Gary Johnson on Shariah Panic, Legalizing Marijuana, and “Why the World Doesn’t Like Republicans”

Damon W. Root | August 2, 2011

Mother Jones’ Tim Murphy conducted a wide-ranging interview with libertarian former New Mexico governor and Republican presidential candidate Gary Johnson. Let’s just say that Johnson doesn’t sound like the other GOP hopefuls:

The governor has a knack for spin that's requisite for any candidate for higher office, but he's also got less of a filter, and is noticeably exasperated at some his competitors' antics. For instance, he thinks Herman Cain's fixation on the threat of Islamic Shariah law—and perhaps Herman Cain himself—is a waste of time. "I don't see it happening," he says. "I've never seen or smelled a whiff of it. It's a nonexistent issue as far as I'm concerned. And when Herman Cain answers the first question at the South Carolina debate about what he would do in Iraq and Afghanistan by saying he would consult with his advisers, gosh." Ditto for the party's focus on social issues—the Iowa Family Leader's anti-gay-marriage pledge, he says, "is the reason why the world doesn't like Republicans." I asked about the rise of China, which has prompted some tea partiers, including Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), to call for an arms race. "When people understand that the United States spends 52 cents out of the worldwide dollar on military spending and that China spends 9 cents, what arms race are we gonna engage them in? I mean really, is China a threat? No, they're not."

Read the whole thing here. For Reason's coverage of Johnson's campaign, start here and then check out this Reason.tv interview:

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Joe M|8.2.11 @ 11:14AM|#

See, it's this kind of talk that makes Johnson not a "serious" candidate. The GOP doesn't want thoughtful people running for office.

jtuf|8.2.11 @ 7:30PM|#

Actually, the mainstream media doesn't want the public to read about a thoughtful GOP candidate, so they don't write about him.

|8.2.11 @ 11:20AM|#

Man that really does make a lot of sene dude. WOw.

www.privacy-tools.no.tc

Gary Johnson is more a dreadful than a hopeful at this point. His chances might be better if cosmotarians weren't too cool to vote.

Bee Tagger|8.2.11 @ 11:52AM|#

Is there a characteristic of libertarianism that has yet to be derogatorily described as cosmotarian?

|8.2.11 @ 12:00PM|#

It's only a characteristic of libertarians because most libertarians are cosmos. Paleos are much more likely to vote.

SIV|8.2.11 @ 3:11PM|#

Way more libertarians are fundy Christians than cosmos. Cosmos are a small subset.

Slap the Enlightened!|8.2.11 @ 12:09PM|#

Is there a characteristic of libertarianism that isn't self-destructive?

|8.2.11 @ 12:11PM|#

Don't you have some crosses that need to be burned?

jtuf|8.2.11 @ 7:34PM|#

"Cosmotaraians"? You mean the libertarians who want to know "10 things that will make him think 'Wow'"?

Audrey the Liberal|8.3.11 @ 10:27AM|#

As far as I'm concerned, the word "cosmotarian" ought only be used in quotation marks.

rather|8.2.11 @ 11:20AM|#

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ranks.html

cynical|8.2.11 @ 3:11PM|#

Huh. That's disturbing.

NEO CONS|8.2.11 @ 11:23AM|#

That Gary Johnson sounds like a crazy person.

Scruffy Nerfherder|8.2.11 @ 11:31AM|#

My wife listens to ACLJ. The constant shariah fear-mongering is getting old.

Demographically speaking, in order to establish shariah law in the USA sometime in the future, the Muslims are going to have to take on the the largely Catholic Hispanics, which far outnumber them. It just ain't gonna happen. Can we worry about going broke now?

|8.2.11 @ 2:51PM|#

Weren't people freaking out 100 years ago about how the influx of catholics was going to turn the U.S a subserviant state to the papacy? Oh yeah didn't happen then, not gonna happen now.

Robert|8.2.11 @ 4:02PM|#

So you don't see a Popish-Sharia united front as even temporarily possible, say for a century or so?

Colin|8.2.11 @ 11:44AM|#

He'd make a great president, a Coolidge-esque president.

Unfortunately, this country would never again elect a Coolidge.

|8.2.11 @ 12:01PM|#

He can't even competently run a campaign. His message to GOP primary voters is basically "You guys suck. Vote for me."

|8.2.11 @ 12:09PM|#

As we have seen, the skill-set to front a campaign does not noticeably overlap with the skill-set of actually being President.

|8.2.11 @ 12:27PM|#

If you can't run a campaign you can't handle the presidency. The inverse implication of course may be false.

Dr. K|8.2.11 @ 2:44PM|#

The inverse implication ~~of course may be false.~~ has been repeatedly demonstrated to be false.

FTFY.

BakedPenguin|8.2.11 @ 2:45PM|#

But he could handle the Governorship of NM? I call BS.

|8.2.11 @ 3:57PM|#

If Bill Richardson can do it, it's not a qualification.

|8.3.11 @ 5:39AM|#

Johnson didn't just handle it, he did a hell of a lot better job at it. Also Johnson successfully built up and ran a large company.

What part of running his campaign is incompetent?

Audrey the Liberal|8.3.11 @ 10:32AM|#

The only reason Tulpa hates Gary Johnson is because he isn't beating the "hordes of Islamic fundamentalists and homosexuals are going to ruin America if the government doesn't get expansive new powers" drum.

Randy Coolidge|8.2.11 @ 12:11PM|#

And that is so unfair!

This Country|8.2.11 @ 11:55AM|#

wut is cooligde ?

Hirai|8.2.11 @ 11:58AM|#

I wouldn't call Johnson a libertarian. He supports the Fair Tax, doesn't want to eliminate Medicare (he just wants to block grant them to the states), supports smoking bans, isn't against "humanitarian wars". He almost never appeals to individual rights. He's always making cost-benefit analysis arguments. I think he's just a sincere fiscal conservative who doesn't have a nanny-state impulse that other politicians have.

NeonCat|8.2.11 @ 12:00PM|#

Which still makes him a much more freedom oriented candidate than anyone except possibly Ron Paul.

Good-faith cost-benefit thinking would go a very long way to shrinking the government.

It might not take us all the way to libertopia, but if you're waiting for a magic monorail ride there, you're going to have a long wait.

Incremental slogging is how things actually get done in a functional democracy/republic.

BakedPenguin|8.2.11 @ 2:46PM|#

This. I agree with Ron Paul about 85% of the time, but still voted for him.

Moe19|8.2.11 @ 4:26PM|#

Amen. Preach on.

|8.2.11 @ 3:49PM|#

"I wouldn't call Paul a libertarian. He supports building a wall on the border, wants to eliminate the 14th Amendment, supports states banning certain marriage contracts. He almost never appeals to individual rights. I think he's just a sincere social conservative who also wants to eliminate all taxes and impose a gold standard."

NO!|8.2.11 @ 12:24PM|#

That guy's just gonna split the Libertarian vote and cost us the election!

|8.2.11 @ 3:51PM|#

I've got a one ounce gold coin here that says if you combine Johnson's and Paul's final results, it still won't beat the Witch's or the Mormon's totals.

Skip|8.2.11 @ 5:45PM|#

I get the feeling Mr. Johnson would lose all his lefty support as soon as he said one disagreeable thing about Obama. Then he becomes just as racist as Newt and Cain.

jtuf|8.2.11 @ 7:38PM|#

+1 Skip

jtuf|8.2.11 @ 7:39PM|#

Johnson is still my favorite candidate for 2012 so far.

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