Black swan moment

“Johnson best choice for New Mexico governor,” read a headline last week in The Taos News. Wow. That was a very rare black swan moment. The Taos News was right … and wrong … simultaneously.

Yes, The Taos News was right: Gary Johnson would be the best choice for New Mexico governor. During the eight years that he was governor of New Mexico he did a magnificent job – far superior to anyone who preceded or followed him. Embarrassingly for The Taos News, however, Gary Johnson is not running for governor. He is the Libertarian Party’s candidate for U. S. Senator.

The Taos News’ boo-boo headline was placed over a “My Turn” article I wrote to rebut an earlier disingenuous hit piece that seriously misrepresented Gary Johnson and the Libertarian Party. As a lifelong Libertarian I am positive and optimistic, and therefore easily perceive the humor, or at least irony, in daily events. In this case, we have both.

The “My Turn” article detailed errors in the earlier hit piece by Alma Lones. That its headline also committed yet another … wait for it … grievous error is too rich. Irony writ large, no? With a dash of humor.

To its credit, The Taos News apologized for the bungled headline, and corrected it online. JOHN O’CONNELL El Prado, NM