There's no doubt that 9/11 and the passage of the Patriot Act served as "Road to Damascus" conversion for Bob Barr. Soon thereafter, Barr joined the ACLU and forged a partnership on privacy issues. He then later quit the GOP and joined the Libertarian Party. Barr--the man who lead the GOP impeachment against Clinton--now openly advocates that the Libertarian Party supplant the GOP as a National Party.

When Barr joined the Libertarian Party, I remember some reservations expressed by libertarian publications (such as Reason) that having Bob Barr serving as a spokesman would conflate libertarianism with a social conservatism Barr displayed regularly as a congressman. However, any such reservations should now be put soundly to rest.

The first evidence of the validity of his conversion was when Bob Barr became a lobbyist for the Marijuana Policy Project, in part to repeal his own "Barr Amendment" that was passed in response to DC residents voting for medical marijuana. Indeed, now, in public debates, Barr has gone as far to advocate that the Federal Government should no longer even regulate narcotics, calling it a "gateway power" to a leviathan state.

"I, over the years, have taken a very strong stand on drug issues, but in light of the tremendous growth of government power since 9/11, it has forced me and other conservatives to go back and take a renewed look at how big and powerful we want the government to be in people's lives"

Now, in the aftermath of watching the GOP candidates hem and haw on "Don't Ask, Don't tell" in the previous GOP Debate(even Ron Paul flubbed on this issue), Barr takes the GOP to task with his article Don't Ask, Don't Care that was originally published in the WSJ.

The money quote:

true conservative political philosophy respects the principles of individual freedom and personal privacy, particularly when it comes to what people do in private. The invasive investigations required to discharge a service member are an unconscionable intrusion into the private lives of American citizens. Worse, while supporters of don't ask, don't tell claim the policy only regulates behavior and not identity, the distinction is disingenuous. A service member could be discharged for being overheard remarking that, "I can stay later today since my partner will be taking the dog for a walk."

This from the guy, in the 90s, who wanted the military to expel practioners of Wicca!

You know, we often hear from "conservatives" like Sean Hannity that 9/11 changed everything--when excusing why the constitution should be ignored. Obviously, 9/11 changed everything for Bob Barr as well, but he obviously took the other fork in the road when it came to the constitution.