Trib's Gary Johnson endorsement 'save saving' at its worst

The Trib Editorial Board knows Hillary Clinton will succeed President Obama next January 20. Already on record that Donald Trump is intellectually, temperamentally, and morally unfit to be president, endorsement of Clinton should be even more forthcoming than their endorsement of Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.

Unfortunately, the Trib has chosen to follow the thoroughly discredited Republican meme that government investment in education, infrastructure, family leave and health care for all is bad governance and must be opposed, even at the sake of jettisoning their editorial integrity. Since the Trib knows opposing Clinton for her belief in the strong, principled government that lifted America out of the Great Recession of 2007, brought over five straight years of private sector job growth, drastic drop in unemployment and debt growth, sustained stock market growth, marriage equality to all, health insurance to 20 million, saving 50,000 lives and many more, would sound ludicrous, the Board simply ignores those accomplishments. Instead they pretend she'll spend America into horrendous debt and kill private sector job growth, which in their twisted vision, can only occur when you strangle government investment in our infrastructure and our people.

The Trib buttresses this fallacious economic and political argument with the vicious Republican campaign to de-legitimize her in the same fashion the GOP de-legitimized President Obama for the past eight years. Calling her untrustworthy and overly ambitious is all the Republican Party has in their hopeless attempt to drag her down to Trump's level. To even suggest Clinton is as unacceptable a choice as Trump is destructive to understanding the horrific political crisis the Trump takeover of the Republican Party provides.

To save face with the Trib's doctrinaire anti government base, the Editorial Board endorses a doctrinaire anti government libertarian who offers little besides more tax relief for the well off by tearing down the social safety net. This may be the Trib's principles, but it's not that of the 50% plus who will propel Hillary Clinton to continue the inexorable march of human progress begun by her Trib backed predecessor.

The Trib Editorial Board disgraced itself in the March Primary by refusing to endorse either of two great progressive Democrats. With its editorial integrity shattered, the Trib is left saving what's left of it's regressive face.