Chris Mathews was hosting a Town Hall with the two Libertarian candidate today. I couldn’t help but be struck by something that became clear, the the head of the Ticket, Gary Johnson, is beyond bizarre. The rational one, is the veep candidate, William Weld, as you will see in this home brew video
Johnson deciding that Hillary is the loose cannon — and saying so.
Mathews later said, “We’re getting a lot of Twitter reaction, do you mean what you said? Johnson said “Yes, she would shoot, she would shoot.”
Earlier in the program, after his response to a question about Syria was, “We have to get together with Russia…...” And after he described the complexity, the various groups that are at odds with anger. I said to my wife, “He just described a litany of problems, of multiple groups with different interests, with increasing anger, which usually means you are setting up an resolution, a solution. But he’s just listing them and saying we should get together with Russia, as if we didn’t make that attempt a week ago that is now completely failed. “
Johnson’s ramblings actually makes Trump seem coherent in comparison. And that’s not easy to do.
After a break , Mathews said it’s time for a lightening round. He turned to Johnson and said, “Name your favorite national leader in the world.” After he paused for a few seconds and Johnson was staring blankly, Mathews repeated, “Someone you like, it can be in any continent America, Europe, Asia …..anywhere.” Johnson continued this blank stare, and finally he said, “ I guess I’m having an Aleppo moment. This was a reference to a recent interview where he was asked about the horrible suffering in this city and the attempt to form a brief alliance with Russia for a humanitarian cease fire. He had repeated the word, “Alleppo,” and then, “what’s that?”
It would be funny, except this ticket has supporters, and both men as of now are exhorting them to cast their votes for it. When asked who would be preferable between the two major candidates, Johnson says, “None, vote for our ticket.” And, as he says it there’s a childlike gleam in his eye. He’s having a grand time. He can spout the absurdity that Hillary, as President, will order a nuclear attack, with no justification of such irrationality in her entire career. He says it because it popped into his mind, as he has no idea of the effect this can have. Here's a WaPo article about this with some videos
As a postscript, let me say I know about senior moments, of not being able to remember things you’ve known all your life. It afflicts most older people to some degree or the other. But Gary Johnson could very well sway enough votes to determine who will be the next President, and based on his free association, to the great fear of the entire world, it could be the actual candidate who presents a serious danger to our world.
William Weld should no longer be the caboose of this train. It's time for, at the very least, he follow through with an endorsement of Clinton. And he could do this without even leaving the ticket, as that’s an expression of the freedom of the Libertarian ethos that he represents.