The Republican leaning media has convinced us that Hillary Clinton is totally unworthy to be President of the US. Just some of her failings such as  Whitewater Billings, lying to the parents of the Benghazi  victims, her  private server and the Clinton Foundation are enough to disqualify her from ever occupying the Oval office . Of course, the list is much longer. How can we elect someone whose proper residence is a jail? However, we are also aware of the arguments of the Democratic leaning media proving Donald Trump shouldn’t even be considered for the top job. An authoritarian bigot who seems to think the Constitution is a suggestion and whose shady business practices might be punctuated by a jury finding him a fraud, Trump would be a disaster. Well, they’re right. Trump should never be president. Our two great political parties have given us unacceptable choices.

How did the Greatest Country on Earth get in this position? Duopoly. Without  real competition our two major parties didn’t need to put forth the effort to insure they offered the best possible product. That’s the way it is with limited competition. After World War II GM and Ford dominated our auto choices. (yes there was Chrysler but they just followed along behind). By the end of the sixties we had cars where nothing fit and fell apart before their auto loans were paid off. The companies got big profits and their unions got outlandish wages and benefits. The consumer got screwed. Along came some foreign cars than actually were a value and the landscape changed. Cars like the legendary Datsun 240Z showed us what our money should buy. The Big Two had to either improve or go out of business. Under the gun of real competition they now produce cars that they can be proud. It’s time to look for that Datsun. Unless some people are willing to break ranks and and try something foreign to them nothing will ever change.

This election we have a real third choice, the Libertarian Ticket of Gary Johnson and William Weld. They will be on the ballot in all 50 states. If for no other reason than to punish the two major parties for giving us unacceptable choices and delivering the message, “never insult us again”, vote for this ticket. But there are many more reasons to take this action beyond penalizing the two party political establishment. Johnson and Weld , both have been successful two term  Republican Governors in blue states. They actually have more executive experience than the two major party candidates combined and records of successfully working with the opposition. Having a President who is neither Republican or Democrat opens up possibility of tackling our most intractable problems. Entitlements and immigration are just two things we desperately need to confront now before we suffer real damage. The two major party candidates refuse to even  entertain entitlement reforms even with the absolute knowledge they can’t be sustained in their present form. The fight over immigration is tearing the country apart. (actually as we pointed out in recent post “On the Move” entitlement reform is in part dependent on immigration reform). With someone in the White House that favors both, we’d have someone to mediate solutions. More importantly, the parties would have someone to blame for the benefit of their respective bases. In this endeavor, William Weld in the Senate would be invaluable in forging the needed compromises as no vice-president before him ever could. With a ticket that is fiscally conservative and culturally liberal, they simply would have far more room to horse trade.  Just maybe it would give us a needed timeout from partisanship to achieve reasonable and needed outcomes.

This is supposed to be the year of the outsider and this ticket surely fits the bill better than the ultimate insider Hillary Clinton and the man who by his own admission paid often and well to obtain crony capitalist benefits, Donald Trump. Beyond change,we could actually solve some of our problems and bring the nation closer together. This would be tall order but for the guy who conquered Everest and cast 750 vetoes, Gary Johnson is tough enough to do the job. He and Bill Weld just might be inline with where the  majority of Americans actually are. If you take a look and compare, you’ll buy the Datsun.