John McCain's Awful Response to a Cop Who Wants to End the Drug War
When NH police officer and LEAP speaker Bradley Jardis confronted John McCain last week, demanding an explanation for the ongoing failure of the drug war, McCain's response was just unbelievable:
McCain acknowledges that too many first time offenders are serving time, but he otherwise delivers a defense of the drug war that is as banal and incoherent as any such discussion could ever be. I won't bother to categorically refute the mountainous absurdities contained herein. Instead, I've transcribed McCain's marvelous distinction between drugs and alcohol, which should be etched in stone as a timeless embodiment of the rank idiocy that defines the modern war on drugs:
Look, I've heard the comparison between drugs and alcohol. I think most experts would say that in moderation, one or two drinks of alcohol does not have an effect on one's judgment, mental acuity, or their physical abilities. I think most experts would say that the first ingestion of drugs leads to mind-altering and other experiences, other effects, and can lead over time to serious, serious problems.
This is what John McCain chose to lead with. This, for McCain, was the strong central point that explains why the drug war is necessary. And it is just so transparently stupid and wrong.*
When the curtain is pulled back, perfect cluelessness is revealed to be the single unifying principle that binds the drug war philosophy together. That is why McCain nearly falls to pieces when confronted by someone with real firsthand experience waging the war he so clumsily defends.
Most drug war supporters are not qualified to discuss this topic even briefly. If you ask them a smart question about the drug war, their answer will come out something like this:
*Update: It's been suggested to me that it is actually necessary to explain that alcohol is a drug. Maybe it is, so here goes: It's a drug. It produces a powerful intoxicated state commonly referred to as "drunkenness," in which one's judgment can become impaired along with the ability to operate heavy machinery.
John McCain ought to know that alcohol is a drug. I think he just wasn't prepared for the question and said the first thing that popped into his head. It is typical for defenders of the drug war to begin their argument by issuing wildly false generalizations.
[Thanks, Micah]
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redditSqueezing John McCain's Monster Balloon
Comment posted by aahpat on Sun, 11/25/2007 - 11:50amDrug War Abolitionist New Hampshire state police officer Bradley Jardis confronted Republican Arizona U.S. senator and presidential candidate John McCain about the failed war on drugs that McCain supports. The Huffington Post 'Off The Bus' column reported this week.
McCain and Jardis bantered a dozen different issues ranging from first time offender addicts, crime, children's access to drugs, border security and drug cartel violence that Jardis and McCain ably debated. McCain was able to latch onto one aspect of one concern he raised ignoring Jardis black market response.
Legalization of Meth-amphetamine.
McCain asked Officer Jardis if he would legalize meth. Jardis half punted the question with the important point about how the meth dealers would not exist without the economy created by prohibition.
I would like to focus on the question of Meth-amphetamine regulation with a definite yes. All intoxicant substances need to be legally regulated...... Squeezing John McCain's Monster Balloon posted at my blog, ALeftIndependent
Typical
Comment posted by puregenius on Sun, 12/02/2007 - 2:45amJohn Mccain needs to come see how I function after drinking 2 oz of liquor compared to ingesting 4 cg of pharmaceutical grade THC. Within a minute after that drink I can't walk or think clearly. When the THC takes effect I can walk normally, think clearly enough to play high-level poker and play chess rather well. I can probably drive too, but I don't take such risks with any psychoactive substance.
Speed Freaks with Jet Fighters
Comment posted by Giordano on Sat, 11/24/2007 - 10:50pmContrary to Senator McCain’s “legalizing methamphetamine” question to the police officer in the clip, McCain should know that methamphetamine is a Schedule II substance and that it is legal to use with a prescription.
As a former fighter pilot shot down over Viet Nam, McCain should also have some first hand knowledge of methamphetamine. Note the following government report:
A drug war topic for Senator McCain might concern the pep pills he undoubtedly carried and probably consumed as a Viet Nam era pilot. And if he used drugs such as methamphetamine during the course of his wartime combat, then by his own declaration on the clip, he is too brain-addled to be president.
If McCain is right, then methamphetamine-addlement might also explain the sordid career flops of former fighter pilots such as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, nut-case Rep. “B-1” Bob Dornan, (R-CA), and convicted bribe-taker Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA). There is definitely a trend here.
Giordano