Libertarian debate w/ Stossel on Fox Business April 1 & 8- FULL VIDEO ADDED

Johnson, as a former governor, has the best chance of getting more votes in an election. Personally, I like McAfee, but his personality and questionable history would hurt him in an election. Petersen says all the right things, but he just seemed to be pandering to the libertarian audience the entire debate. I'm sure he believes what he says, but it seemed like he was looking for the applause like a libertarian Rubio (yuck). I'll be voting for McAfee in the primary. He understands the libertarian philosophy, and he brings something to the table that none of the other candidates can, cybersecurity. His explanation of a terrorist plot pattern analysis has me intrigued. It may sound like science-fiction ala The Minority Report, but I would like to hear more details on how he can build such a system. I would happily vote for Johnson if he's the LP nominee. For some reason Petersen rubs me the wrong way, but he'd be a better option than the mainstream choices.
 
I think if McAfee got into the general election debates, he would actually have a chance of winning.

He seems smart, rugged, and comprehensible. Has a toned down Trump vibe, but everyone will be sick of both Hilary and Trump.
 
farreri said:
What questionable history?
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This was addressed in the debate. He was a person of interest in a murder case in Belize. Some actually believe McAfee did it, but it was never proven. He was also convicted of a DUI. He has a nice response to these accusations, however. He cleared up that he was only a person of interest, not a suspect, and he owned up to the DUI. I just know that if he were an actual threat to the mainstream candidates the media would hammer him on these accusations.

staerker said:
I think if McAfee got into the general election debates, he would actually have a chance of winning.

He seems smart, rugged, and comprehensible. Has a toned down Trump vibe, but everyone will be sick of both Hilary and Trump.
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Agreed. He has way more personality than Johnson, and he provides clear and concise answers.
 
Jordan Liberty said:
This was addressed in the debate. He was a person of interest in a murder case in Belize. Some actually believe McAfee did it, but it was never proven. He was also convicted of a DUI. He has a nice response to these accusations, however. He cleared up that he was only a person of interest, not a suspect, and he owned up to the DUI. I just know that if he were an actual threat to the mainstream candidates the media would hammer him on these accusations.
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His story goes as follows;

-He went to Belize to live a nice life and to spend some of his millions in researching antibiotics through new techniques which he was hoping to find material for in the jungle there.
-He was approached to do a 2mln$ donation by a local politician.
-He refused.
-His lab got raided, his dog was shot with a US supplied assault rifle, he was handcuffed and not treated well while they destroyed half a million dollars worth of his property.
-They didn't find any evidence of illegal drug production.
-No chargers were filed, he was released.
-Shortly after, same politician comes back to him, says he's sorry about what happened to him and if he reconsidered his donation.

-He then claims to have at some point donated a bunch of computers to the government of Belize onto which he installed key-loggers and other monitoring software.
-He then claims to have uncovered a lot of criminal activity by high placed officials in the Belize government. [Including selling fake identities]

-At some point in all of this he had fights with his neighbor about his dog that barked.
-His neighbor had made complaints about that.

This is near the end;

-At some point McAfee's dog was killed.
-Then his neighbor was killed.
-Then he ran off because he felt like he was set up.



Now this is the story I remember him telling from several interviews. I believe all the facts are as he mentioned them.

As far as I'm aware his story isn't contradicted by anyone.
 
Justin likes Austin Peterson

 
If only the LP had someone with the charisma and persuasive skills of a Harry Browne this time around...!
 
luctor-et-emergo said:
His story goes as follows;

-He went to Belize to live a nice life and to spend some of his millions in researching antibiotics through new techniques which he was hoping to find material for in the jungle there.
-He was approached to do a 2mln$ donation by a local politician.
-He refused.
-His lab got raided, his dog was shot with a US supplied assault rifle, he was handcuffed and not treated well while they destroyed half a million dollars worth of his property.
-They didn't find any evidence of illegal drug production.
-No chargers were filed, he was released.
-Shortly after, same politician comes back to him, says he's sorry about what happened to him and if he reconsidered his donation.

-He then claims to have at some point donated a bunch of computers to the government of Belize onto which he installed key-loggers and other monitoring software.
-He then claims to have uncovered a lot of criminal activity by high placed officials in the Belize government. [Including selling fake identities]

-At some point in all of this he had fights with his neighbor about his dog that barked.
-His neighbor had made complaints about that.

This is near the end;

-At some point McAfee's dog was killed.
-Then his neighbor was killed.
-Then he ran off because he felt like he was set up.



Now this is the story I remember him telling from several interviews. I believe all the facts are as he mentioned them.

As far as I'm aware his story isn't contradicted by anyone.
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Thanks. That's a helpful summary.

If he's a candidate, he'd better be ready to answer that succinctly, convincingly and with a smile about 300 times, because it will be the first line of questioning in any major media interview. Discussions of substance about ideas would be few and far between with the constant derailing about his background.

I also have the perception from articles I've read that he's lived basically as a transient out of his vehicle for years on end and has a background of substance abuse and general libertine-ism.

I honestly think this would all get him tons of press and a degree more visibility in the end than even Gary Johnson. But he would have to play the campaign flawlessly and without any chinks in his rhetorical or personality armor, turning weaknesses into strengths to develop and maintain credibility. Otherwise, the LP would have a hard time living down the resulting image and wouldn't be taken seriously for many years.
 
It's encouraging to see the LP debate draw the elusive young white male demographic. That's been a tough group for the LP to reach out to. A few more of those guys and we've got it won!
 
Few thoughts after watching this.

Petersen - Probably like this guy the least of the bunch. Was a producer for Freedom Watch with the Judge, so that's good. Seemed to have too many pre-scripted answers, similar to the crap we usually get from Dems/Repubs. He has a certain polish to his speaking ability and that may appeal to some, but I don't get the impression he knows the value behind the words he is saying. The people pointing out he is similar to Rand are right, since he uses similar wording to some of the stuff Rand said in debates. Maybe he used that as practice?

Johnson - Same old Johnson we got familiar with last time. The whole socially liberal, fiscally conservative motto he goes by is still there. I guess he is likely most appealing to new/soft libertarians and disenfranchised liberals looking for a tougher guy on economics but with all the typical democrat trite. He seems like a really nice guy, but I guess after being stuck between semi-nodding and then shaking my head through most of his answers for the first hour of the debate, I'm finding myself less of a fan than I thought I would be. Libertarian lite.

McAfee - I can't put my finger on it yet, but I like this guy. It seems like he stands by far the firmest in his convictions out of the 3 so far. He obviously has some crazy past events and likes showing off when he gets the opportunity. I like his looking ahead to the future model, with a lot of emphasis on technology. He gave all the best answers for most of the questions as far as I could tell and he seems to be genuine and straight to the point with most of his answers. He may be lacking in some areas, since some of his answers seemed to be quick and/or vague. Agree with the guy on the Trump thing. He is kind of the libertarian Trump of this cycle. I could see him being considered too much of a maverick type damaging his chances to win the nomination.


Altogether, I enjoyed this a heck of a lot more than typical crap we have been watching for the past 8 months. All 3 of these guys would be better than anyone still out there, although that's not saying much. I'm glad this happened and hope we see more of it. Thank you John Stossel for making this happen.

If I had to sum it up, Petersen was the most textbook politician of the bunch, Johnson is the safest bet since he ran in 2012 and has broader appeal, and McAfee is the dark horse cyber guru with some flare.
 
I'm only halfway through this, but Austin Petersen is repugnant. He's like a Marco Rubio with slightly different talking points.

Johnson and McAffee are both really interesting and I'd be happy to nominate either one.

I'm sure the party will fuck it up and nominate Petersen though, just like they nominated Bob Barr (guhh.... why???)

Edit: Gary Johnson thinks bakers should be forced to make a gay nazi cake, or something. That's a pretty fucking dumb position.
 
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brandon said:
Gary Johnson thinks bakers should be forced to make a gay nazi cake, or something. That's a pretty $#@!ing dumb position.
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Yup, definitely a facepalm moment. He is trying to broaden his appeal since this is still an unpopular stance nationwide, I guess, but alienates hardcore libertarians in the process with this type of rhetoric.

Agreed on the Petersen analogy for the most part, but I despised Rubio far more personally.
 
Closing over-seas bases
applying the law equally to all
ending the fed
Leaving NATO
exiting trade agreements
Ending medical fraud and racketeering
Paying down the debt in 8 years

Shit... thats Trump, not these bozos.
 
idiom said:
Closing over-seas bases
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Trump isn't for closing all over sea bases.

applying the law equally to all
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Trump wishes to use the government to steal private property for his own gain. As such, and through many other examples, it is obvious he does not understand what rights are, much less applying the Law equally or at all.

ending the fed
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Trump agreed with the bailouts and has a faulty understanding of economics, at best. He has never advocated an abolition of the Fed.

Leaving NATO
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Empty rhetoric.

exiting trade agreements
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Yeah, sure.

Ending medical fraud and racketeering
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Uh huh.

Paying down the debt in 8 years
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That's a yuge promise. One would have to be dim to believe it.

Shit... thats Trump, not these bozos.
Click to expand...
Yeah, you're a fucking idiot.
 
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