Johnson's the only candidate worth considering

Why Gary Johnson Is the Only Presidential Candidate Worthy of Consideration | HeatStreet - Sebastian Doggart:

October 24, 2016 - "When the Trump campaign imploded, I finally felt it was safe to come out as a supporter of Gary Johnson.... The response was more hostile than if I’d announced I was engaged to Kim Jong Un.

"'I’m genuinely concerned you’ve lost your mind,' wrote my pro-Clinton friend Eliza....  I knew Eliza opposed the death penalty, so asked her why she was voting for Clinton, who still believes the government can kill people legally. When I showed her that, unlike Johnson, Clinton is indeed a cheerleader for lethal injections, Eliza went silent.

"Capital punishment is just one issue where many Americans, in their heart of hearts, may well agree more with Johnson than with ClinTrump. Peace is another one. Hawkish Hillary voted for the Iraq war, backed military action in Libya and sending American troops into Syria. Trigger-happy Trump also gave the Iraq war a thumbs-up.... Johnson opposed the Iraq war, and has pledged to slash the military budget ... scale back on nuclear programs, close down some foreign bases and end foreign invasions.

"Johnson is a far braver free-speech advocate than ClinTrump. He has been steadfast in his opposition to the Patriot Act, censorship of the Internet, militarization of the police and the indefinite detention of prisoners. In 2012, the American Civil Liberties Union gave him the highest score of any presidential candidate....

"Johnson is the champion of the challenge to the bankrupt two-party system, with which millennials are so fed up. That’s especially true with Social Security ... an entitlements program that is heading off a cliff.... 'Millennials are getting screwed,' Johnson warns.... The same is true with healthcare. As Johnson said: 'President Obama’s affordable healthcare is dependent on young healthy people paying for older unhealthy people'....

"On education, Johnson ... will completely abolish the grossly wasteful Department of Education and will expand vouchers for private schools. Unlike Clinton, his plan favors teachers over unions; local educational processes over federalized testing.

"Johnson is passionate in his belief that the Federal government should stay out of both your bedroom and your wallet. That is most apparent in his tax plan, which would eliminate the IRS and replace most of the tax code with a single consumption tax. He’s promised to submit a balanced budget to Congress within his first 100 days in office....

"Johnson could win the White House it if he prevails in just one state, and neither Clinton nor Trump secures 270 electoral college votes.... Terror of this scenario is what’s brought out the Obamas to turn their sights on Johnson and led the liberal-limousine echo chamber to sink to personal insults. Bill Maher recently called Johnson a 'ventriloquist dummy' and a 'fucking idiot.' John Oliver drank the two-party Kool-Aid, laid into Johnson as 'weird… an ill tempered mountain-molester with a radical, dangerous tax plan.' David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, called him 'the least informed candidate for the presidency'.... The Clinton propaganda machine and their loyal media supporters ... hammered Johnson [and] MSNBC ... organized a Gotcha-ism orgy."

Read more: http://heatst.com/politics/pot-shot-heres-why-gary-johnson-should-be-the-next-president/
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Why the mainstream media pile-on on Johnson?

In Defense of Gary Johnson - Antiwar.com Original by -- Antiwar.com - Justin Raimondo:

October 3, 2016 - "The Clinton smear machine, having finally noticed that Gary Johnson is cutting into what they regard as Hillary’s rightful share of the so-called 'millennial' vote, has set its sights on the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate.

"It wasn’t supposed to be this way: the conventional wisdom was that the Libertarian ticket of Johnson and former Massachusetts Governor William Weld would split the traditionally Republican base, providing an outlet for the 'Never Trump' crowd to vent their spleen. This delighted the pro-Clinton 'mainstream' media, which gave both Johnson and Weld more publicity – most of it highly favorable – than any third party ticket in memory....

"This strategy has had consequences that hardly anyone foresaw. While Johnson-Weld went out of their way not to criticize Mrs. Clinton except in the mildest possible terms – saving their venom for Donald Trump, whom Weld likened to Hitler – what everyone overlooked is that Trump was defining the race. One was either for Trump, or against him – and the Libertarians wound up splitting the anti-Trump vote.

 "This was exacerbated by their left-sounding campaign rhetoric.... Add to this Johnson’s notoriety as a marijuana advocate, and the campaign’s targeting of 'millennial' voters, and polls of a four-way contest (including Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate) began to show that Johnson-Weld spelled trouble for Hillary. This was the signal for the Clintonian regiments of the Fourth Estate to go into action.

"It began with an interview on Morning Joe, when Johnson was asked: "What would you do about Aleppo?" His answer was to look baffled for a moment and then ask, 'What is Aleppo?'... once Johnson understood what [Mike] Barnicle was referring to he gave an excellent answer: 'I do think that it’s a mess. I think that the only way that we deal with Syria is to join hands with Russia to diplomatically bring that [to] an end. But ... this is the result of regime change that we end up supporting. And, inevitably, these regime changes have led [to] a less-safe world'....

"None of this matters to the 'mainstream' media, however, which is so determined to elect Clinton that sparking a nuclear conflagration seems to them a small price to pay. They gleefully piled on Johnson’s 'Aleppo moment,' echoing Scarborough’s ridiculous contention that not knowing how 'important' Aleppo is 'disqualifies' him as a credible candidate. The derision was universal, the snark was endless – even Bill Maher and Colbert got into the act — and it didn’t stop there.

"In a subsequent interview with both Johnson and Weld, Chris Matthews asked them all the requisite questions about Trump’s unmitigated evil, and they went along with it, saying all the 'right' things.... Toward the end of the interview with Matthews came what Johnson himself said was another 'Aleppo moment':

"MATTHEWS: I got actually a little lightning round here. This is where we have fun and maybe make some news. Who is your favorite foreign leader?.... Name one foreign leader that you respect and look up to, anybody.... You have got to do this. Anywhere. Any continent.... Name a foreign leader that you respect.
JOHNSON: I guess I`m having an Aleppo moment ...

"The idea that any libertarian could have a 'favorite foreign leader,' a head of state one could 'look up to,' is absurd. There is no such person on earth.... That aside, however, Johnson himself saying he was having another 'Aleppo moment' was enough to invite yet another storm of derision from Hillary’s partisans in the media. Matthews is no dummy: he knew perfectly well what he was doing, and even hinted at what he was up to when he said they might 'make a little news.'

"I’ve been very critical of Johnson, but in this case I have to come out in his defense.... In spite of his many shortcomings as a candidate, he has managed to put on a good showing.... For the most part he’s been relatively principled when it comes to foreign policy....

"Johnson has been falling in the polls a bit, and with the pro-Clinton media pounding away at him his descent may continue. However, the Johnson Effect, to coin a phrase, will likely continue to impact the election in potentially significant ways.... Gary Johnson, in spite of himself – and in spite of the sinister Weld – may wind up stopping Hillary Clinton from taking the White House."

Read more: http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2016/10/02/defense-gary-johnson/
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'Hardcore libertarian' Kurt Russell interviewed

Kurt Russell Talks Cowboys, Guns, and Life as Hollywood’s Most ‘Hardcore’ Libertarian - The Daily Beast - Marlow Stern:

December 22, 2015- "Russell began his acting career as a young teen, appearing in family-friendly films for Disney. When Walt Disney passed away in 1966, it was discovered that the final words he ever wrote were 'Kurt Russell.' To this day, the actor has no idea why....

"Today, Russell, 64, is known as an actor who marches to the beat of his own drum. He’s a libertarian in an industry of liberals, recently branding the link between gun control and terrorism 'absolutely insane.' He has a ranch in Aspen, Colorado, far from the Hollywood bubble, where he hunts elk and deer. And he makes daring cinematic choices, many of which, from Escape from New York to Big Trouble in Little China, aren’t fully appreciated until years later. Like his iconic character of Snake Plissken, Russell is an unapologetic rebel....

"The Daily Beast sat down with a very animated and fun Russell in New York to discuss the film, his political beliefs, and his fine career....

"What’s it been like to be a libertarian in Hollywood? You’re in the extreme minority.

"I’ve heard some pretty rough things through the years that were really undeserved, but the number one thing was my case was worse, because I couldn’t say, 'I’m a Republican, sorry.' I wasn’t a Republican, I was worse: I was a hardcore libertarian. I’m not a Bill Maher libertarian. That’s faux-libertarianism. He doesn’t know what it is. I like him, and he’s a nice guy, but seriously, that’s not libertarianism. The other thing I’ve found is that a lot of liberals in Hollywood are faux-liberals, and a lot of Republicans in Hollywood are faux-conservatives. When I was a young guy, I was finding myself not quite being able to see the things that were going on and buy into a political culture. I didn’t know what to do, so I finally said, 'Why don’t I go back and see what the Founding Fathers were all about, and see how that stacked up.' Well, I found them and I found libertarianism. They were pretty radical guys, and damn smart, and I just believe in that old-time stuff and think they had great ideas.

"Years later, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the Cato Institute’s 20th anniversary and spend some real time with some amazing people. I met some great people there, and that cemented it for me. I felt, guess what, there is a place where I can have a conversation and not be laughed at or smirked at."

Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/12/22/kurt-russell-talks-cowboys-guns-and-life-as-hollywood-s-most-hardcore-libertarian.html 'via Blog this'

Bill Maher: U.S. should get out of Muslim lands

Maher: US Should 'Get Out of Muslim Lands' To Stop Terrorism, 'Good For Rand Paul' - Breitbart - Ian Hanchett:

November 13, 2015 - "HBO’s 'Real Time' host Bill Maher wondered, 'why don’t we get out of Muslim lands?' to prevent terrorism, adding, 'bombing them over there is what is causing the Paris thing to happen,' and praised GOP presidential candidate and Kentucky Senator Sen. Rand Paul’s views on military spending on Friday.

"Maher, in response to his own question of why terrorists hate the West, said, 'When you capture one, or when [they] leave a note, you know what they say? "Because you’re there. Because you’re in Muslim lands." I have a crazy idea, why don’t we get out of Muslim lands?'

"He added, 'if they watched the Republican debate, on Tuesday night, that’s exactly what they saw. the biggest cheers were for republicans who got up there and said we have to kick a*s militarily. this nonsensical argument … let’s show a little bit of the debate. This is the debate that Ron Paul — he actually, good for Rand Paul, he sounded a little like his father, and that’s what we loved about him at the beginning.'

"After playing a clip of Rand’s exchange with GOP presidential candidate and Florida Senator Sen. Marco Rubio at the last debate, Maher remarked, 'Yes, what a great thing to say, because these — all these other Republicans talk about rebuilding the military. It’s already built. We’re — if we’re already 10 times where all the other countries combined are, why do we have to keep adding to it?'....

"He later added, 'bombing them over there is what is causing the Paris thing to happen. That connection needs to be made. We don’t have to be bombing them there. … Remember after 9/11, Bush was all about we’re going to not make any distinction between countries that harbor terrorists and terrorists, and it was kick a** sh*t, everybody loved it, because we had to wipe out the safe havens, right? That was Afghanistan. Okay, all these years after 9/11, there’s way more safe havens than there were then.'

"Maher also asked, 'Where are all the other Arab countries who pretend to hate ISIS so much? I tallied up their armies one night. There are over five million people under arms if you look at all these countries, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, and Turkey that could send troops to fight an army of about 25,000 a**holes who have 1970 Toyota pickup trucks.'"

Read more: http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/11/13/maher-us-should-get-out-of-muslim-lands-to-stop-terrorism-good-for-rand-paul/
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Playboy interviews Gary Oldman: "I'm probably a libertarian"

Gary Oldman Slams Hollywood Political Correctness | Playboy - David Hochman:

June 25, 2014 - "OLDMAN: It’s our culture now, absolutely. At the Oscars, if you didn’t vote for 12 Years a Slave you were a racist. You have to be very careful about what you say. I do have particular views and opinions that most of this town doesn’t share, but it’s not like I’m a fascist or a racist. There’s nothing like that in my history.

"PLAYBOY: How would you describe your politics?

"OLDMAN: I would say that I’m probably a libertarian if I had to put myself in any category. But you don’t come out and talk about these things, for obvious reasons.

"PLAYBOY: But there are a ton of conservatives in Hollywood, and libertarians too. Bill Maher has called himself a libertarian.

"OLDMAN: I think he would fail the test. Anyway, unlike Bill Maher, conservatives in Hollywood don’t have a podium.

"PLAYBOY: Fine. We’ll give you one. What would America look like under President Hillary Clinton?

"OLDMAN: What can I say? I feel we need some real leadership, and it’s nowhere in sight. Look at what’s happening right now. John Kerry going off to China to talk about North Korea? What’s that going to do? The ludicrousness of it. What a waste of money. You’re going to go to the puppeteer and say, 'Can you help me with the puppet?' As far as Hillary, I guess I feel like my character in The Contender, Shelly Runyon. He doesn’t want Joan Allen to become president; he just believes she isn’t the right person for the job. It’s nothing to do with the fact that she’s a woman, but he uses a bit of dirt on her to bring her down."

Read more: http://www.playboy.com/playground/view/gary-oldman-playboy-interview
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The actual libertarian movement didn’t ‘Go Nuts’ — just the one inside Bill Maher’s head

No, The Actual Libertarian Movement Didn’t ‘Go Nuts’ — It’s Just The One Inside Bill Maher’s Head | Mediaite - Andrew Kirell:

April 8, 2013 - "During his HBO show last Friday, Bill Maher dedicated four minutes to bashing libertarians for having 'ruined libertarianism.' The comedian lamented that even though he himself once identified as a libertarian, the movement has 'morphed into this creepy obsession with free-market capitalism based on an Ayn Rand [novel] called Atlas Shrugged.'

“I didn’t go nuts; this movement did,” he concluded before launching into a series of cartoonishly reductive descriptions of what he thinks are the ultimate libertarian ends.... But throughout all the libertarian bashing, ... he revealed that he really does not have a grasp on what the movement/ideology actually represents.....

"When Maher declared himself a 'libertarian' back in 2001, Salon declared it a 'joke,' noting that only a handful of his beliefs (specifically in the social issues realm) overlapped with libertarian ideology. His staunch support for the expansion of government over guns, education, business, etc., were all in direct opposition to what libertarians generally believe — and yet, somehow, he bizarrely believes to this day that the movement left him."

Read more: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/no-the-actual-libertarian-movement-didnt-go-nuts-its-just-the-one-inside-bill-mahers-head/
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