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The long list of  Republican presidential wanna-be’s  just became one name longer, as former New Mexico Governor,  Gary Johnson, threw his hat in the ring.  For those of you who are wondering just who in the world  Gary Johnson is ;  he is an ex-governor from a small South-western state, that served from 1995 through 2003, and earned himself the nick-name of  “Governor Veto”.  Apparently, during his term in office, Governor Johnson set an all-time record in his state for the number of bills that he vetoed;  estimated to be in the hundreds.   In fact, Johnson’s reputation for being against absolutely every bill that was passed on to him by the state legislature,  made a mockery out of the word “democracy” in his state.   It doesn’t  stretch the truth to say that from 1995 to 2003  New Mexico could have  saved hundreds of millions of tax dollars by simply doing away with the entire state legislature.  The exact same results would have been accomplished.

The only thing that makes Gary Johnson at all note-worthy is his  “out of left field” announcement in New Hampshire that he wants to be America’s  next President.  Much like fellow-Republican Ron Paul, Gary Johnson is an avowed Libertarian,  only pretending to be a Republican;  although the Republican slate of 2012 presidential-hopefuls are all starting to look more Libertarian every day.   Johnson’s mantra is really quite simple, almost Jeffersonian; the federal government  should butt out of peoples’ lives completely.   He advocates that, other than maintaining the military and performing a few, limited regulatory functions, the federal government should do away with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and most of the  taxes on individuals and corporations.  He also feels that marijuana should be legalized, which shows that even dyed-in-the-wool  Libertarians can’t be wrong all the time.

The fact that someone with the extremist credentials of Gary Johnson would even consider running for his party’s presidential nomination is a good indication of  just  how fractured the Republican Party  has become.  It almost seems like each Republican candidate is trying to outdo the other candidate for making outlandish, and off-the-wall statements.   At this point, though, it will be difficult for any candidate, including Gary Johnson,  to beat Trump’s statement concerning his desire to invade Libya and steal all their oil.

As a Democrat, watching the on-going parade of Republican circus clowns, each purporting to be  a viable presidential candidate, is a constant source of amusement.  Is this really the best that the Republicans have to offer?   Stay tuned.

Rich