What Is Aleppo? This.

by

Abby Zimet, staff writer

 5 Comments

Libertarian Gary Johnson's blank gaze at the name "Aleppo" is shocking - about as shocking as yesterday's chlorine gas attack constituting yet another war crime there, or the New York Times' three corrections to get right just what Aleppo is and isn't, or the way Twitterexploded about one guy's unreal ignorance while generally ignoring almost an entire population's annihilation, or the pitiable fact that another presidential candidate actually knows less than Trump, or the even more miserable fact that Johnson's bewilderment pretty much sums up U.S. policy, press knowledge and levels of public awareness on Syria, which is, as Johnson so astutely noted, "a mess."

 No, this wasn't "a stumble" or "blunder" or "gaffe." It's the sorry state of our national political landscape. What's not shocking here: Nobody in Aleppo has heard of Johnson either - they're way too busy trying to stay alive.