Libertarians throw election

[Pb]

I want to be head of the BATFE.

I will then declare every gun ever made has a "sporting purpose."

And then fire everyone, and hire NRA life members ONLY.

[KD5NRH]

I will then declare every gun ever made has a "sporting purpose."

Even if it is just to be a boat anchor.

[K Frame]

I thought we were trying NOT to start new wars?

Well where's the fun in that?

[MechAg94]

Even if it is just to be a boat anchor.

No, you need a big powerful magnet as a boat anchor to try to find all those guns that were lost in tragic boating accidents.

[bedlamite]

This is as good a place as any for this particular facepalm:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/08/politics/gary-johnson-aleppo/

[Scout26]

I want to be head of the BATFE.

I will then declare every gun ever made has a "sporting purpose."

And then fire everyone, and hire NRA life members ONLY.

The final six words were completely un-neccessary....

[erictank]

This is as good a place as any for this particular facepalm:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/08/politics/gary-johnson-aleppo/

If we were to disqualify candidates from office based on gaffes during public interviews, who'd be left to run again?  Oh, right - no one.  Both Trump and Hillary have done worse, in the past month alone, for God's sake.

At least Johnson owned up to his.  And more Americans than ever now know at least a little about the situation in Syria, because of the Google search they did on hearing about this.

The NYT having to issue a correction on their would-be "gotcha" - and then another correction to the first correction, within 3 hours of the first publication - was just icing on that cake.

[seeker_two]

I want to be head of the BATFE.

I will then declare every gun ever made has a "sporting purpose."

And then fire everyone, and hire NRA life members ONLY.

The final six words were completely un-neccessary....

....especially if you're firing yourself, too.

[MechAg94]

The final six words were completely un-neccessary....

Unless you are also going to get rid of NFA, someone has to print and send out all the NFA tax stamps. 

[MechAg94]

If we were to disqualify candidates from office based on gaffes during public interviews, who'd be left to run again?  Oh, right - no one.  Both Trump and Hillary have done worse, in the past month alone, for God's sake.

At least Johnson owned up to his.  And more Americans than ever now know at least a little about the situation in Syria, because of the Google search they did on hearing about this.

The NYT having to issue a correction on their would-be "gotcha" - and then another correction to the first correction, within 3 hours of the first publication - was just icing on that cake.

I had to look at the link to find out what Aleppo was.  Who gives a crap.  It is Syria.  What do we gain by "doing" something about that place?  I think many of the problems over there are due to President Obama "doing something" in the Middle East to start with.

[Perd Hapley]

Unless you are also going to get rid of NFA, someone has to print and send out all the NFA tax stamps. 

You had me at "get rid of NFA."

I had to look at the link to find out what Aleppo was.  Who gives a crap.  It is Syria.  What do we gain by "doing" something about that place?  I think many of the problems over there are due to President Obama "doing something" in the Middle East to start with.

You kind of have a point. That was also my first reaction. On the other hand, our Commander-in-Chief needs to at least be well-aware of what's going on in the world of people who inspire acts of occasional and bloody violence against us. Doesn't necessarily mean he should do anything, but to be caught unawares by a question like that - well - it's embarrassing.

[roo_ster]

It is a whole lot easier than the usual "Who is the president of Turkmenistan?" sort of question directed at Republican POTUS-tential candidates.  Johnson got off easy.

FTR, I have been following the goings-on in Syria and recognized the reference. 

Here's the thing: I also suspect just about anyone who has read the Bible could place Aleppo in Syria and understand it was a question about the Syria mess.

So, what we learn from only this misstep is that GJ:
1. Is not following the Syria mess.
2. Does not read the Bible much.

No, it doesn't indicate he is completely unfit to be POTUS.  But it does indicate he might be spending too much time smoking his own stash rather than keeping up with foreign policy issues and is pig-ignorant of 1/3 the founding influences of Western Civilization (and is pretty much a Philistine).

[Perd Hapley]

I just did a search for Aleppo (and a few alternate spellings) in a few of the more common translations, and didn't find it. Wiki says it is mentioned in one verse of the Apocrypha (so it would occur in the minority of KJVs that are so equipped). Not exactly the kind of thing one hears or reads of often, in American Christian communities.

[MechAg94]

If they had asked him about Syria, he would likely have had an answer.  I don't care if a candidate knows obscure foreign policy facts like this.  That is why Presidents have people and advisers working for them.  Do I need to know the name of the current leader of Venezuela to know there are a bunch of commies down there running the country into the ground? 

IMO, this means more to the media than it does to the average voter.  IMO, many of the media people making hay of it wouldn't have answered any better.

I find myself defending the guy and I have no plans to vote for him.  However, I heard a radio commercial he did the other day.  It was probably the best political ad I have heard in a long time. 

[erictank]

If they had asked him about Syria, he would likely have had an answer. 

My understanding is that he did.  Apparently, after the grossly-unprofessional on-air "Are you kidding me?" reaction from the interviewer, he said "Aleppo, Syria?", and Johnson had a valid response.  A quick look shows that BBC actually reported on the whole thing, rather than just the first part, and confirms that it happened that way.

But that's not conforming to the narrative.  And doesn't promote ridicule of the stoner.  So we don't see that in our media.

[Perd Hapley]

My understanding is that he did.  Apparently, after the grossly-unprofessional on-air "Are you kidding me?" reaction from the interviewer, he said "Aleppo, Syria?", and Johnson had a valid response. 

I agree they were very unprofessional with the "Are you kidding" stuff, but his response was not exactly as you describe it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOT_BoGpCn4

[erictank]

It was a political answer, sure.  What were you looking for?

[Hawkmoon]

This is as good a place as any for this particular facepalm:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/08/politics/gary-johnson-aleppo/

I'm not sure I consider that a facepalm moment. The word "Aleppo" meant nothing to me. It's bad enough we have gotten ourselves entangled in affairs in Syria as a country. Once you start narrowing things down to individual cities in countries where we shouldn't be involved in the first place -- well, the term "micromanaging" comes to mind.

I guess I'm a hard-hearted bastard, but IMHO the first priority of the President of the United States should be the people of the United States. Our military exists, and we pay taxes to support it, for the purpose of defending the United States. I don't see how our intervention on Syria is making the United States safer for U.S. citizens and lawful residents -- and those are the only people who should count when making policy decisions.

So who cares about "Aleppo"?

[Perd Hapley]

It was a political answer, sure.  What were you looking for?

That's not what I mean. Johnson didn't say "Aleppo, Syria" (or anything else) until after they left-splained to him that it was a city in Syria, etc. Maybe he already knew that. Maybe he didn't. Don't know.

[Jamisjockey]

I saw an infographic on Syria.  It was the last several months of google searches, and it was way down at the bottom of the graph.  And then it spiked way up after the Aleppo gaff.
The average voter has no idea where the *expletive deleted*ck Syria is on a map, much less what Aleppo is.
One of the news outlets identified it as the headquarters of ISIS recently.
Trump is running around promising to murder suspected terrorists families. 
Hillary has made absolute statements that she won't have any troops in Iraq anymore (cough..bullshit)
Johnson owned up to the gaff and was contrite over it.
I'm not swayed.

[KD5NRH]

Trump is running around promising to murder suspected terrorists families.

Personally?  This could make for a truly great season of The Apprentice.