Judge does what LP should have.

U.S. District Judge David Carter did what the LP should have done -- told Barr no. Carter refused to order the Saddleback Church to include Bob Barr, of the formerly Libertarian Party, in a forum they were hosting.

In an unprecedented move for a "libertarian" Barr attempted to use the courts to force the church to include Barr. Barr certainly has broken "new ground" on what it means to be a libertarian on numerous issues. Not long ago he was calling on the federal government to bail out the Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac companies with taxpayer funds.

While one should applaud Judge Carter for making the right decision one should not applaud too loudly. Carter ruled as he did for all the wrong reasons. He said that halting the forum would "deny the other candidates the opportunity to be heard and would deprive the public of an opportunity to see the candidates and hear their views."

A church is a private organization. It has no obligation to invite candidates to "be heard" not must give the public "an opportunity" to see candidates. It may invite, or not, anyone to speak, for any reason. And it is within its rights to admit any one it wishes or deny them attendance. The "public" and the "candidates" have no rights in this matter, as the judge seems to imply, as that would mean they have a right to take control of the property of a church to use it for their own purposes. There is one reason that the church has the right to keep out Barr, a right the LP should have exercised, that is the right to associate freely, on its own property, with whomever it wishes and to refused admission to anyone it wishes.

Barr's campaign argued that they should be admitted because the church did not release objective criteria for being included. What an ass! There is no objective criteria necessary for a church to exercise control over its own property and determine who it will, or will not, allow to speak in its sanctuary. This is libertarianism 101 and Barr is flunking -- again!