Left & Right for Gary Johnson?

I'd like to think so. Libertarians always like to think they have something in common with both Left and Right wingers. I'm always looking for ways to convey that.

This piece on why conservatives should support Gary Johnson for President was posted on Johnson's Facebook page a while back. I asked in commenting on it if anybody could come up with a similar piece with reasons liberals should support Johnson. I got no suggestions.

I wasn't really surprised as most liberals generally lean more authoritarian than most conservatives. I'm not saying that's always the case, just generally. Less government and more individual liberty isn't exactly the liberal's rallying cry. Still, there should be some common areas of agreement.

I received this commentary through the Johnson 2012 e-mail list the other day. Why Gary Johnson Should Terrify The Democrats does a pretty good job of laying out some common ground between Gary Johnson and The Left.

I don't know that I'd go so far to say either Left or Right should be afraid of Gary Johnson. Despite all the rhetoric about people being fed up with the two major political parties, incumbents and politics as usual, they'll still likely vote the same way they always have.

Gary Johnson on FOX Tonight

Past two term Governor of New Mexico and Libertarian Party Presidential hopeful, Gary Johnson, will be on TV tonight with John Stossel on the FOX Business Network. 8:30pm Eastern Time which I believe is 5:30pm Pacific Time.

Gary Johnson Talks Pot With MPP

Past two- term Governor of New Mexico and Libertarian Party Presidential hopeful, Gary Johnson, will participate in an online "town hall" meeting today, Monday, January 9 with the Marijuana Policy Project's Robert Kampia. It's planned to run from 5 to 7pm Pacific Time and can be viewed at Johnson's campaign web site.

I'm guessing this will be seen on his actual web site and not the cover page the url first sends you to. If your screen resolution is like mine, you'll need to scroll down to the bottom right of the cover page and click on the "Continue to GaryJohnson2012.com" link.

ACLU's 2012 Presidential Candidate Scorecard

I was pleased to see my favorite, Gary Johnson, come in at the top of the American Civil Liberties Union presidential candidate report on civil liberties (warning: .pdf file). Good ol' Ron Paul comes in second with Obama at third. For some reason the report didn't include the drug war or death penalty, as Radley Balko reports.

Love or hate the ACLU, it's good to see someone besides the libertarians and the Libertarian Party paying attention to civil liberties issues.

Greenhut's 2012 Freedom Forecast

Steve Greenhut takes a look at freedom's prospects in the year ahead.

Gary Johnson's Announcement

I'm not sure if this is what he said at his formal announcement today, but this piece from his web site must be pretty much the gist of it and tells where his head's at.

Ron Paul: Isolationist?

Nice piece from Reason magazine on claims Republican candidate for President, Ron Paul, is an "isolationist". One quote sums that claim up: "This is like calling him a recluse because he tries to avoid fistfights."

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Speaking of the Republican candidates: My choice, Gary Johnson, is rumored to be giving up on the Republican nomination and seeking the Libertarian Party's instead. This fellow from CNN claims he's confirmed it.

I certainly don't blame Gary as he's pretty much been ignored by both his party and the media from the start. I realize he'll probably get no more votes running as an LP candidate than their candidates normally do but that's still more than he will if he sticks with the Republicans.

And, at least that would give me someone to vote for.

Forgetting (Ignoring) Ron Paul

Fun clip from Jon Stewart's Monday show where he takes on the media for ignoring Ron Paul, despite Paul's second place showing in the Iowa caucus.

Fun as that is, I'm fit to be tied when I see the media and political parties ignore candidates that call it the way they see it, instead of trying to bullshit everyone as the establishment candidates often do.

Being a Gary Johnson supporter is much worse. They wouldn't even let him participate in the debates.

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Addendum: Salon magazine has a nice commentary related to this. They even go so far as to mention former Governor Gary Johnson. Mention of Ron Paul and Gary Johnson starts with paragraph 6 and closes with this one:

The steadfast ignoring of Ron Paul -- and the truly bizarre un-personhood of Gary Johnson -- has ensured that, yet again, those views will be excluded and the blurring of partisan lines among ordinary citizens on crucial issues will be papered over. That's precisely the opposite effect that a healthy democratic election would produce.