That would be the Libertarian Party which, for the first time one could argue, actually has a chance to make a real difference in a Presidential election. That’s what happens when the two major parties put up candidates both of whom have massively high “unfavorable” ratings, am I right?
Anyway, the Libertarians are having their convention this coming weekend, and there is a fair amount of energy about it. From The Hill:
[…]
The unpredictable political climate that has led to the rise of insurgents or outsiders like Trump and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders has provoked upheaval in both major parties, leading to what Libertarian Party leaders are describing as unprecedented interest in their cause.
According to Federal Election Commission filings analyzed by The Hill, the Libertarian National Committee took in $205,000 in April, its largest monthly haul since 2004.
“We are seeing a surge of support monetarily, and new memberships are skyrocketing,” said Nicholas Sarwark, the chairman of the Libertarian National Committee.
“In previous conventions, if you wanted to attend from Ohio and you couldn’t get a delegate spot in Ohio, there would be plenty of delegations with open seats you could fill. This time around, it’s crazy. We will approach our theoretical maximum.”
Gary Johnson, the former two-term Republican governor of deep-blue New Mexico, is the favorite to win the nomination. He was also the party’s standard-bearer in 2012, when he won 1.3 million votes.
Johnson has formed an alliance with former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, who hopes to serve as Johnson’s vice presidential candidate, although the party elects its presidential and vice presidential candidates separately.
Gov. Johnson is probably one of the best known of Libertarian candidates (more on him below). And Gov. Weld did a good job of governing Massachusetts. I lived there while he was the Governor, hence how I know, though I wouldn’t have said so at the time since he was a *GASP* Republican.
One issue in particular stood out with Weld, and that was his willingness to grant new hearings and commute the sentences of a number of women convicted of murder for defending themselves against their batterers. I worked on a couple of the commutation teams for the Framingham Eight, so know of his involvement on this issue personally. That Gov. Weld was willing to do so was no small thing as the Battered Women’s Defense was still a very new concept. So there is that.
There is more from The Hill about the rise of the Libertarians in 2016:
[…]
But all of the delegates to the convention will arrive unbound, so neither man is a lock to win on Sunday in a party known for its fierce independent streak.
The increased focus on the process could give an additional level of volatility at the convention. Sarwark said about 600 to 700 delegates attend in a normal presidential year.
He’s expecting at least 1,000 this year, plus at least 300 alternates and about 500 independent observers.
Missouri businessman Austin Petersen has mounted a credible challenge to Johnson. He has a big online presence and this week won the endorsement of veteran GOP strategist Mary Matalin, an adviser to both Bush administrations who recently switched her party affiliation from Republican to Libertarian.
Petersen is a rare anti-abortion Libertarian who believes he’s best positioned to attract support from Republicans.
“I will be the only pro-Constitution, limited-government conservative on the ballot,” he told The Hill. […] (Click here to read the rest.)
I am all for a legitimate Third Party candidate. Heaven knows, I cannot stomach the thought of voting for either Trump (ugh) or Clinton (blech).
But I also don’t know much about Gov. Johnson OR Austin Petersen. I am operating on the assumption I am not alone. Here is a little bit about both Johnson (here is a link on where he stands on the Issues) and Petersen with links so you can read more.
First up is a recent interview with Gov. Johnson:
And if you want to read more about where Gov. Johnson stands, you can click this link to OnTheIssues.org. That should tell answer questions on a host of questions you may have on where he stands.
Next up is Austin Petersen. Here is a recent interview Petersen did with Glenn Beck:
Who knew that Petersen was a Producer for Judge Napolitano? Interesting!
Petersen’s comments on squaring being a Libertarian and being Pro-Life was particularly compelling given recent revelations in this country regarding the harvesting and selling of fetus parts. And that was just the beginning of the conversation.
If you want to see where Petersen stands on the issues and what his platform is, you can click here to get answers to those questions.
I was particularly interested in what Petersen had to say about Illegal Immigration considering where Johnson stands on that issue (two year grace period for illegals before getting work visas, allowing some to stay). Petersen’s response that the laws that are on the books must be upheld was a good answer, in my opinion.
There are many more issues that are of importance with these two candidates (like Taxes), and choosing the right one so that there is a VIABLE third party alternative to Clinton or Trump.
What are your thoughts on these two men? I know some have expressed concerns about Gov. Johnson, so feel free to enumerate those concerns, and if the same concerns apply to Petersen. Or, have you already decided which one you like? Please feel free to share.
This is an Open Thread, so you can discuss any of the above, or whatever else is on your minds today. Have at it!
Tags: Battered Women's Syndrome, Framingham Eight, Gov. Bill Weld, Gov. Gary Johnson, Harvesting Baby Parts, Illegal Immigration, Libertarians, Pro-Life
May 26, 2016 at 10:58 am |
just announced that the donald has the numbers and will be the nominee. Your post is in good time. Gives me some choices so I can vote in the presidential election. It bothered me that for the first time in 56 years I was not going to vote for the top of the ticket
May 26, 2016 at 11:06 am |
UGH. Well, there you have it. The Republican Party has officially gone off the rails. Just like the Dem Party, which is now the Socialist Party.
And thanks, Helen – I know, I feel exactly the same way. That there will actually be someone else for whom I can vote otherwise I won’t be voting at all for the first time in my voting life.
May 26, 2016 at 11:43 am |
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/05/the_history_of_the_decline_and_fall_of_the_republican_party.html
good article on what went wrong and why
May 26, 2016 at 12:07 pm |
It is a good article, and timely indeed. Thanks for this, Helen!
May 26, 2016 at 11:54 am |
https://www.publicintegrity.org/2016/05/26/19719/meet-people-who-have-donated-both-hillary-clinton-and-donald-trump
this says a lot
May 26, 2016 at 12:03 pm |
Yes, it does say a great deal. Wow…
May 26, 2016 at 12:01 pm |
http://hotair.com/archives/2016/05/26/sources-tell-cbs-trump-was-totally-kidding-about-debating-bernie-and-itll-never-happen/
which is a bigger backtracker, obama or trump.
shall I start calling him backtrack 2?
May 26, 2016 at 12:28 pm |
You mean like when Trump backtracked on his Hillary praise last night and tried to reframe what he said? Uh, yeah: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/donald-trump-jimmy-kimmel-past-pro-clinton-comments/story?id=39384584
May 26, 2016 at 1:09 pm |
Obama didn’t “backtrack” until after he was elected. If Trump is backtracking to this extent now, imagine later. Quite honestly I don’t think you can believe a word either of these men says.
May 26, 2016 at 1:33 pm |
I hate to disagree with you dear Marge, but Backtrack Barack began his before the General. Here is (but one) post I wrote abt it at the time: http://rabblerouserruminations.blogspot.com/2008/08/another-day-another-flip.html
May 26, 2016 at 2:03 pm |
Sorry, I didn’t remember that. Quite honestly I tuned out much of the Obama information because just the sight of his smarmy face made me nauseous. My bad.
But at least this part of what I said is still true, “I don’t think you can believe a word either of these men says.”
May 26, 2016 at 2:06 pm |
LOL, no worries – and I COMPLETELY undesrtand tuning Obama out. I remember writing a number of posts abt Backtrack Barack back then, along with WORM: What Obama Really Meant.
And absolutely you are right – you CANNOT believe a word out of either man’s mouth. Not then, not now, not ever.
May 26, 2016 at 12:06 pm |
just because I needed something good to think about
https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/2016/05/25/what-these-two-college-students-invented-for-a-tech-competition-could-change-sign-language-forever/
what a difference in many people lives this will make when it is perfected
May 26, 2016 at 12:30 pm |
Oh, wow – that is SO cool! Thanks, Helen!
May 26, 2016 at 12:14 pm |
I have been debating with myself about rather to leave the top of the ballot blank or to vote 3rd party. Austin Peterson is my choice. He’s not perfect and doesn’t hit all the right notes but IMO he’s better than the alternative in the major parties and I don’t like Gary Johnson. I think he’s a phony.
Steve Deace did an interview with Peterson earlier and it didn’t go well for Austin. Didn’t change my mind because much as I like Deace I still make up my own mind. In my mind Deace wanted a Libertarian to be a Conservative. And Peterson isn’t.
Today I listen to the podcast of Deace’s program from last night and much as he still isn’t all the approving of Peterson he said something very positive about him perhaps, should he win the LP nomination, which I don’t think will happen, being the only one on the ballot in all 50 states who believe in protecting religious rights.
May 26, 2016 at 12:45 pm |
I appreciate your take on this so much, Marge. I don’t know why, but Johnson kind of reminds me of Kasich. And you know how I feel abt Kasich. I need to review his positions more since I don’t know that much abt him.
The interview with Petersen that Beck did was very good, I thought. I really like this energetic young man who is passionate abt his positions. That alone is unusual these days.
As for Deace, he is, after all, a recent card-carrying Republican-now-Independent who is a Conservative. That may include some Libertarians, but not all Libertarians are Conservatives, as I understand it. Many are socially progressive and financially conservative, which is what Johnson says. Not that Deace’s perspective isn’t an important one, of course, and I imagine he would be happier with a Johnson or Petersen than a Trump or Clinton Presidency (but I could be wrong).
But hey – that’s why we have minds of our own, am I right? Thanks for your input!
May 26, 2016 at 1:16 pm |
GM again. Johnson most definitely reminds me of Kasich and vs-versa.
Deace, like many who find God later in life tend to be a bit fanatical. I for instance am glad that when I go to meet my maker it is God who will judge me, not Steve Deace.
And be warned if you haven’t listened to last night’s show, Deace savages Trey Gowdy. And I’m not sure I don’t agree with him.
May 26, 2016 at 1:37 pm |
LOL – indeed – Johnson does, though. I haven’t seen him as much as I had to endure Kasich, but just the clip above was enough (not that the one above was the first time I had ever seen him, though).
ROTFL abt Deace and your maker. No kidding. I imagine God to be a bit more compassionate than many of my fellow humans! 🙂
I haven’t heard it yet, but now I MUST hear what he said abt Gowdy. Honestly, I thought Gowdy was one of the good guys. Not that he wasn’t human, of course, but that he had a moral compass. His endorsement of Trump showed loud and clear I was mistaken…
May 26, 2016 at 12:15 pm |
Ret. Navy Commander: Gitmo Has Not Led to Terror Recruiting Anymore Than a Movie Caused Benghazi Attack
Thomas Joscelyn, a senior fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, also served as a witness and offered a chilling narrative about the failure to mange Gitmo. Many detainees who are placed on “too dangerous to transfer” lists wind up getting approved, he explained.
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/cortneyobrien/2016/05/24/gitmo-hearing-n2168159
May 26, 2016 at 12:56 pm |
GOOD FOR HIM!!! Food for Commander Joscelyn to flat out tell Congress how idiotic is the claim by the Obama Administration abt GItmo making more terrorists. I hope that, for a change, Congress listens and does NOT allow Obama to release any more of these terrorists.
May 26, 2016 at 1:17 pm |
And how smart was it of him to use the phony Benghazi tape to make his point?
May 26, 2016 at 1:37 pm |
Brilliant!!
May 26, 2016 at 12:16 pm |
May 26, 2016 at 12:31 pm |
Wow, what an incredibly poignant cartoon…
May 26, 2016 at 12:21 pm |
http://canadafreepress.com/article/average-americans-are-stupid
what politicians think of the voters
May 26, 2016 at 1:25 pm |
I think I posted the Harsanyi article here. I know I read it and agreed with it.
We all know that the average voter has no more grasp of what is going on and how their government works, or doesn’t work than a baby. I would call them just uninformed, and some genuinely are, but most are too lazy to learn anything more than talking points.
It’s time and past time when we put at least some of the blame on the people that elect substandard, corrupt people who are unfit for any office let alone POTUS.
May 26, 2016 at 1:42 pm |
I get the point the author of the Canada Free Press article was making, but yes, people have to be held accountable for their voting choices. While people continued to clamor how much they disliked Obamacare and realized Obama lied through his teeth, THEY STILL RE-ELECTED HIM. No matter how many lies he and his minions have told, he was rewarded with another 4 yrs to wreak havoc. So, yeah – people have to be held to account.
And now Trump is the Republican nominee. Enough said.
When you look at the videos of the folks being asked abt the Fourth of July or other related historic or civic queries have demonstrated how ignorant they are abt our country, and our form of government.
Perhaps it is a both/and: there are the “elites” who think they are smarter than everyone else, and there are some really stupid people in this country.
May 26, 2016 at 1:44 pm |
Katie Couric Decried ‘Edited’ Planned Parenthood Footage, Then Doctored A Gun Owner Interview
By Mollie Hemingway
When the Planned Parenthood videos broke, Katie Couric jumped on the campaign to discredit them as ‘edited.’ Her new gun control documentary is inexcusable.
In “Under the Gun,” Couric asks a group of gun rights supporters, “If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?” The documentary filmmakers spliced in footage of the activists sitting silently for nine seconds. One man looks down, seemingly uncomfortable, during the awkward silence. The documentary then moves on to the next scene of a cylinder on a revolver being closed.
http://thefederalist.com/2016/05/26/katie-couric-decried-edited-planned-parenthood-footage-then-doctored-a-gun-owner-interview/
I am so tired of these phony “news” people and their damned agendas. I am not and never have been a Katie Couric fan. I wasn’t surprised when she failed as an anchor at CBS, even news readers need some hint of gravitas.
I was surprised her talk show “Katie” failed because she always seemed like Jerry Springer in a dress to me.
Now her job as a “Yahoo Reporter” may be in jeopardy because she’s so dishonest and lacking in any integrity.
She is a hypocrite of monumental proportions. I hope this sinks her once and for all. Otherwise she’s like one of those Halloween movies where the monster never dies even when he does.
May 26, 2016 at 2:09 pm |
I am not one bit surprised that Couric manipulated the video to support a forgone ideological conclusion she wanted to push. Nope, not one bit.
What I don’t understand is why people like Couric and Brian Williams continue to have jobs at all…
May 26, 2016 at 2:04 pm |
After Progressives Tried to Silence The Lord’s Prayer, Students Took it Into Their Own Hands
https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/05/students-sing-the-lords-prayer-at-graduation-despite-instructions-not-to#sthash.xmRUlZIZ.dpuf
May 26, 2016 at 2:10 pm |
LOVE this!! Good on them for not being silenced by some insecure, thin-skinned children.
May 27, 2016 at 9:07 am |
Some days when I feel so depressed and don’t see any hope – I run across a story like this and it brightens my day. These young people had more class, more courage, and more decency that most of our elected officials. I hope their parents are as proud of them as they should be. And proud of themselves for raising such outstanding human beings!
May 27, 2016 at 9:26 am |
I agree completely, Marge. They are a light, and a much needed one as Donald Trump has clinched the Republican nomination to run for the highest office not just in the land, but of the Free World.
Yes, we need these young people today…
May 26, 2016 at 2:25 pm |
Trump Is Suspicious of Vince Foster’s Death. Here Are 7 Things You Need To Know.
“It’s the one thing with her, whether it’s Whitewater or whether it’s Vince or whether it’s Benghazi. It’s always a mess with Hillary,” Trump said.
Trump went on to say that Foster’s death was “very fishy.”
“He [Foster] had intimate knowledge of what was going on,” Trump said. “He knew everything that was going on, and then all of a sudden he committed suicide.”
“I don’t bring [Foster’s death] up because I don’t know enough to really discuss it,” Trump continued. “I will say there are people who continue to bring it up because they think it was absolutely a murder. I don’t do that because I don’t think it’s fair.”
http://www.dailywire.com/news/5998/trump-suspicious-vince-fosters-death-here-are-7-aaron-bandler
And people would actually vote for this weasel for POTUS?
I have no love for Hillary Clinton but these conspiracy theories are just nuts.
There is plenty to loathe her for without resorting to this kind of tabloid crap.
May 26, 2016 at 7:26 pm |
mute this while watching
May 26, 2016 at 7:35 pm |
http://www.youngcons.com/absolutely-greatest-obama-joke-time/
bad joke but true
May 26, 2016 at 7:46 pm |
http://www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/first-deposition-testimony-clinton-email-discovery-released/
beginning
May 26, 2016 at 7:53 pm |
Oh, boy. Here we go, huh?
May 27, 2016 at 7:25 am |
I am really glad Sen. Cotton gave Harry Reid the send-off he deserved: http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/05/tom-cotton-gives-harry-reid-a-proper-send-off/
May 27, 2016 at 9:13 am |
Took guts and honesty. Something sadly lacking in the GOP. Sadly I suspect Schumer will replace Reid and he’s a smoother snake in the grass but a snake in the grass none-the-less.
On the other side of the aisle is the dishonest weasel called McConnell. Ted Cruz called him what he is – a liar. This is our Senate.
The corruption of the Roman Senate ultimately led to the end of the Roman Empire. A fate I suspect awaits us if we don’t throw them out. And I fear the gimmees will continue to vote for whoever promises the most.
May 27, 2016 at 8:20 am |
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/26/hillary-clinton-emails-judge-orders-video-cheryl-m/
no video but there will be transcripts released
May 27, 2016 at 8:34 am |
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/05/the_perils_of_trump.html
going off the deep end.
this is from newt
May 27, 2016 at 12:51 pm |
Well, it certainly begs the question why Newt ever supported Trump in the first place. It isn’t like this is the FIRST time he has said something incendiary and outrageous abt other Republicans – oh wait, I mean, Republicans, since Trump ISN’T one. So yeah – why in the hell did Newt EVER get in bed with Trump? Talk abt “going off the deep end…”
May 27, 2016 at 8:38 am |
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/05/james_comey_enforcing_the_law_requires_indicting_hillary_clinton.html
will he gave the fortitude to do this
May 27, 2016 at 8:39 am |
have the fortitude
May 27, 2016 at 9:14 am |
Will he be allowed. The pressure on him must be nearly overwhelming. As the Dem convention approaches, July 25th, Comey’s refusal to give in is causing hysterics amongst the Dems.
May 27, 2016 at 12:51 pm |
I guess time will tell on that one, Helen. People keep saying that Comey is a man of integrity, but sadly, we have heard that before and have it not be true. Still, we can hope…
May 27, 2016 at 8:49 am |
http://fox5sandiego.com/2016/05/25/teen-keeps-american-flag-from-hitting-the-ground/
something good today, especially on this weekend
May 27, 2016 at 12:53 pm |
Wow, what a patriotic young man!
May 27, 2016 at 9:35 am |
http://www.dcclothesline.com/2016/05/27/6-giant-corporations-control-the-media-and-americans-consume-10-hours-of-programming-a-day/
during the late 60s and early 70s i worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspaper. At that time there were hundreds of independent newspapers across the country. They were slowly being bought out of merging with others. We were talking back then about how some day there would be fewer independents and many papers would be owned by a few corporations. this would restrict the flow of information. It has happened.
May 27, 2016 at 9:55 am |
May 27, 2016 at 9:58 am |
May 27, 2016 at 11:22 am |
Those two cartoons are PERFECT, Helen!