Allepo?

Liberal pundits are dancing with joy that one of their heroes faked 
out Presidential candidate Gary Johnson with the question, "What

would you do about Aleppo?" asked by Mike Barnicle of the Boston Globe where he is Chief Snarkmaster and Blindsider, both paid positions at The Globe.  Well known for an acid mouth he has been long castigated by the more responsible members of the press, few as they may be...

The question was utterly insincere, not meant to communicate, but only obfuscate, shock the interviewee and impress the audience with how smart he is.  This is vintage Barnicle, a man who grew up with not an inferiority complex, but being genuinely inferior in snobby Boston, a city with low tolerance for stupid folks.  That he worked on this trick for a week will never be told and he may well win a Pulitzer Prize for his next dismal feature with all knowing why he really got it. 

If Barnicle sincerely wanted to test Governor Johnson on foreign policy he would present him with a forthright or open question on the Syria and what he thinks about it.  Unsophisticated journalists approach Presidential candidates as if they were running for dictator. Why do I feel like they are telling us something?

Gary should have answered, "I feed my dog Purina dry food.  It's better for him," and watch Barnicle turn purple as the Snark tank in his little brain explodes.  Or, he could have said, "What is that?  Are you trying to be clever?" and let Barnicle sputter.

Or, he could say, "Mike, you seem not to understand the Presidency is an executive position and as such I would not be expected to know everything about every place in the world.  I would be advised of the problem, convene the people who really know, not including you, and work up an intelligent solution instead of an insincere, phony "gotcha" question."

Governor Johnson is a sincere, but somewhat naive person when it comes to snakes like Mike Barnicle.

Adrian Vance