The Best Debate Nobody Saw
That would be the one that didn’t focus on Big Bird, binders, and bayonets; the one where candidates, instead, held forth on trifling matters like federal laws that allow for the indefinite detention of American citizens without charge or trial.
What? You didn’t see that debate? Join the crowd. I don’t have any official numbers, but it’s likely a safe bet that Tuesday night’s debate between third party presidential candidates, who were excluded from the Demopublican Duopoly beauty pageants, didn’t have quite the same audience reach.
The debate, which was hosted by the Free and Equal Elections Foundation, featured four alt party presidential nominees: Rocky Anderson (Justice Party), Virgil Goode (Constitution Party), Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party), and Jill Stein (Green Party).
Yeah, the debate had its share of minor snafus, like when moderator Larry King was nearly 25 minutes into the first question before he realized the candidates were supposed to give opening statements; but overall, King summed it up nicely with his sentiment that the candidates “may not be counted on Nov. 6, but they’re counting today and they deserve to be heard.”
Some highlights, which somehow never made it into the mix of the Obama/Romney mash-ups, if you can’t find time for the whole video below:
Rocky Anderson on the NDAA: “There’s been no more anti-American act, I think, in our history than the NDAA…We are on the road to totalitarianism, and that’s not an exaggeration. If one person can determine against whom and under what conditions laws passed by Congress and our Constitution are going to be applied, that spells tyranny. It’s the very definition of tyranny.”
Gary Johnson on ballot access and the two-party machine: “There’s only two voices begin heard here – Tweedle-de and Tweedle-dum … When it comes to political campaign contributions, candidates should be required to wear NASCAR-like jackets with patches.”
Virgil Goode on the economy and jobs: “I am the only candidate that has called for a near complete moratorium on green card admissions to the United States until unemployment is under 5 percent. It makes no sense to bring in so many foreign workers when unemployment is so high in this country.”
Jill Stein on drug legalization: “Marijuana is a substance that is dangerous because it’s illegal; it’s not illegal on account of being dangerous because it’s not dangerous at all. It is well understood that the health impacts of marijuana are mainly the public health safety impacts from the illegal drug trade associated with marijuana prohibition.”
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