Meeting Adam Kokesh, another political hopeful aiming high, all the way high

Adam Kokesh is a presidential hopeful looking for Libertarian Party nomination. The following is a short interview via email.

Distraction News: Can you tell me you're running on a third party nomination and not major party? Why are you running on the Libertarian Party?

Adam Kokesh: I'm running with the Libertarian Party which happens to be considered a "third party" right now because of the old party [duopoly], but it's always been first in my heart. I have been a lifetime member of the LP and joined the first chance I got. My approach to politics is founded on ethics and compassion and being the "party of principle," it's the obvious choice. I'm a libertarian and a Libertarian to the core in every sense possible.

DN: How about the libertarian competition so far — John McAfee, Kim Ruff, Arvin Vohra, Joseph Maldonado, Dan Behrman and even Vermin Supreme?

AK: So far, I haven't met a Libertarian Presidential candidate I didn't like. John McAfee brings a special flair to the race and emphasis on cryptocurrency. Kim Ruff has a great grassroots party activist approach. Arvin Vohra is passionate, speaks with conviction, and is uniquely qualified to speak to the evils of government education. I would love to see Joseph Maldonado jump in, especially after hearing him speak and meeting him in Oklahoma. Dan Behrman has a beautifully clear message with #TaxationIsTheft and is a lot of fun to campaign with. Vermin Supreme is my favorite court jester of all time, and yet had great serious answers now, fully in line with ethical libertarianism. I love how those of us who are already going to state conventions are working as a team.

DN: Let's play word association. I'll say a word or set of words and you tell me the first thing that comes to your mind.

DN: Libertarian?

AK: Lover

DN: Libertarian Party?

AK: movement

DN: Gary Johnson?

AK: friend

DN: Larry Sharpe?

AK: team-builder

DN: Vermin Supreme?

AK: glitter

DN: John McAfee?

AK: footloose

DN: Adam Kokesh?

AK: FREEDOM!

DN: Arvin Vohra?

AK: precisely passionate

DN: Joseph Maldonado?

AK: exotic

DN: Dan Behrman?

AK: #TaxationIsTheft

DN: Republican Party?

AK: Woolly Mammoth

DN: Conservatism?

AK: fear

DN: Donald Trump?

AK: eyelids

DN: Bill Weld?

AK: patient

DN: Democrat National Committee?

AK: machine

DN: Liberalism?

AK: naive

DN: Socialism?

AK: idealistic

DN: Hillary Clinton?

AK: pantsuit

DN: Joe Biden?

AK: affectionate

DN: Robert Mueller?

AK: persistent

DN: Wasting about $35M to investigate Trump?

AK: politics as usual

DN: Julian Assange?

AK: genius

DN: Wikileaks?

AK: crucial

DN: Green Party?

AK: compassionate

DN: Jill Stein?

AK: righteous

DN: White House?

AK: museum

DN: Oval Office?

AK: see attachment [image below]

DN: Russia?

AK: oligarchs

DN: Vladimir Putin?

AK: horseback riding

DN: China?

AK: industrious

DN: Xi Jinping?

AK: discipline

DN: Middle East?

AK: cradle of civilization

DN: Terrorism?

AK: cowardly

DN: Jihad?

AK: reckless

DN: Israel?

AK: statist

DN: Benjamin Netanyahu?

AK: dangerous

DN: Is there anything you'd like add?

AK: That was fun! Thanks for the wordplay opportunity. Please remember that while I'm technically running for President, it's much more accurate to say that I'm running against the presidency itself. I'm running to turn the election into a referendum on whether or not the federal government should be allowed to exist at all. When you're given the ring, the only correct thing to do is to throw it in the fire. Me being President for longer than to sign off on the paperwork is not an option I'm giving the American people. On day one, I will resign to become Custodian of the Federal Government and oversee the bankruptcy process that pays back the American people and leaves us with fifty independent states.

1. I can now say that I know Adam Kokesh a little bit better. He seems likable, diplomatic (not trashing the competition) and very clever. He clearly seems right-leaning as other libertarians whom I've met [corrected on 2019/05/24]. I don't know if he could get the LP nomination for president. It's too early to tell. You can get to know Kokesh at his website kokeshforpresident.com.
2. The only name I know from the current list of hopefuls is John McAfee who somehow seems to love getting in trouble with the police. McAfee might be too unstable.
3. At least, party-hopper and "Libertarian for Life" Bill Weld is not in the mix since he's now trying to steal the GOP nomination from President Donald Trump for the 2020 presidential cycle.

AK: What makes you think I'm left-leaning?

DN: You referred to Benjamin Netanyahu as "dangerous" and I got the impression that you didn't support Israel, which is a common leftist trait. At the same time, most people, who join the military to really serve the USA (yourself included), support conservatism, democracy and capitalism. Hence most conservatives support most if not all allies of the USA — especially Israel for being the only secular government in the Middle East (not a Jewish theocracy).
You also referred to Joe Biden as "affectionate" when most conservatives see him as a pervert. What I found most interesting and confusing is that you referred to socialism as "idealistic" when nowadays socialism is now becoming a synonym to liberalism and the DNC.
Is it all diplomacy? If so, you're extremely diplomatic. The problem is that diplomacy can be seen as weakness or hypocrisy. By the way, my dad's a lawyer and he's the reason the word "hypocrisy" is part of my common lexicon.
Note that my opinion is an expression of my curiosity. As such, I have no problem to admit that I'm wrong as long as I can learn from such mistake.

AK: Thanks for the thorough response. I'll go point by point.
Netanyahu is dangerous because he's a hawk and a socialist. I support Israel completely, and its government not at all because I'm a voluntaryist.
The three terms, democracy, conservatism, and capitalism are contradictory. I'm a capitalist. Current social institutions, which by definition conservatism seeks to preserve, are more socialist than capitalist. Democracy as a system of government is an excuse for the majority to force its will on the minority, also in violation of your rights to self-ownership under capitalism.
I thought "affectionate" was an obvious joke about his touching problem.
Idealistic is not a compliment. I use it here as close to synonymous with naive.
I'm also very diplomatic.