SALON

Friday, Oct 15, 2010 4:16 PM UTC

A Republican who wants DADT repealed now

Gary Johnson goes where few Republican presidential hopefuls dare

By

Topics: War Room,

A Republican who wants DADT repealed nowFormer New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson

Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, whom I profiled for Salon back in May, is apparently continuing his quest to claim the libertarian Republican mantle from Ron Paul.

Late Thursday, Johnson — who has hinted at a run for the 2012 GOP nomination — released a statement on this week’s ruling by a federal judge that the military should stop enforcing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT). The statement placed him somewhat to the left of Barack Obama.

Enjoining the president — apparently with limited success — to “let that ruling stand and move on,” Johnson added: “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has always been wrong and it is still wrong.”

Johnson insisted that there was no need to wait for Congress to repeal DADT. “Stop the smoke screen,” Johnson argued. “This policy is just not fair and it does not work — we need to get rid of it now.”

Although those sentiments might not sound unusual springing from the lips of, say, Rachel Maddow, they continue to place Johnson a long way from the mainstream of today’s GOP. A Republican filibuster in the Senate sank the most recent attempt to repeal DADT and, even though some Republicans insisted they acted primarily in protest Harry Reid’s procedural maneuvering, GOP leaders haven’t exactly been lining up to champion the cause of repeal.

But Johnson is used to breaking with the GOP establishment. He is, after all, in favor of abortion rights and legalizing marijuana; opposed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; and an admirer of Nevada’s long-ago decision to legalize prostitution.

In Thursday’s statement, he called upon the memory of a libertarian Republican from the past to justify his position.

“As Barry Goldwater said when the policy was first put in place, a fundamental tenet of conservatism is that government should stay out of people’s private lives — and out of the impossible task of legislating morality.”

Niall Stanage is a New York-based writer and the author of Redemption Song: An Irish Reporter Inside the Obama Campaign (Liberties Press, Dublin). His work has appeared in numerous publications including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Observer, the American Spectator, the Guardian and the Irish Times. He is a regular guest on television and radio on both sides of the Atlantic, including Fox News, PBS, the BBC and its Irish equivalent, RTE. He lives in Harlem. www.niallstanage.com More Niall Stanage.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 12 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

War Room is our political news and commentary blog, with coverage and commentary throughout the day.

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations