By Jerry Alatalo
t’s a sad day for supporters of former (yes… former) Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson. After Mr. Johnson appeared on MSNBC and made clear he had no idea what or where Aleppo is, it becomes close to impossible not to perceive his run for president is over. To be honest, after a little more thought Gary Johnson’s presidential run is, without one iota of doubt… 100%… over.
And then there were three left standing: Clinton, Stein and Trump.
One’s first reaction to the shocking realization Mr. Johnson asked the question “What is Aleppo?” after being asked what he would do as president about the situation there was to consider that Mr. Johnson had intentionally destroyed his own campaign. It seems almost beyond the realm of possibility that one of the four remaining candidates for President of the United States would be unaware of Syria’s 2nd largest city, Aleppo – experiencing a major attack from Wahhabi/ISIS and other terrorist mercenary militias, and at the center of the world’s most destructive, dangerous military conflict.
It is reasonable to assume that Gary Johnson and his running mate William Weld will drop out of the election very soon, and that their departure stands to help Donald Trump more than Hillary Clinton or Jill Stein. For that reason, not only Gary Johnson supporters but Hillary Clinton’s as well are experiencing a bad day. Jill Stein supporters are likely feeling more optimistic because of the chance Johnson’s voters could turn to the remaining 3rd party candidate Dr. Stein in the “anti-establishment” election of 2016, along with an anticipated greater media exposure due to political attrition.
Like so many major U.S. elections in the past, it may take years to find out if Gary Johnson purposefully self-destructed or he really had no awareness of Aleppo, Syria. If one were a betting man or woman, and considering the almost reality-defying situation of a presidential candidate without knowledge of major foreign policy facts, one might become persuaded the best odds are wagering Mr. Johnson’s political demise was self-inflicted.
Call it the “September surprise” for good reason, because Mr. Johnson’s gaffe and imminent departure will significantly alter the composition and nature of the election in the remaining 60+ days. Until this point many around the country have weighed in and called for 4-way debates with Clinton, Johnson, Stein and Trump. After today Americans supporting open debates will find themselves calling for 3-way battles of ideas between Clinton, Stein and Trump.
One respectfully diverges with Glen Ford in the following short interview where he suggests Mr. Johnson’s campaign should focus on getting into debates as much as focus on the Aleppo public perceptions disaster. Gary Johnson and William Weld’s Libertarian Party run for the White House has ended. Mr. Ford may have come to this interview on short order without the time for fully realizing the truly severe nature of Mr. Johnson’s political injury, and the irrecoverable – fatal – damage it has done to their campaign.
Gary Johnson’s supporters will recover in the coming days after their candidate’s downfall. Just where and to whom they’ll redirect their support and votes is uncertain. One thing is certain, however… The 2016 race for President of the United States just became much more interesting.
(Thank you to TheRealNews at YouTube)
THE ONENESS of HUMANITY 
Those sponsoring the debates are entitled to choose the qualifications for entry. They chose the 15% bottom line. Johnson may have just blown his chances to make 15% in time for the debates. The MSM are making a big deal about the mistake, but I haven’t heard anyone except you teeing up for Johnson/Weld to drop out of the race. Why should they, when they currently poll triple the numbers of Stein and the Greens?
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Invisible Mikey,
How are you. “Why should they (drop out)…?” The reason I support Stein/Baraka is, like everyone decides on their preferred candidates, because of their ideas. Like most Americans, I’ve never met any of the candidates in person, so writing/commenting from WordPress’ platform is the extent of participation in election 2016. We likely share a negative view of corporate media, but in the case of Mr. Johnson’s interview and astonishing admission of non-awareness of Aleppo, Syria, it really is a big deal and (only one person’s honestly shared perception) will most likely end his and Mr. Weld’s campaign. Time will tell, but after Mr. Johnson’s clear display of serious foreign policy deficiency it’s extremely difficult to imagine any recovery or road forward for the Libertarian politicians. Just being straight with you, brother. Thanks for the comment and best wishes, Mikey.
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Did you hear about the arrest warrant out for Stein in North Dakota? Pretty much meaning she’s disqualified.
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chronoatlantis,
Hello. Yes we’re aware of the “arrest warrant”… Not sure how this action comes down in comparison to her and Sheri Honkala getting arrested in 2012 for attempting to enter the building where Romney and Obama were debating, but we’ll just say in this instance the spray paint didn’t seem to bother the bulldozer blade one bit. It’s truly remarkable that Hillary Clinton and her friends on Wall Street, literally, get away with murder by facilitating terrorist financing, never face arrest and prosecution, but painting a clever message on a bulldozer blade results in the issuance of an “arrest warrant”. Is there something out of whack with this picture? It’s hard to (pardon the pun) “paint” Jill Stein as a criminal for a spontaneous, perhaps overly-enthusiastic, ultimately harmless action – especially when considering and comparing to the major war crimes of Hillary Clinton. In this instance, “gotcha Jill Stein” doesn’t make a serious case. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and all the best to you.
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Embarrassing if he really does not have a clue about the out-of-control neoliberal war-of-the-worlds agenda, & is just far better acquainted with adult gadgetry; of course he may have actually heard “what would you do if you were elected, about a lepo?” & was confronted by the mental specter of a CGI ‘leppo’ in the White House ~ associating this subliminally with lepers and leptons possibly, not twigging immediately what kind of associative booby-trap he had sprung.
Whatever the truth about this cringing moment, it’s quite unlikely any Nobel prizes are coming his way anytime soon.
Oh dear, I am more than a little worried about the ‘US.’ There are too many alarming parallels with the EU club-of-27/Brexit dilemma at present ~ dysfunctional oligopolies confronting reactionary hyper-conditioned paranoid congestion…its all too alarmingly reminiscent of the eponymous Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
Of course, this frankly imbecilic, post-colonial/-imperialist ecocidal playground-omniverse, is what is ungeographically & reflexively said to comprise “the influential sphere of the West” isn’t it?
I think we need a whole new ‘radical’ tier of multi-disciplinary, trans-social, meta-cognizant agencies to convene and internationally, to exert maximum pressure on those ecologically imprudent “shareholders;” the opportunists gamblers who actually control the destiny of this precarious, globally ill-managed, predatory corporate estate ~ that prospers so superficially from the vaunting conceit to ascribe to itself the epithet “civilized.”
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David,
Johnson’s gaffe had to have been intentional. In full agreement with your suggestions, and would add that a 1st annual week-long “World Peace Conference” wouldn’t hurt either. It’s possible the 60 or so individuals owning the same wealth as 3.5 billion and fellow billionaires are aware their obscenely privileged status is at risk, helping to explain the worrisome and irrational world events people are witnessing. Thank you again, David.
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Jill’s arrest has been great for Green Party fundraising – her fundraising team has already sent out two email appeals highlighting her legal difficulties.
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Stuart,
Hello. Not exactly the best reason for supporting candidates, but as the saying goes: “whatever works”. Hopefully Dr. Stein and Mr. Baraka’s gravitas levels will rise quickly and to great extent in the coming days. A much greater, more enthusiastic level of support from American and world progressives wouldn’t hurt either. Sadly, progressives seem to have resigned themselves to believing Stein and Baraka have no chance. Yet, look at Gary Johnson’s self-destruction – showing anything can happen in the remaining 60 days. Thank you.
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Gary Johnson’s supporters may relate to the fact that he doesn’t know what Aleppo is (as they don’t either).
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