, Penn Jillette, Ron Paul, Russell Means, Teller, Trey Parkerhttp://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/…
Penn Jillette phoned On Call recently to clarify that he’s “probably” backing Libertarian candidate Bob Barr for president but not as enthusiastically as he would, say, Ron Paul. Barr, Jilette said, “took a little bit long to get on board” with Libertarian social positions, which broadly support the legalization of drugs and gay rights.
Jillette, a longtime Libertarian whose endorsement-ish Web video about Barr we ran earlier this month, said he “supports Barr more than Oprah supports Obama.” But, he cautioned: “If you said to me right now, ‘Penn, you have superpowers under a yellow sun because you were born on Krypton, we can make Ron Paul president. Is that gonna piss you off because you’re behind Bob Barr?’ I hate to insult Bob Barr, but I wouldn’t have to think about that.”
Perhaps wisely, Jillette downplayed the affect of his endorsement.
“Let’s say we’re in some crazy world where people listen to me – where I’m as big as Oprah, if I endorse Bob Barr, I destroy Bob Barr instantly,” he said. “Because when they ask me the question, ‘What do you think should be done about medical marijuana?’ My answer is: ‘Heroin should be legal.’”
I generally don’t care much when famous people give their political views. Mostly because they are almost always socialist. However, as I’ve thought about it more perhaps it’s not that bad if more famous libertarians speak out too. Even though I don’t like the reasoning many people will give some weight to the fact that a famous individual has a particular viewpoint. It makes it look like the idea is more popular then it in fact may be and can give people the feeling that the belief is one socially acceptable to have. So Penn Jillette, Teller, Matt Stone, Trey Parker, Kurt Russell, Drew Carey, Clint Eastwood, John Stossel, Russell Means, Jimmie Vaughan… make some noise.
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