The first presidential debate of 2016 is now history, and it appears almost certain that the United States is in heap big trouble. Unless, of course, people wake up and take this country back.
Businessman Donald Trump is a bombastic firebrand with a questionable grasp on the issues and apparently no concrete plans for much of anything. He has made some major flip flops on important issues and has put forth some proposals that are totally counter to the Republican ideals he’s supposed to represent.
His redeeming qualities are that he’s rich, he’s not afraid to step on anyone’s toes, and he has little or no use for the political establishment that has made a wreck of this country.
This all means that Trump is just infinitesimally a better choice that his Democratic opponent, a former first lady turned senator turned Secretary of State now making her second run at the White House. Hillary Clinton is, to be kind, a pathological liar who is corrupt, arrogant, angry, and above the law. Clinton wants bigger government, more regulations, more rules on business, and for the rich to “pay their fair share”… whoever “the rich” are.
The secretary’s best attribute, for many, is that she isn’t Donald Trump.
Most people on both sides of the aisle, if they are honest, will tell you that they wish there was someone else to vote for but they plan to hold their nose and vote for one because he or she isn’t the other.
There is another option. You don’t have to vote for Trump or Clinton. You have another choice., and that person is Gov. Gary Johnson.
The Libertarian candidate is polling higher than Ross Perot was in the 1992 election, but due to the rules of the “non-partisan” (and yet run by Republicans and Democrats) Commission on Presidential Debates, the former governor of New Mexico has been excluded from the national stage.
Johnson polls high with young people and with active duty military people. He’s a two-term former Republican governor from a strongly Democratic state, which demonstrates his ability to work with people with different views.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a presidential candidate who could do more than hurl personal insults or work to force their will on other people?
Our problems today have been created by our two-party system, but Johnson offers a fresh approach. He offers the chance to have a president who will govern from the position that We the People should be afforded the most liberty possible.
That will surely freak out some conservatives who want everyone to fit perfectly into their morality cookie cutter as well as some liberals who want the government to regulate and control the economy. But I think it’s safe to say that most people want the government to just leave them the hell alone. And that’s what Gary Johnson stands for… leaving people the hell alone. Get the government, as much as is reasonably possible, out of our daily lives so that we can live up to the best potential that our God given talents will allow.
Do I agree with every position that Gov. Johnson has taken? No, I don’t. And that’s okay. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we agree on the big things… free markets, personal liberty, and limited government.
If either Donald or Hillary are elected, the partisan divide will only deepen in America. And I’m not sure how much further we can divide before this nation gets finally torn asunder.
Johnson offers a third choice, and I dare say it’s a better choice. We’ve tried a Clinton before, and Trump represents the worst of the conservative stereotypes. Let’s at least look at something else before casting a vote.
At the very least, America deserves to hear what Gary Johnson has to say. And the only people who can make that happen is the Commission on Presidential Debates. They have denied him that right once. Let us hope they can be persuaded to join the next two debates. He’s on the ballot in all 50 states, and he has earned the right to be heard. And then the People can listen and decide for themselves the fate of this Union.
Meanwhile…
Your humble editor is waiting patiently for the hand-wringers and the nannies to call for imposing waiting periods or perhaps background checks for purchases of pressure cookers.
This comes after a terrorist earlier this month killed people in New York with a bomb made from a pressure cooker. He didn’t use a gun, so we’ve been spared the onslaught of demands for more gun regulations, but the anti-gunners have not yet clamored for measures to keep us safe from pressure cookers. The suspect behind the bombing has, however, been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction.
I personally have been quite leery of these weapons ever since the lid blew off my Memaw’s pressure cooker about 30 years ago and sent frijoles all over her kitchen and sent my cousin’s wife and I running for our lives. I’m here to tell you these things are dangerous and scary and ought to at least be used only by people who are properly licensed.
Of course, I don’t know what we do about it. Even if you get some new rules in place, there are already a lot of pressure cookers out there in houses all over America. And this guy – the madman that he is – probably did not go buy his at a reputable dealer like Bed Bath & Beyond or Henson’s. No, you can bet your beans that this guy got his pressure cooker at some back alley garage sale where the serial numbers had been scratched off.
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