On Freedom Watch, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson told Judge Napolitano that he would keep Guantanamo open. He says “a lot of prominent libertarians” have told him that we need to keep Guantanamo open because if we didn’t, we’d have to do the same thing — by which I guess he means torture and indefinite detention without trial — somewhere else.

Where did he find “prominent libertarians” who told him that? I don’t know, but we can start the process of elimination by noting that it certainly wouldn’t have been anyone at LRC, the Mises Institute, the Independent Institute, or the Future of Freedom Foundation, which have all stood firm against the warfare/torture/police state and avoided the Johnson bandwagon (if it’s big enough to even be called a bandwagon). And he wouldn’t have heard it from the world’s most prominent libertarian, Ron Paul.

UPDATE: There’s more good stuff in the rest of the interview. Asked directly, Johnson says that he wouldn’t end the Department of Agriculture or Department of Commerce. He also says we don’t need to end the Fed — we just need the “resolve” to balance the budget. “We went to the moon; we can balance the budget,” he says, making one wonder if he even knows what the Fed does.

Thanks to Kevin Kelly for the link.

UPDATE 2: A reader points out that Johnson now says on his website that he opposes torture and favors due process for Guantanamo detainees. Good!

The Best of Jacob Huebert