Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 35 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
OpEdNews Op Eds    H1'ed 9/29/16

Gary Johnson's Second Aleppo Moment. "Who's Your Favorite Foreign Leader?"

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   47 comments
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Rob Kall
Become a Fan
  (295 fans)

Gary Johnson's inability to answer the question "Who's your favorite leader" got me thinking about my choice, and the reality that there is such a limited collection of choices, in the world or the USA.

Libertarian third party candidate Gary Johnson may have severely damaged his position with a second lapse in knowledge. He recently had no clue what the Syrian city Aleppo was when Mike Barnicle asked him about it on Morning Joe. "What is a leppo?" Johnson replied. That was bad and required damage control.

Then he did it again, calling it an Aleppo moment. MSNBC's Chris Matthews asked Gary Johnson and his running mate Bill Weld a series of questions, including "who is your favorite foreign leader, someone you look up to and respect, any leader in the world. Johnson couldn't do it. He could only think of dead Shimon Peres, or "the former president of Mexico," no-one alive.

Two major brain lapses or blatant ignorance episodes could do Johnson in, not that he ever had a chance, but he was doing better than in the past.

But his question got me thinking. Who's my favorite foreign leader. Evo Morales quickly came to mind, then Jeremy Corbyn and Pope Francis. I posted a link to the story on Facebook and a few people suggested Justin Trudeau.

That got me thinking about how it's sad that there are so few international leaders to actually admire. I blame the USA, which sets the example. And the crooked, corruptible voting system we have allows rigged elections which produce establishment/corporate friendly candidates like Bush, Obama, Clinton and 97% of the reps in the House and Senate.

Who are your favorites and why are they your favorites?

Unfortunately, we live in a world where more and more, people are electing neoliberal, neocon and even fascist leaders. Yanis Varoufakis, former Greek Finance minister wrote about this challenge at Project-Syndicate.org:

"One bloc represents the old troika of liberalization, globalization, and financialization. It may still be in power, but its stock is falling fast, as David Cameron, Europe's social democrats, Hillary Clinton, the European Commission, and even Greece's post-capitulation Syriza government can attest.

Trump, Le Pen, Britain's right-wing Brexiteers, Poland's and Hungary's illiberal governments, and Russian President Vladimir Putin are forming the second bloc. Theirs is a nationalist international -- a classic creature of a deflationary period -- united by contempt for liberal democracy and the ability to mobilize those who would crush it.

The clash between these two blocs is both real and misleading. Clinton vs. Trump constitutes a genuine battle, for example, as does the European Union vs. the Brexiteers; but the combatants are accomplices, not foes, in perpetuating an endless loop of mutual reinforcement, with each side defined by -- and mobilizing its supporters on the basis of -- what it opposes.

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Must Read 4   Well Said 3   Valuable 2  
Rate It | View Ratings

Rob Kall Social Media Pages: Facebook Page       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Rob Kall is an award winning journalist, inventor, software architect, connector and visionary. His work and his writing have been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, ABC, the HuffingtonPost, Success, Discover and other media.

Check out his platform at RobKall.com

He is the author of The Bottom-up Revolution; Mastering the Emerging World of Connectivity

He's given talks and workshops to Fortune 500 execs and national medical and psychological organizations, and pioneered first-of-their-kind conferences in Positive Psychology, Brain Science and Story. He hosts some of the world's smartest, most interesting and powerful people on his Bottom Up Radio Show, and founded and publishes one of the top Google- ranked progressive news and opinion sites, OpEdNews.com

more detailed bio:

Rob Kall has spent his adult life as an awakener and empowerer-- first in the field of biofeedback, inventing products, developing software and a music recording label, MuPsych, within the company he founded in 1978-- Futurehealth, and founding, organizing and running 3 conferences: Winter Brain, on Neurofeedback and consciousness, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology (a pioneer in the field of Positive Psychology, first presenting workshops on it in 1985) and Storycon Summit Meeting on the Art Science and Application of Story-- each the first of their kind. Then, when he found the process of raising people's consciousness and empowering them to take more control of their lives one person at a time was too slow, he founded Opednews.com-- which has been the top search result on Google for the terms liberal news and progressive opinion for several years. Rob began his Bottom-up Radio show, broadcast on WNJC 1360 AM to Metro Philly, also available on iTunes, covering the transition of our culture, business and world from predominantly Top-down (hierarchical, centralized, authoritarian, patriarchal, big) to bottom-up (egalitarian, local, interdependent, grassroots, archetypal feminine and small.) Recent long-term projects include a book, Bottom-up-- The Connection Revolution, (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

A Conspiracy Conspiracy Theory

Debunking Hillary's Specious Winning the Popular Vote Claim

Terrifying Video: "I Don't Need a Warrant, Ma'am, Under Federal Law"

Ray McGovern Discusses Brutal Arrest at Secretary Clinton's Internet Freedom Speech

Hillary's Disingenuous Claim That She's Won 2.5 Million More Votes is Bogus. Here's why

Cindy Sheehan Bugged in Denver

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend