“I am finally done with voting for the lesser of two evils… I am not just for Johnson/Weld 2016. I am *enthusiastically* for Johnson/Weld 2016.”

 

No, New Zealanders can’t vote in the American presidential elections. (Can someone please inform the more rabid locals who hallucinate otherwise?)

One of the more sane Americans I know living in New Zealand can vote, however, and she’s enthusiastic about a third-party candidate with more experience than either of the big-party teams. Listen up:

I am finally done with voting for the lesser of two evils. I have reached my limit. Many of you who were much wiser than me reached this limit a long time ago.

I get the general fear factor over Trump. I’ve spent a lot of time, with equal parts horror and fascination, analyzing him. But I cannot in good conscience pull the lever for Hillary Clinton merely because she’d be more predictable with the nuclear launch codes, even though I've contemplated doing so. I think this deserves a brief diversion because my own FB wall has been a general avalanche of Trump articles for nearly a year now.

Hillary Clinton very likely had Vince Foster, and possibly a dozen other people connected to Whitewater, killed. Add to this all of the rest of her murderous and traitorous scandals of the past 20 years (PardonGate, SniperGate, FoundationGate, BenghaziGate, EmailGate).

None of this should ever, ever be forgotten in America's current range-of-the-moment, attention-span-of-a-gerbil, theater-of-the-absurd — in which otherwise decent people ponder casting a vote for a vile, predictable psychopathic killer in order to prevent a vile, unpredictable, vulgar, misogynistic, racist, would-be psychopathic killer from achieving the highest elected office in the world.

And while I have used the ‪#‎neverTrump‬ and ‪#‎neverHillary‬ hashtags in the past, I’m done with them now. My political views are not based on negatives and what I am against.

I am for the Constitution. I am for individual rights. I am for free markets. I am for liberty.

Gary Johnson fulfills most of the above. And here’s something even more important to me than a candidate’s ability to mouth the right platitudes: a clear record of course-correction on quite a few issues over the years. (I've watched him closely over the years, and I'd be happy to discuss those details in the comments for those who wonder what they are.) Johnson is not an inflexible person who cannot admit his mistakes or errors.

This ties into that matter of character. While Johnson might lack polish, he is a sane, compassionate, honest, decent, and accomplished man with mostly good ideas.

It doesn’t get much better than that.

Our individual votes matter little. Yet what we do to influence how others vote probably matters quite a lot.

This is why, like the porcupine in my avatar, I bristle when people go to great lengths to give endless disclaimers about Gary Johnson, as they admit they will maybe… probably... grudgingly… finally... vote for him.

With friends like that, who needs enemies?

I am not just for Johnson/Weld 2016. I am enthusiastically for Johnson/Weld 2016.

As if you couldn’t tell. :)

 

RELATED POSTS:

• And 2000 news articles (literally) about the Libertarian Party in the past 7 days.
  Gary Johnson Supporters 2016
• Within minutes of Gary Johnson being named as the Libertarian Party nominee, he is dismissed by Donald Trump as a “fringe candidate.” Johnson supporters cheer.
  Donald Trump dismisses Gary Johnson as a ‘fringe candidate’ – WASHINGTON TIMES
  Libertarian Gary Johnson: This could be year for third party – STAR-TELEGRAM
• Young people are the ones who have borne the brunt of the past two administrations' horrible policies. Maybe they'll wind up saving us from this mess.
  Do Not Dismiss Gary Johnson and the Libertarians – John Zogby, FORBES
• "Just when everything seems lost, you look around and see something beautiful.
  "What we have developing here is a new epoch in American politics: an authentically liberal (in the classical sense) political movement in the US is being born as an alternative to a deeply corrupt and ideologically dangerous mainstream dominated by two parties that have trended inexorably socialist and fascist.
      “In terms of mainstream politics, it’s the interwar period all over again: brown shirts versus reds. Except for this: there is a way out this time. This new movement has a message that is clean and clear: enough is enough, let us be free. Freedom works; government power does not. The emergence of a national political party that stands for liberty might be necessary but it is surely not sufficient. It is a sign of the rise of a broader and potentially transformative social, cultural, and intellectual movement that offers a third way beyond left and right."
  The GOP Implosion and the Rebirth of (Classical) Liberalism – Jeffrey Tucker, FEE

.