Gary Johnson could not name a single world leader he admires...

[Cooley Hurd]

WOW!!!!!!!

[bigwillq]

1. He said Mr. Aleppo

[Auggie]

14. LOL

Really! I actually laughed out loud!

[Tarheel_Dem]

38. !!!

[spiderpig]

2. Saw that. He's not exactly a walking endorsement for legalizing weed.

[redwitch]

54. He is goofy. And I can't help but think pot has something to do with it.

That being said I know plenty of people who partake and would have done a better job with that than he did. He seems to have no memory at all. Let's not elect him!

[nolabear]

3. I'm shocked at how bad he is. I'd had no real experience of him, but he's awful.

How did he get this far? Weld isn't nearly as bad, and keeps trying to help.

[Mamajami]

13. I give millennials more credit than to actually vote for someone as ill-informed as Mr. Johnson.

[nolabear]

15. God I hope so.

[BobbyDrake]

27. Not me. Not after hearing the applause they gave his Snowden pardon promise.

An entire generation who grew up in prosperity and peace doesn't care that their ignorance is dangerous.

[white_wolf]

64. The New York Times and Guardian have endorsed his pardon.

I highly doubt their editorial boards are made up of millennials. As for an era of peace and prosperity, a lot of Millennials grew up post -911 era and lived through the Iraq War. Many of us were entering the job market during the worst economic climate since the Great Depression. So stop with your broad brush "entire generation" comments unless you think we should hold all Boomers responsible for giving us Reagan, Bush I and II and the worst economy since the Great Depression.

For the record, I think Libertarianism is one of the biggest cons in the history of American politics. I supported Obama in 08, 12, Sanders in the primaries and Clinton in the general election.

[BobbyDrake]

68. Edward Snowden is a lying narcissist and a con artist.

Seems strange you can recognize it in libertarianism but not from a man who claims he's a whistle-blower, but refused to use any of the whistle-blower avenues available to him in America, choosing to flee into the bosom of one of America's biggest foreign adversaries instead. A man who claims he was protesting domestic surveillance and then proceeded to expose foreign intelligence activity that had nothing to do with domestic surveillance. A man who lied to his coworkers to steal their passwords and access as part of his efforts to thieve documents that were outside his clearance level, which he then took out of the country and exposed to foreign intelligence services, actively damaging the USA in the process.

Seems very strange.

[white_wolf]

82. Take it up with the New York Times or the Guardian.

My argument wasn't necessary concerning rather Snowden deserves to be pardoned. We could, and DU probably has, dedicated entire posts to that discussion. I was simply arguing that if you're going to dismiss all Millennials due the fact that some of them supported Snowden then you must also dismiss the New York Times and the Guardian for that very same reason.

[Blue_Tires]

84. And the WaPo didn't, so you see the pardon campaign

is far from a majority...

[Matthew28]

4. To be a liberterian

shows a lack of intelligence and thinking skills.

[unblock]

5. that is a very "trappy" question, actually.

i'm certainly not an expert on all of them, but it's the sort of thing where almost any answer has pros and cons. hard to find one without any cons. unless it's fair game to pick someone from the past that you know is a "safe" pick.

[Hortensis]

9. Not for genuinely knowledgeable people, and who else should

be running for the presidency? He should be able to name several off the top of his head for different reasons.

[unblock]

19. Sounds good in theory but they're all flawed

[Hortensis]

30. You want only perfect leaders named? Or

only perfect namers? Hillary Clinton could talk for many long hours about leaders around the planet and the situations in which they govern. Please don't pretend that's nothing because she and they are not perfect.

[unblock]

36. i'm just saying it's not as easy a question as people seem to think it is.

full of pitfalls.

[Hortensis]

40. Okay. And I'm saying that knowledgeable people have

many choices of good ways to answer that question. How on earth could someone for whom a little question like that poses real danger function as president? (Actually, I'm wondering how anyone who had a problem meeting that challenge function as a competent governor.)

[unblock]

50. Honestly this is a realm where the media have a lot of power

Especially for third party candidates. They give them such limited airtime that they can make find the one answer that makes them look brilliant or horrible or stupid or whatever they and and ignore everything else they said.

I agree though, he would have done better to come up with a name....

[bmstee01]

10. The Pope would be a pretty safe answer

[unblock]

18. You might think, but it could offend

Non-Catholics; Catholics who think he's too liberal; and Catholics who think he's too conservative.

[BobbyDrake]

33. Has there ever been a single politician maligned for saying they respect the Pope?

I'd be happy to be proved wrong....

[unblock]

37. maligned in the press? not sure, maybe not. but in real life?

absolutely. any mention of the pope is controversial. a lot of people have very strong opinions one way or the other.

[jberryhill]

77. It's simply "admire" - not "idolize" etc.

And the way you deal with it is by picking out a particular quality, like....

"I admire the Pope's ability to connect with and inspire people. Of course the US government is a secular institution for and by people of all faiths or no religious beliefs at all."

Asking someone to pick someone they admire, for some quality or another, is not an endorsement of whomever they come up with.

Really, it comes down to "Pick one nice thing to say about someone, while being sure not to buy into whatever else that person might stand for."

It's not a trick question. ANY politician can do this.

[BobbyDrake]

12. He comes across as a man uninterested in learning or knowing about the world.

And yet somehow seems proud of it, despite how dumb it's making him look.

[Hortensis]

43. Yes. There are two kinds of people. :)

And he seems to be one of them.

Seriously, some people have a thirst for knowledge and fascination with the big world, and they are constantly learning about that big world from childhood on.

Others have little intellectual curiosity but live rich, satisfying, worthwhile lives centered in their own small worlds filled with their people. They genuinely have little interest in what's outside, most of their attention to it being occupied with comfortable agreements with friends about what's wrong with everyone out there. Without any real interest, learning about the world beyond the interstate, or even the vast complexities of themselves, is a chore to be avoided as much as possible.

Politics has too many of the latter who believe they have a duty to put their wisdom to work.

Reminds me of when a young man we watched grow up turned down a chance to spend 6 weeks in Greece as an exchange student, his totally sincere and complete explanation, "Why would I?" literally took my breath away. Talk about an epiphany. Mine.

[Frank Cannon]

20. You can still admire a leader for their good qualities.

Unless, of course, you can't name any world leaders and don't know enough about any of them to describe what those qualities are.

And unless, of course, you're a shiftless pothead Libertarian who isn't motivated enough to care about much of anything.

[unblock]

21. Sadly politics doesn't work that way

You can't say you admire lbj for getting civil rights laws passed without pissing off people who hate him because of vietnam.

"Admiring" someone is taken as endorsing everything about them. It shouldn't be that way perhaps, but it is.

[bettyellen]

24. Considering some of his other answers I do not think his lack of reply has anything to do....

With being too careful. Motor cycle helmet laws?
LOL.

[unblock]

39. i wasn't suggesting his non-answer was out of an abundance of caution.

i agree it's more likely blank mind, ill-prepared.

just saying the answer isn't obvious even for someone who knows a lot about foreign leaders.

[bettyellen]

47. I think I'd have several choices to pick from as a role model if I was trying for a job like that...

I think it also means he's always been realistic that he's not going anywhere. So why bother study.

[BobbyDrake]

34. You mean the adage that you can't please all people all of the time is true?

Who knew!

[LanternWaste]

79. Another unsupported allegation.

""Admiring" someone is taken as endorsing everything about them..."

Another unsupported allegation. It's becoming rather consistent.

[bullwinkle428]

42. I was able to name Justin Trudeau right off the bat.

[unblock]

51. That would have been my answer too

Mainly because he's too new to have big drawbacks

[LanternWaste]

78. No... it's a valid question asked of many, many political candidates.

When then , did other candidates, allowing themselves answers to the same question, fall into this alleged trap you describe, and what were the precise consequences?

[BootinUp]

6. Oh good Lawd. What a country.

He can't seriously think he is qualified. Can He?

[gademocrat7]

7. He is a joke.

[workinclasszero]

8. Very Palin-like

[Proud Liberal Dem]

74. Yeah

He should have just said, "all of them". LOL

[workinclasszero]

75. Right

[BobbyDrake]

11. He is ridiculously unqualified to run for President.

"I'd reduce Planned Parenthood funding by 20%, just like everything else."

Moron.

[meadowlark5]

16. He sure keeps referring to Clinton negatively

But isn't really saying much about Trump. Sounds like Johnson really doesn't like Clinton and seems fine with Trump.

[bettyellen]

26. That's where the money is- angry punitive men....

The ones that literally have the least to loose.

[Greywing]

41. He's definitely trying to take votes away from Clinton ... Trump's voters are not worth associating

with.

[womanofthehills]

45. In NM he ran as a Republican for governor

In 94 and 98.

[meadowlark5]

49. I know. But he knew he couldn't get the republican nomination

So let's just run as a libertarian

[RonniePudding]

48. They're both probably part of the same Putin cabal

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

17. Because he's too high all the time to pay attention to anything

This man is going to single-handedly turn me completely against even medical marijuana.

[Monk06]

23. Dave's not here !!!!

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

28. Who the hell is Dave?

...

[Monk06]

61. Cheech and Chong bit from their first album

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

62. Never listened to their albums or seen their movies

Not a fan, so that explains why I had no clue what you were referring to.

[Monk06]

63. Dave's Not Here is an iconic meme for stoners who are a bit out of it in the what's going on dept

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

80. Ah, ok

Thank you for explaining.

[womanofthehills]

46. That makes no sense

People depend on medical marijuana for pain relief.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

58. I started off really supporting medical marijuana, but recreational advocates have really soured me

I lived in a state that legalized medical marijuana and dispensaries. I voted for it and immediately after something passed there was non-stop push for full legalization. I oppose recreational legalization. I have personal experience with myself and my children being abused and my children going without things they needed because their father was addicted to it. That addiction put me and my kids at risk when he started selling and went into debt and people looking to collect used to show up at the door. It was very difficult for me to get beyond that history to support medical marijuana in the first place, so I have to say that I find Johnson utterly repulsive. I think candidates should need to pass drug tests before they can get on the ballot. He's not serious at all and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the main people who support him only do because they want recreational use of marijuana legalized and don't give a rat's ass about the country.

I know that view will be unpopular and I may get flamed to a crisp but I don't care. I have spelled out why I feel the way I do and it's not going to change.

I know there are some people who benefit from medical marijuana and I support their ability to use it. I still 100% oppose legalized recreational marijuana. Just the smell of it triggers my own PTSD from being abused by someone addicted to it.

[JTFrog]

85. But if it were legal, he wouldn't be having people show up at his door to collect.

I think that should be obvious.

I'm not going to flame you, but I will guarantee you the guy had problems other than "addiction" to marijuana.

Out of curiosity, are/were you in favor of prohibition? There are assholes who drink, there are assholes who smoke. An asshole who smokes is more likely to be an asshole all the time than someone who turns into an asshole drinking.

Just sayin.....

[LanternWaste]

81. If your academic and social convictions are so weak as to be reassigned by the mere stance

If your academic and social convictions are so weak as to be reassigned by the mere stance of one other individual, you may want to revisit how how you analyze those convictions.

[Stallion]

22. Consider that the Former Governor of New MEXICO Couldn't Remember Name of Former President of MEXICO

who he later said he admired. Weld sitting next to him finally had to throw out names of Zedillo and Fox

[GP6971]

25. That ticket should

have been reversed...Weld/Johnson. Although Johnson as #1 suits me just fine if it discredits their party and limits the impact on Hillary.

[saltpoint]

29. I could see Johnson answering, "Dr. No," and then

a grimacing Bill Weld doing a slow face palm.

[procon]

31. It was like watching a "Drunk History" snippet... no way are those guys top tier. nt

[guillaumeb]

32. Taking a lesson from Sarah Palin, he could have said:

all of them.

[Rocknrule]

35. At least Der Tantrumfuhrer can name world leaders he admires

...such as Kim Jong-un, Saddam, Pol Pot, and of course, his butt buddy Putin

[BobbyDrake]

44. ROFLMAO! Maddow just ran a clip of Johnson saying "I need to get smarter" and 1 of her producers

laughed out loud from off-screen. Loudly!

[The_Casual_Observer]

52. But could name every variety of dope in the 420 shop

[BobbyDrake]

53. I doubt it. Whatever Johnson might say about weed, I don't see him as the kind of afficianado

that cares what style or blend he smokes. I bet he still puffs weed with stems and seeds in it, because that's how guys his age learned to do it.

[uponit7771]

69. +1

[Thinkingabout]

55. Typical Libertarian, they do not believe in going anywhere, why does Johnson even want to be

president, we do not live alone anymore, we are in a global society.

[Blue Idaho]

56. Is that guy stoned all the time or what?

His behavior is pretty damn erratic.

[Initech]

57. And people would throw away a perfectly good vote for these clowns???

[Third Doctor]

59. It boggles my mind too.

[Zambero]

60. To his credit

Johnson knew his town hall had been turned into burnt toast, and he didn't resort to a Palinism, which might have sounded something like: "All of them. I like all of them. Whichever ones happen to be around". He did grab a straw or two however, citing the late Shimon Peres, but Tweety wasn't going to give him a passing grade for that, not even "E" for effort.

[stopbush]

66. It was Weld who mentioned Peres, not Johnson.

[stopbush]

65. Nice set up by Tweety who had earlier asked him what he he thought of

Trump not prepping for his debate, then Johnson gets asked a softball question and absolutely freezes.

Guess who else didn't prep?

[Vinca]

67. If Bill Weld had any self respect at all, he would immediately bail.

Gary Johnson is not unlike your daffy Libertarian neighbor who refuses to believe Medicare is a government program. The man is as unqualified as Trump.

[uponit7771]

70. +1, when it comes to anything foreign he's childishly apathetic and when it comes to domestic....

.... issues outside his wheelhouse of less government he just goes to the "economy of scale" libertarian excuse because they don't want to look like assholes.

Police? economy of scale
Fire fighter? some economy of scale

Too much weed

[spiderpig]

71. Pit bull Tweety at his best.

I saw it live and was

[Sancho]

72. Let him debate...he's an idiot...

[oberliner]

73. He eventually came up with Vicente Fox

But he couldn't remember his name and needed help from Weld to do so.

[redstatebluegirl]

76. He has been smoking to much dope :-). His brain is fried.

[JCMach1]

83. Walking PSA on why not to become a pothead...

He, apparently, smokes on a regular basis (even daily). That was according to an interview I saw earlier in the Summer.