I was walking to work the other day when I noticed a
billboard announcing an “alternative” candidate for president, accompanied by
superlatives like “Stronger” and “Honest.” Well, for someone who holds to
positions such as his, I suppose there is some merit to claims that former New
Mexico governor Gary Johnson is more “principled” than 10 Hillary Clintons and
Donald Trumps combined (actually, that is a
really scary idea). Although technically a Republican, Johnson is
running on the Libertarian ticket with former Massachusetts governor William
Weld (“liberal” states like California and Massachusetts seem to elect quite a
few right-wing governors).
Johnson is definitely more “libertarian” than he is a Republican
these days. As governor he vetoed nearly every bill he was presented from both
parties, since he was a hardliner on the cost/benefit equation. While he
campaigned on criminals serving their full prison terms and “not a day less,”
he apparently opposed filling jails with drug users, in fact supporting legalization
in some or form another all “recreational” drugs—even going so far as to
criticize the Obama administration for being tepid in supporting marijuana
legalization laws passed in several states. Most interesting is his stand on illegal
immigration. He goes far beyond Clinton’s criticisms of Trump’s xenophobia,
opposing the building a wall (they will just build “taller ladders”), and
opposes any immigration quotas. Johnson believes that expanding the work visa
program and making easier to enter the country will actually result in a reduced
presence of immigrants, because they will feel freer to leave the country
during times of lack of work knowing that it is possible to return when there
is.
Obviously this kind of talk will disturb many voters, and
“libertarians” do tend to be regarded an a bit “eccentric.” Some of Johnson’s
other positions include:
“Prostitution is safer when legal and regulated.” Touché—except
that this means that gender advocates and political opportunists won’t be able
to make the blanket assertion that all prostitutes are “victims” and johns are
all “victimizers.” Eliminate corporate taxes and the federal income tax,
replacing them with a national sales tax. I have already discussed this matter
in relation to economy of scale; sales taxes on the state-level already hurt
the low-income far more than the wealthy, and now Johnson wants to add an
additional burden on the poor, paying more in arbitrary taxes instead of
receiving a tax refund based on direct tax deductions.
What else? He opposes hate crime laws as criminalizing “thought
crime”; this is not surprising, since he is a friend of Ron Paul, whose
“newsletter” is a repository for all manner of racist opinion. But don’t accuse
him of being a right-wing extremist: The War on Drugs is a complete and
unmitigated disaster, and after all, “Marijuana is safer than alcohol” and “Why
do we tell adults what to put in their bodies?” Johnson also supports “Prescriptions
for heroin and methadone at the local pharmacy.” Just in case you are not sure
you read that right, that means you can get hooked on heroin one day, and take
methadone the next day to “detoxify.”
Johnson is all over the map with this libertarian stuff;
there is nothing that doesn’t fall within the purview of “freedom,” insofar as
it is about his freedom. He claims to
take environmental issues “seriously,” with the following exceptions: “No
compromise on clean air, but no cap-and-trade”—or anything else that forces
businesses and individuals to preserve it. “More state autonomy on brownfields
& Superfund cleanups”—meaning “unregulated” or abiding by any standard. “Support
State Revolving Loan Fund for flexible Clean Water.” The key word here is
“flexible”—another euphemism for doing as little as possible. “Focus on
prevention and states for Endangered Species”; again, opening the door for a
toothless policy. “Collaborative, incentive driven, locally-based solutions”—in
other words, endless procrastination and “studies” of the problem, not
solutions. “State primacy over water quantity & quality issues”—a recipe
for a lot of disagreements over “standards” and eventual invention by the
federal courts.
Not surprisingly, Johnson opposes Obamacare, asserting that
“Government-managed healthcare is insanity,” failing to note that the ACA is
not designed for that purpose; privately “managed” healthcare for profit is
what is “insane.” Not surprisingly, he offers no plan to make health care
affordable for all people.
Immigration is where Johnson really loses the customers, at
least from the right: “2 year grace period for illegals to get work visas,” “Open
the border; flood of Mexicans would become taxpayers” because “Mexican
immigrants are pursuing the same dreams we all have.” However, “1 strike and
you're out for legal immigrants who violate terms.” What does that mean? Even American citizens are
allowed three “strikes” before they are taken off the streets for good for
non-violent crimes. This is an impossible standard and high hypocrisy.
In foreign affairs, Johnson calls for the ending of support
of Israel, declares Iran is no threat to the U.S. and should be left to its own
nuclear devices, and if Israel has a “problem” with that, then they can deal
with Iran by itself. Stew on that for awhile.
But Johnson runs off the rails completely with his support
of the racist, anti-government Tea Party movement, and his belief in the “philosophy”
of Ayn Rand (born in Russia as Alisa Zinov'yevna), as “illuminated” in
her novel Atlas Shrugged. What The
Turner Diaries was for white racists and anti-government fanatics, Shrugged is for proponents of
unfettered, unregulated greed, and of course for anti-government fanatics. One
of the problems with Rand’s novel is that it tries to apply the same reality that was occurring in Communist Russia onto the U.S., and there is almost no
comparison. The “positive” traits of unregulated greed Rand lauds occurred
during the robber-baron days of the late 19th and into the 1920s in
the U.S., with disastrous consequences for the country, yet Rand never
considers this aspect, in fact displaying not even the most remote sign of
simple human decency. Rand lauds industrialists with superlatives which are almost as laughable as they are hypocritical, and she
disparages ordinary people who actually do the hard labor to create wealth for
the few as "parasites", "looters", and "moochers"—who
have the audacity to “demand” a living wage. In short, it is a disgusting, despicable “philosophy” in
which to base one’s political beliefs.
Is Johnson a “viable” third alternative for president? Or is
he just another pick-your-poison choice? Probably the latter.
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