This dude and Ben Carson are not all there.
7 Likes
I do kinda feel for the guy. The media started paying more attention to him after the Aleppo thing, but by then there was no point. If heâd gotten some better spotlighting during the window between the primaries and the conventions, he might have had a chance to build the Libertarian brand a bit, and might even have met the threshold to get into the first debate (where he wouldâve crashed and burned and not gotten into the others).
The guy I really feel for, though, is his running-mate. If heâd been top of the ticket, he might not only have built the brand, he probably could have pulled the Libertarians a bit back toward sanity w/an influx of socially-liberal Rs.
5 Likes
There are so many Rumpublicans running unopposed for so many state and local offices, How about some libertarian who isnât a dummy run for one of those. Maybe get some governing experience, earn a few supporters, sort out which of your late-night bull session theories stand up to the realities of keeping potholes filled and dumpsters emptied in a timely manner. Then run for the state legislature. Then maybe Congress or Governor. Then maybe Senator or Governor. Then run for President and have some sort of record, and core group of supporters, to make ânot a dummyâ obvious.
3 Likes
Oh, please. Johnson is down to five percent. Anyone who voted for Bernie who still intends to vote for this clueless right wing assclown is an irredeemable idiot. Why you still feel the need to come rushing to their defense (and, for that matter, the Stein voters) whenever anyone speaks ill of them, as if the expression of the slightest disdain for this tiny fragment of Bernie voters somehow reflects on all of them, is quite beyond me.
We regularly stereotype Trump votersâold, white, angry, undereducatedâbecause, even though not all of them are all, or even any, of those things, it captures something essential about them as a group. No one says a thing. Ditto southerners. Ditto rich people. But somehow, we are supposed to treasure each mushbrained dipshit whoâs voting for Johnson because Hillary is a corporatist sellout and express only tender concern for each of them as an individual?
Again I say, oh, please. This is exactly the same kind of mentality that led mainstream Republicans to give cover to the Deplorables right up until they woke up one day and realized that they controlled their party.
29 Likes
There is no âbrandâ for libertarians to build since libertarianism is not really a political platform. Itâs a toy for overgrown adolescent boys who have convinced themselves that they would be the winners in a âwinner-take-allâ society.
As Al Franken so rightly pointed out, we will never see the real world effect of libertarianism since it will never, ever happen. When you get down to it, most people just donât want to live that way.
10 Likes
Well⌠His VP candidate Bill Weld all but abandoned the libertarian ticket. I guess I could be wrong, but that seems like a pretty big deal. He may have even been taking a shot at Gary Johnson in his announcement yesterday.
When there are ~5% of people voting for this guy (sometimes more, sometimes less) in key swing states, it is important for people voting for him to know they are voting for a moron.
1 Like
Weld obviously doesnât want to completely repudiate Johnson, but he could take the Nader pledge from 2000. I mean the pledge Nader made not to campaign in competitive states (and then broke, bigly).
If Weld told people in just Florida and Ohio to vote for Clinton, that could be big.
1 Like
Might as well just fire up a joint, Gary. Weâll all feel better.
2 Likes
and NC
1 Like
Never saw the spot but itâs part of a long and hilariously disastrous tradition of clients putting themselves in the hands of advertising people who want to be âedgyâ and donât want to do the âsame old boring stuff that everybody does.â Thereâs an interview of Gravel where heâs quite frank about not having the faintest idea what the message here was supposed to be while they made it.
3 Likes
Good call, Chicago Tribune.
4 Likes
Maybe Darcy is voting for him
2 Likes
Sounds like a good plan. But it would require libertarians actually caring about the well-being of their fellow citizens and using government to solve problems. I thought they were generally opposed to using government to further the common good.
What Iâve discovered talking to libertarian friends about this is that they immediately run up against such contradictions, and write it off by retreating to the mantra that everyone should just be free to do their own thing. Itâs not really a viable stance for a politician, which is why most purportedly libertarian candidates end up being tepid Republicans or irredeemable wackos.
5 Likes
âWhy are you even interviewing me?â
Great question. No need to read any further.
2 Likes
I actually find the Libertarian platform (and there is one) to be a very optimistic oneâand therein lies its downfall.
Basically, their position is for minimal government interference in everything. Let local communities take the lead in taking care of one another blah blah blah. Basically, their position is âwe donât need the gubâmint tâdo fer us, weâll all come tâgether tâdo fer usselves!â And thatâs great. Thatâs laudible, even, that belief that human beings will work together in a spirit of community and fellowship to see to the problems facing their communities.
The best part is: it really happens!!
Unfortunately for the Libertarians, we call that process âGovernmentâ.
But they really are optimists. Naive, foolish optimists, but optimists nonetheless. Iâve had quite a number of discussions with individual Libertarians, and most of them are very much not about âwinner-take-allâ. Theyâre about âlet me choose how to pitch inâ. Unfortunately, thereâs that naive optimism in play.
You would not believe how many of these people actually believe in what I sometimes call âthe Star Trek mentalityâ. Where everyone works together for the common good, to better themselves, blah blah blah, and technology has made it possible for us to meet all our material needs. They believe that. They are so seriously a #FirstWorldProblems group that they believe that modern technology has absolutely solved the problems of resource scarcity around the world, if only everyone would just use it!
Like somehow, the people in Sudan are saying âYou know, weâre in a drought right now, but this would be fine if we were to build the power plants to run a hundred desalinization plants along the coast and massive hydroponics farms to use the water. And of course, nobody would ever charge exorbitant prices for those goods.â
They donât even seem to have an understanding of what happens to people when thereâs no government. They seem to buy into the âbenevolent anarchyâ theoryâagain, this is part of that âStar Trek mindsetâ, where people cooperate because they have all that they need. It ignores the fact that humans arenât very different from any other primate, weâve just added complexity to our dynamics.
By and large, put any group of people out on their own, and theyâll fall into standard primate troop dynamics, with one or two strong central figures simultaneously establishing a kind of social justice, and bullying those they feel arenât living up to it. Itâs the root of warlordism, and every single time humanityâs seen central governance fall apart, weâve seen the rise of warlords. Hell, Western Democracy exists in large part because the feudal system stabilized warlordism to the point where the lesser warlords felt like they could safely act in concert against the top warlord and curtail his power, but didnât trust one another enough to not establish binding agreements to share the power theyâd wrested from the sovereign.
Thatâs the big problem with the Libertarians. Itâs not that they see themselves as the winners in the âwinner take allâ environment that would result from their partyâs platform⌠itâs that they donât seem to understand that thatâs what would happen.
18 Likes
That is the one reason I hold my fire. Starting in the 1980âs with Nancy Reagan and âJust Say Noâ through mandatory sentencing in the 1990âs (bringing âSuper Predators to heelâ) the Libertarians were the only ones who spoke out against the madness, while the Democrats stood shoulder to shoulder with the Republicans in sending millions of non-violent marijuana users to prison, and essentially destroying their job prospects and permanently embedding them in the lower class.
Having said that, Gary Johnson really is not ready for prime time.
But all those who rage on about the stupidity of Libertarians, must be projecting for being so wrong about the drug war and the consequences for millions of African Americans, Latinos and the poor.
OTOH middle class White people werenât going to jail for marijuana possession, so that probably explains part of it as well.
1 Like
He needs weed badly. He looks really unhinged and nasty around the 5 minute mark.
1 Like
Has Darcy said who will be getting his vote? Johnson is looking stupider with every interview. Stein isnât much better. IIRC, Trump isnât his cup of tea either. And we all know Hillary could be dying of thirst in the desert, but Darcy wouldnât even piss on her.
3 Likes
ââWhy Are You Even Interviewing Me?ââ
Good question!
1 Like
Put the pot down Gary, and back away!
1 Like