Sunday, February 5, 2012

Gary Johnson Braves the ACLU - Reason Magazine

Gary Johnson Braves the ACLU - Reason Magazine - Mike Riggs:

January 31, 2012 - "On January 29 ... the American Civil Liberties Union ... invited the GOP field to its annual staff convention in Orlando.... ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero introduced Johnson to a crowd of 100 or so ACLU staffers.... Johnson [has] dropped out of the GOP and joined the Libertarian Party, where he is, for the first time since his days as a gubernatorial candidate in New Mexico, a frontrunner. 'I’m polling at 73 percent among libertarians,' Johnson told me before his speech....

"Johnson started his speech the same way he starts most of his speeches: by describing his commitment to cutting federal spending by 43 percent. As a result, the ACLU audience barely made a peep for the first 12 minutes of Johnson’s speech.... It wasn’t until he got started on legalizing marijuana that the crowd (figuratively) lit up. A steady stream of applause followed Johnson’s declarations after that.

“'I support gay marriage equality. I support repealing the PATRIOT Act. I would have vetoed the Department of Homeland Security, because I think it’s redundant. I would’ve never established the department of—the TSA agency. I think we should end the practices of torture. Period. I can understand the complexities in the following, but I think we should end the practices of detainment without being charged. There is nothing I want to see the government come in and fix with the Internet.'”

"Johnson also made a point throughout the evening of highlighting the differences between himself and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), who sought and received Johnson’s endorsement in 2008.

“'I don’t think that Ron Paul is going to win the Republican nomination. For the most part, we are talking about the same message, but we do have differences. And when he drops out, or finds an end to the Republican primary, I don’t see this agenda moving forward,' Johnson said."

Read more: http://reason.com/archives/2012/01/31/gary-johnson-braves-the-aclu
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