Octopus Overlords

Kurth wrote:I thought the dynamic between Johnson and Weld was a little off, with Johnson often deferring to Weld and Weld often taking lead and overshadowing Johnson.

Moliere wrote: It was both understandable and disappointing when Johnson is ducking questions about victimless crimes like prostitution. Just say it should be legalized and regulated. Move on. No reason to make vague references to Nevada and the women being the real victims.

Last Friday the Cornell University Republicans endorsed Libertarian Gary Johnson for president, calling him "the true conservative in this election" and saying "this election's unprecedented nature has made blind commitment to our Party unpalatable." But blind commitment is what political parties are all about, so the very next day the New York Federation of College Republicans decertified the Cornell chapter, insisting that you cannot be a true Repubican if you aren't willing to swallow the steaming pile of shit that is Donald Trump.

"Clubs are within their right not to endorse certain candidates within the party and decide to reallocate their resources down the ballot," the state federation explained on Facebook. "What is unacceptable, however, is using a party-affiliated organization as a tool to support another party's candidate in an election, whomever that candidate may be and whatever office the election may be for."

Asked on Wednesday's "Morning Joe" what he would do if elected president about the city in Syria at the center of the refugee crisis, Johnson earnestly asked: "What is Aleppo?"

"You're kidding me," responded Mike Barnicle, who had asked the question, and then began to explain what Aleppo is to the candidate.

"OK, got it, got it," Johnson said, cutting him off. He added: "With regard to Syria I do think it's a mess. mess. I think that the only way that we deal with Syria is to join hands with Russia to diplomatically bring that at an end."

"It's just a mess," he said.

UPDATE: Following the "Morning Joe" interview, Johnson told Mark Halperin on camera that he's "incredibly frustrated with himself."

"No one is taking this more seriously than me, I feel horrible," the governor said. "I have to get smarter, and that's just part of the process."

Isgrimnur wrote:I have no problem with the candidates getting smarter. I just think that two months prior to the election is well past the best window of opportunity.

Isgrimnur wrote:Aleppo?

Asked on Wednesday's "Morning Joe" what he would do if elected president about the city in Syria at the center of the refugee crisis, Johnson earnestly asked: "What is Aleppo?"

"You're kidding me," responded Mike Barnicle, who had asked the question, and then began to explain what Aleppo is to the candidate.

Blackhawk wrote:a misspelled tuber

Isgrimnur wrote:

Blackhawk wrote:a misspelled tuber

Regardless, with the explanation it didn't come across as a momentary loss of recall, it comes across as a complete lack of knowledge. Those are potatoes of a different color.

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times quickly published the definitive piece for the paper of record excoriating Johnson for his ignorance. Unfortunately for Rappeport, his piece was also riddled with errors. Unlike Johnson, who was asked a question on the spot, the New York Times reporter had the Internet, paid editors, and all the time in the world to help him avoid making a bunch of embarrassing errors.

In spite of all that, NYT was still forced to publish not one, but two corrections of Rappeport’s reporting:

GreenGoo wrote:For the record I have never heard the name spoken. If someone asked me about it I might have to ask them what they are talking about because I might not recognize the pronunciation.

In any case, I'm willing to give him a pass. Seems like an unfortunate blanking that he recovered from quickly. Not with anything useful, but at least it wasn't another "huh?".

Alefroth wrote:Since foreign policy is a minor part of the Libertarian platform, I don't see it as much of a gaffe.

GreenGoo wrote:For the record I have never heard the name spoken. If someone asked me about it I might have to ask them what they are talking about because I might not recognize the pronunciation.

In any case, I'm willing to give him a pass. Seems like an unfortunate blanking that he recovered from quickly. Not with anything useful, but at least it wasn't another "huh?".

Holman wrote:Really? I hear the name on NPR all the time, and the pronunciation is simple. It's "Aleppo," not "Uzbekibekibekistanstan."

More to the point, I would expect a candidate for the presidency to be involved in discussions about it. Aleppo is the Sarajevo of its civil war.

Holman wrote:

GreenGoo wrote:For the record I have never heard the name spoken. If someone asked me about it I might have to ask them what they are talking about because I might not recognize the pronunciation.

In any case, I'm willing to give him a pass. Seems like an unfortunate blanking that he recovered from quickly. Not with anything useful, but at least it wasn't another "huh?".

Really? I hear the name on NPR all the time, and the pronunciation is simple. It's "Aleppo," not "Uzbekibekibekistanstan."

More to the point, I would expect a candidate for the presidency to be involved in discussions about it. Aleppo is the Sarajevo of its civil war.

Moliere wrote:Interesting how much heat he's getting for admitting that he doesn't know something and asking questions before giving a response. Has Clinton or Trump ever done that?

Sepiche wrote:

Holman wrote:Really? I hear the name on NPR all the time, and the pronunciation is simple. It's "Aleppo," not "Uzbekibekibekistanstan."

More to the point, I would expect a candidate for the presidency to be involved in discussions about it. Aleppo is the Sarajevo of its civil war.

This. The average American may not know about Aleppo, but before the war it was the largest city in Syria, and it has been making headlines for years as a major focal point of the civil war. Not to even mention the humanitarian crisis that continues to unfold there. It should be well known to anyone following the news out of Syria to any degree and anyone running for president should know a lot more than just the name.

For all the goofiness of the Libertarian party I always thought Gary Johnson was at least a credible candidate for president, but I'm not so sure after that performance, although credit to him for owning up to the mistake.

This morning, I began my day by setting aside any doubt that I'm human. Yes, I understand the dynamics of the Syrian conflict -- I talk about them every day. But hit with 'What about Aleppo?', I immediately was thinking about an acronym, not the Syrian conflict. I blanked. It happens, and it will happen again during the course of this campaign.

Can I name every city in Syria? No. Should I have identified Aleppo? Yes. Do I understand its significance? Yes.

As Governor, there were many things I didn't know off the top of my head. But I succeeded by surrounding myself with the right people, getting to the bottom of important issues, and making principled decisions. It worked. That is what a President must do.

That would begin, clearly, with daily security briefings that, to me, will be fundamental to the job of being President.

GreenGoo wrote:I didn't say I didn't know what it was, I said I have no idea how it's pronounced, since I've never heard it spoken.
I don't watch tv news, I don't watch tv news format shifted to video on the internet. I don't discuss the middle east with anyone verbally.

GreenGoo wrote: Is he a bad guy for not recognizing what he's being asked about, or is he a bad guy because he doesn't know what Aleppo is? Because he's only guilty of the first.

Gary Johnson wrote: When you recognize what’s going on in Syria, when you recognize that Aleppo is in kinda the epicenter between ... Aleppo! Umm, knowing that there’s a city between the two forces, really at the epicenter, but not remembering or recognizing that that’s Aleppo ... guilty.

Moliere wrote: Balanced Rebellion
Get paired up with another voter from the opposite party so neither of you are helping the opposing candidate. It keeps you from having to vote for someone you don't like to prevent helping someone you hate.