I am Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate for President. AMA.

Hi Mr. Johnson,

On your Wikipedia page it states that you "would use [your] presidential power to prevent Israel from attacking Iran". What exactly does that mean and how does it fall under the libertarian "anti-interventionism" standpoint?

Or is whoever edited the page last misquoting you?

I would use the Bully Pulpit of the Presidency to point out that bombing Iran would result in another 100 Million enemies to the country, that otherwise would not have existed. STOP MILITARY INTERVENTIONS !

I assume it means he wouldnt back Israel and Israel arent going to do shit without the US backing them.

I think that with out US support, that bombing by Israel becomes very problematic

I'd love to hear this answer as well. At present, this seems like it should have a very high priority on any candidate's docket. We understand that it's a heavily loaded question that would require an extreme amount of nuance to answer, but if you could hit some major points for us, that'd certainly be a great start.

If you were in office right now, for example, how would your policies in this area differ from those of the current president?

At what point - any specific criteria would be great, but I understand that, again, loaded question - would you consider the "window for diplomacy" that President Obama has mentioned officially closed?

I would not close any windows of diplomacy.

In NM, you were a prison privatizer. Do you regret that stance now? IOW, are you another wolf in libertarian clothing?

In New Mexico, the prisons were run by the Federal Courts when i took office. The Legislator refused to build two new prisons. On an apples to apples basis the private prisons were 2/3rds the cost of the public prisons.

That is GOOD GOVERNMENT IN MY OPINION ! I always said, adopt rational drug policy and it will be a lot easier to empty the private prisons than the public prisons. Don't for get the biggest opposition to prop 19 in CA was the public prison union

Greetings Gov. Johnson,

In your AMA from two weeks ago, I asked the top question, and I was hoping to get your input this time around. Nearly 5,000 users supported it, and +1,000 users said they would pay to see it happen. Here it is:

In the event that the CPD does not let you into the presidential debates, would you please consider participating in a roundtable discussion after each debate with Dennis Kucinich, Jill Stein, Ron Paul, Russ Feingold, and perhaps others where you would all analyze & critique Romney and Obama’s answers?

These discussions could take place over a Google+ Hangout, meaning that you would not all have to be in the same room/state/country simultaneously.

Based on the amount of positive feedback we received, we started r/thirdpartyroundtable to help organize these discussions. Follow any progress we make on Twitter: @ThirdPartyRound

We now have companies that specialize in livestreaming, web developers, and several contacts close to the intended participants that are all onboard to make this happen.

What do you think Gary?

At this time we are committed to 3rd party candidate debates. I don't think we would be interested in the round table discussions. We are planing our own response to the debates.

Position on whistleblower Bradley Manning, Assange and Wikileaks.

Assange and Wikileaks, I think are messengers that should not be shot. I am assuming that Bradley Manning violated the terms of his employment, making excuses for his actions problematic.

If you don't make it this time, will you consider running again in 2016?

Also, you want decriminalize marijuana. What happens to those already imprisoned for it?

YES, I would consider running in 2016. I want to legalize marijuana. I would commute drug sentences for people in federal prison on victimless non-violent drug crimes. I do not consider selling Marijuana as having victims.

Also, you want decriminalize marijuana. What happens to those already imprisoned for it?

http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/gary-johnson-to-drug-policy-alliance-pardon-non-violent-marijuana-offenses-and-remove-marijuana-from-schedule-i-of-the-controlled-substances-act

TL;DR: Pardon non-violent marijuana offenses — and remove marijuana from schedule I of the controlled substances act

I want to legalize marijuana, which deals with buying and selling. I promise to commute sentences for individuals in federal prison who are there for victimless non-violent drug crimes

Gary, my concern is gay rights, and abortion, if you take a Federal government hands off approach, how do you ensure that individual states don't limit these rights?

I think that Marriage Equality is constitutionally guaranteed. I share your concern on abortion rights.

Any word on getting into the presidential debates?

We have been excluded and we have filed a law suit.

What is your stance on the public school system?

Are you for or against privatizing it?

As Gov. of New Mexico i was more outspoken then any Gov. in the country regarding school choice. I believe the only way we reform education in this country is to bring competition into public education.

What will you do to make it easier for someone to start a small business?

I am proposing the fair tax. which would eliminate income tax, corp tax, and the IRS. I think that will make it easier to start a small business.

First I want to say that I am ashamed I never heard of you prior to your last Reddit AMA so thank you for doing this. After much research you will have my vote in November. Just some things I want to ask. Your views pretty much match up exactly with mine, however I fear that they look great on paper but in practice won’t fair as well. Does your dramatic stance on no student loans, 43% cut to the federal budget, no farm subsidies, ect. have any previous real world success to show that these policies won’t cause huge disruption or backfire completely?

Also, in general, what are the major differences between you and Ron Paul?

This was the constant criticism of my 8 years as Gov. of New Mexico in a state that is two to one Democrat. I got re-elected by a bigger margin the second time then the first time. In this Presidential cycle I am the only Presidential candidate viewed favorable in His or Her own state. i don't think there are any major differences between me and Dr. Ron Paul.

How would you solve the problem with trying the detainees at Gitmo and how would you bring about an end to the war on terror?

We absolutely need to stop the practice of detainment without charge and torture. Stop the practice of military interventions.

How high are the odds do you think of you winning, or at least making a major dent in the other candidates? Do you think it will give yourself a shot in the future by helping to make yourself more known to the masses?

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Thank you for doing another AMA. I really appreciate that you are taking the time to reach out and get in touch with voters. It mean a lot.

You can not win if you are not on the ballot in all 50 states. We are currently on the ballot in 47 states and litigated in the other 3. We have a shot. If everyone will waste their vote on me, I will be the next President of the United States. A WASTED VOTE IS VOTING FOR SOMEONE YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN.

First, thank you for taking the time to participate and host another IAMA and to answer our questions. It is greatly appreciated!

I saw that you support the labeling of GMO products and wish to inquire further regarding your views of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? There has been a revolving door between them and Monsanto for years allowing our food to remain unlabeled and improperly tested. Would you wish to demolish this group similar to Ron Paul or do you have different views of the matter? Also, how do you plan to correct this if you agree that there are problems?

Thanks again for taking the time to read this along with everyone else's comments and questions!

I think that food needs to be labeled. With that labeling, we as consumers can make informed choices on what we want to put in our bodies.