If you ever want to see a libertarian cry into his beer, ask him about Aleppo. After 2016, the name of that faraway city probably still haunts his dreams. Miami’s mayor may have just echoed that mistake.
Gary Johnston was the longshot presidential hopeful, carrying the Libertarian flag. If ever there was a year when a third party longshot could convince himself he had better than a snowball’s chance in Hell, it must have been the year he was up against Hillary and Trump.
Then along came the MSNBC interview. The Middle East was ground zero for several major crises, including a major immigration crisis blamed on regional conflict. Gary was caught famously flat-footed when he was asked about Aleppo.
Mike Barnicle asked him: “What would you do if you were elected about Aleppo?”
“About?” Johnson said.
“Aleppo,” Barnicle responded.
Johnson paused and said: “And what is Aleppo?”
“You’re kidding …” the incredulous Barnicle answered.
“No,” Johnson said.
“Aleppo is in Syria – it’s the epicenter of the refugee crisis,” Barnicle said.
“OK. Got it. With regard to Syria, I do think it is a mess,” the Libertarian nominee said. — CNN
This morning, one of the GOP hopefuls was invited on Hugh Hewitt’s show. He was given the usual friendly interview that all such candidates get on his show, with some of the same questions other guests have faced.
There are times when such guests get stumped — on questions he asks about America’s Nuclear Triad, for example — but they are not intended as gotcha questions.
When Miami’s Mayor Suarez began his interview by talking about his family’s suffering under the Communist regime in Cuba, it was only natural that a question about similar suffering under today’s most powerful communist regime would be part of the conversation.
Suarez had an ‘Aleppo’ moment of his own. (Link to show audio here.)
Frances answered about how he would appeal to the pro-Trump part of Hugh’s audience and to the Never-Trump part of Hugh’s audience. He had a forceful answer on the defense of Taiwan, thoughtful answers on the Nuclear Triad question, and some nuance to the questions about Blinken’s China visit and the immigration mess that will be inherited from Joe Biden.
But the ‘Aleppo’ question came from when he was asked about the labor camps in China:
HH: Penultimate question, Mayor. Will you be talking about the Uyghurs in your campaign?
FS: The what?
HH: The Uyghurs.
FS: What’s a Uyghur?
— Hugh Hewitt Show Transcript
Yikes.
Like Hugh said.
A candidate is gonna want to know the answer to that… and should have a plan on what he wants to do about it.
Psalms of War: Prayers That Literally Kick Ass is a collection, from the book of Psalms, regarding how David rolled in prayer. I bet you haven’t heard these read, prayed, or sung in church against our formidable enemies — and therein lies the Church’s problem. We’re not using the spiritual weapons God gave us to waylay the powers of darkness. It might be time to dust them off and offer ‘em up if you’re truly concerned about the state of Christ’s Church and of our nation.
Also included in this book, Psalms of War, are reproductions of the author’s original art from his Biblical Badass Series of oil paintings.
This is a great gift for the prayer warriors. Real. Raw. Relevant.
Sources Cited
CNN
Hugh Hewitt
