Note: In the interest of disclosure I guess I should mention that I used to be a Detroit News contributor. Not sure why it would matter, but there you go.
You may have read that the Detroit News "for the first time in its 143 history" endorsed a presidential candidate that wasn't a Republican. Technically that's true, but the paper also failed to endorse a Republican in 2004, when it refused to lend its support to George W Bush. That's fine, and it's their right to do so, but what they did today makes absolutely no sense.
That's because, instead of endorsing "no one," they went "NeverTrump" by offering their rubber stamp to an abject joke of a ticket: alleged Libertarians Gary Johnson and Bill Weld.
Here's what the News had to say:
The 2016 nominee offered by the Republican Party rubs hard against the editorial board’s values as conservatives and Americans. Donald Trump is unprincipled, unstable and quite possibly dangerous. He can not be president. …
So we find ourselves in the same position as a vast number of voters in looking for an option other than skipping the presidential portion of the ballot.
Gary Johnson meets that need.
Johnson, they say, is principled in that he believes an individual "should have maximum freedom to navigate his or her personal decision-making" and he's a free-trade advocate who's vowed to sign "The gold standard of trade deals," TPP.
The problem, of course, is that they overlook a few things. First and foremost is his ridiculous lack of knowledge about global affairs. At a time when the world's geopolitical situation is dangerously perilous, how can you endorse a man who would utter the phrase "What is Aleppo?" How can you give your support to a candidate who, just yesterday, was incapable of naming a single world leader?
...That clip brings us to the second big problem with Johnson: His VP pick is deeply troubling. The simple fact that Bill Weld admires Merkel - a globalist who continually subjugates the rights of her nation's citizens in the name of multiculturalism and sits at the center of the EU's implosion - shows that he's well removed from the cause of individual sovereignty. Add to that his support for gun control, the United Nations, eminent domain, and affirmative action, and you've got a guy who should be anathema to any sane Libertarian.
Oh, and then there's this classic Bill Weld moment:
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If Gary Johnson is the bona fide Libertarian he claims to be - and if the Detroit News thinks his ticket is so wonderful - why is he partnering with a pro-Obama V.P.?
I can hear the Libertarians now: "Trump has many of those same problems - and others." They're right. He does. This isn't a defense of Trump. Both of my preferred candidates were eliminated early, so I understand those who won't support either of the two main options. That's their choice. The point here is that endorsing a candidate who has no chance of winning, has no business being Commander in Chief, and who does this...
...is patently absurd.
Don't like Trump? I get it. Endorse these two? You've abandoned reason and squandered your credibility - especially when you could have repeated your previous position and refused to endorse anyone.
Note: In the interest of disclosure I guess I should mention that I used to be a Detroit News contributor. Not sure why it would matter, but there you go.
You may have read that the Detroit News "for the first time in its 143 history" endorsed a presidential candidate that wasn't a Republican. Technically that's true, but the paper also failed to endorse a Republican in 2004, when it refused to lend its support to George W Bush. That's fine, and it's their right to do so, but what they did today makes absolutely no sense.
That's because, instead of endorsing "no one," they went "NeverTrump" by offering their rubber stamp to an abject joke of a ticket: alleged Libertarians Gary Johnson and Bill Weld.
