Here's the transcript of Barr debating O'Reilly, from Fox news.
(My comments in parentheses)


O'REILLY: Continuing with our lead story. President Obama defending his
terror policies. Joining us from Washington, former Congressman Bob Barr
who left the Republican party to be a libertarian.

And Mr. Barr, you say the president deserves some respect in the
national security area. So do you disagree with Karl Rove and I?

(Karl Rove is a professional liar, who made dirty politics even worse.
Touting his advice on terrorism is like asking a known quack about
cancer.)

REP. BOB BARR: On some issues, very strong on some, but not on
everything. My main criticism of those who are criticizing the
president, such as the former vice president, Mr. Cheney, is that I
think it's simply politics and partisanship and not substantive
criticism, because when you have the vice president from the prior
administration criticizing the current administration, really what
they're criticizing is themselves because the problems that we see, and
I think the president has done a good job of laying out the problems
that we have, I disagree with him on some of the solutions. But the
problems long predate January 20th of 2009 when Mr. Obama came in.

For example, the problem with the State Department issuing visas when
perhaps they shouldn't or not telling people who they've issued visas to
was the result of then Secretary Colin Powell early in the Bush
administration coming up to the Congress, myself on the Judiciary
Committee, for example, and saying don't give the authority to approve
visas to Department of Homeland Security. We want to keep it in the
State Department.

O'REILLY: Okay, and that's a fair point. And I should correct my
grammatical error. It's Karl Rove and me.

But look, you know as well as I do, everybody knows at this point, that
the Obama administration has dismantled the Bush-Cheney anti terror
apparatus. They've dismantled it. So I don't -- if I were Vice President
Cheney, and I assume President Bush will do this in his book, which is
going to be out in September, you've got to say, look, this is wrong
headed. We had the right policies. We kept America safe after 9/11. Now
they're dismantling it and they're putting everybody in danger. As Karl
Rove said, that's the responsible thing to say, is it not?

BARR: I don't think they're dismantling it.

O'REILLY: Oh, come on, come on, come on. No coerced interrogation,
civilian trials for heinous criminals, closing Guantanamo Bay. And
you're saying they're not dismantling it? Come on, Mr. Barr.

("Coerced interrogation" -torture.)

BARR: No, those are just some of the outward symbols.

O'REILLY: Those are big! Those are huge! Coerced interrogation ban?

BARR: No, I don't think those are.

O'REILLY: You don't think a ban on coerced interrogation where they
broke guys like Ramsey bin Al Shib and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and they
rounded up hundreds of al Qaeda and stopped plots as big, you don't
think that's big?

(Contrary to O'Reilly hysteria, torture didn't "break" those two. It
just forced them to confess to things they had no connection to.)

BARR: Do I think a ban on torture that's already illegal under U.S. law
is bad? No, it's not bad. It's the law of this country.

O'REILLY: It's coerced interrogation. And it was ruled that it was all
right in some forums. The Justice Department said it was okay.

(Bush's "Just-us" department.)

BARR: Oh, yeah, maybe in some form if you don't break somebody's fingers
off, maybe it's okay.

O'REILLY: These are big, Bob, these are big issues. Guantanamo.

BARR: Well, the constitution is big, too.

O'REILLY: Well, it's open to interpretation.

BARR: And you know, this notion that you can sort of dismiss these
things as a college constitutional law professor as Governor Palin does,
I think speaks to her capabilities and being able to serve in high
office.

O'REILLY: I will cede.

BARR: Not all of that.

O'REILLY: .there is some partisanship.

BARR: .I will agree.

O'REILLY: Okay, I will ceded there is some partisanship in the argument.

BARR: Okay.

O'REILLY: But for you to say that Guantanamo, coerced interrogation and
civilian trials for the underwear guy, when the military should have him
are not big issues, I'm stunned. You're a smart guy. Those are huge
issues in protecting us.

(Funny, a civilian trial worked real well for the shoe bomber.)

BARR: Well, I'm also a former federal prosecutor. I know how the system
works. I served in intelligence. I was with the CIA for eight years,
Bill. And I know that these systems do work. I don't know why people are
so fearful of treating this Nigerian idiot, and that's what he is.

(No wonder O'Reilly is looking like a monkey flinging his own poo.)

O'REILLY: Absolutely.

BARR: ...as a criminal. He violated U.S. law over U.S. air space.

O'REILLY: Because you don't get timely intelligence when he's
Mirandized. You want to know.

BARR: Actually, he has provided significant intelligence.

O'REILLY: We don't know that.

BARR: Notwithstanding that he's.

O'REILLY: We don't know if he has.

BARR: (INAUDIBLE).

O'REILLY: That's what they say. And then they say he clammed up. It
doesn't matter. He should be in the hands of the military. And then
after the military is through with him, if you want to debate where he
should be tried, that's fine. But they pull him off the plane. And they
put him into a federal detention center right away. It just doesn't make
any sense.

(Who is "they?" Obviously these are armchair "experts"
like O'Reilly.)

BARR: Bill, he violated U.S. law. We're not at war with Nigeria.

O'REILLY: No, we're at war with al Qaeda.

(That's like declaring war on the Ku Klux Klan.)

BARR: He violated U.S. law.

O'REILLY: And al Qaeda sponsored and trained him. Come on! The president
said yesterday we were at war with al Qaeda. He's an al Qaeda guy. You
pull him out and you give him to the military. Your argument makes no
sense. If we are in a war, and we need urgent information about people
killing us, you don't put them in and give them a lawyer. I'll give you
the last word.

BARR: Well, first of all, I think our legal system will work properly. I
support Mr. Holder on that. But I also think that being at war with
somebody requires more than some offhanded remark that oh, we're at war
with somebody. If they're serious about it, let them declare war then,
Bill.

O'REILLY: All right. I don't argue with that. I think war should have
been declared. Bob Barr, everybody. Thank you very much.

--- Xnews/5.04.25