What is Aleppo? You've got to be kidding me

Been quiet on the election for a while, but this stunning display of ignorance, from Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson, no less, defies explanation. Anyone with even cursory knowledge of the Syrian civil war knows that Aleppo was the country's largest city and is now the subject of intense fighting between ISIS and Assad's government troops. The vast majority of the city's people have become refugees. For a presidential candidate not to know what Aleppo is -- and Johnson is currently pulling around 10 percent of the vote in polls that include four candidates -- is amazingly stupid even in this amazingly stupid election.

First presidential debate, BTW, is Sept. 26. These debates are particularly important to Donald Trump, who MUST show that he has the temperament and knowledge to serve as president. I expect this election is going to wind up about like the last few -- a close race along a deep partisan divide with a handful of states deciding the issue. But we'll see.


http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/08/opinions/johnson-al … index.html


Comments are disabled for this blog post.
  • Well, jpr42, you're right that Hillary is having trouble putting this away. Voters know her so well and she has such high negatives that her ability to change opinion is VERY limited. Privately, many Republican operatives are saying that if Trump were running against another Democrat, he'd be getting slaughtered. We'll see. I think the election is Trump's to win, but he's going to have to come off as presidential in the debates.

    I have voted for Libertarians at times in the past, but I won't this year. Johnson is out of touch -- his failure to know what Aleppo is is inexcusable -- and I also find his position on guns untenable as we have reached a point where the status quo just isn't good enough!

    Art, the U.S. is in a difficult position when it comes to the Kurds. We support them to a degree, but we have to tread carefully because as a NATO member, Turkey is an important ally. I think the Kurds are probably OK in Iraq, but Syria may be a different story. The Kurds would be helped considerably if the faction battling Turkey would lay off during the current fight against ISIS.
    BearinFW 09/13/2016 08:07 AM
  • Thanks ron13,
    there are not many supporting statements like yours. The 'new' turkish regime does as it wants to in regard to the Kurds, and as europe still considers the pkk like terrorists and the usa and russia have come to an agreement regarding the war in syria, this does not look favourable for Kurdistan and/or kurdish people, in any of the three nations.
    art4you 09/12/2016 08:14 AM
  • I have been looking at the courage of men and women of Kurdistan push back the ISIS with little or no support
    ron13 09/11/2016 10:58 PM
  • Well..........this is the scariest election that I have ever seen in my lifetime. It should be a slam dunk for Hilary, but if she fails to pull this off it will be the second time that she has lost an election for thinking that she had it in the bag. Last night she insulted a lot of the conservatives. Granted, many of them would not vote for her anyway, but she did not need to condemn them for siding with Trump and therefore being in the idiot basket.......because they might just come over to her side if Trump keeps going the way he does. So when she screws up and insults potential voters, it cannot be dismissed as easily as Trumps screwups....and is all unsettling because she should know better and should act better. I want her to win cause I think that she can comprehend all of the issues better and already has a deeper understanding of the job, but she lost a lot of the country at her acceptance speech in order to win over Bernie's people and has continued to play to them, rather than temper her position more to the center, which, if she did move a bit there, she would get a lot more people on her side.......very very scary....all around.
    jpr42 09/11/2016 12:27 AM
  • Well, Marc, I don't think I'd predict Trump to win, but as weird as the U.S. electorate is, I wouldn't rule it completely out, either!
    BearinFW 09/09/2016 05:27 AM
  • A friend of mine put his condo on the market to sell because he's afraid Trump will win and it will cause havok on the housing market. I wouldn't go THAT far, but he's doing it for that reason.
    Marc 09/09/2016 04:48 AM