Delaware Senator Joseph Biden Jr. wants to be President too. You may remember Joe Biden from the horrible RAVE Act he sponsored, which subjects business owners to federal prosecution if they fail to prevent drug use on the premises. Worse yet, Biden actually wrote the law that gives us a Drug Czar. Seriously. Al Gore invented the internet or whatever. Joe Biden invented ONDCP.
I wonder what he was thinking. Was Biden concerned that the drug war was all injury and no insults? If so, he certainly succeeded in making prohibition more annoying, what with the terrorism ads, the interference in local politics, the podcasts, the blog, Andrea Barthwellâ¦the list goes on.
Either way, Biden can now take some credit for ONDCPâs numerous contributions to the drug war status quo, and should either be very proud or ashamed depending who you ask. It would be unfair not to mention that Joe Biden doesnât like John Walters, who he says runs ONDCP "like an ivory tower." One might credit Biden with taking a stand for accountability, but youâd have to ignore the irony of his complaints that the "Drug Czar" position he created seems to lend itself to tyranny.
That drug war cheerleaders so often prove to have high political ambitions is probably no coincidence. From Harry Anslingerâs race-baiting demagoguery to Karen Tandyâs campaign against Tommy Chong (which swept her into the top office at DEA), drug war grandstanding is one way to get your name in the paper. Running for President is another.
Electioneering laws prevent us from opining on the merits (or lack thereof) of various presidential candidates. So Iâll just say this: if the 2008 presidential election comes down to a contest between Rudy Giuliani and Joe Biden, the prison industrial complex canât lose.
(This blog post was published by StoptheDrugWar.org's lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also shares the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)
I wonder what he was thinking. Was Biden concerned that the drug war was all injury and no insults? If so, he certainly succeeded in making prohibition more annoying, what with the terrorism ads, the interference in local politics, the podcasts, the blog, Andrea Barthwellâ¦the list goes on.
Either way, Biden can now take some credit for ONDCPâs numerous contributions to the drug war status quo, and should either be very proud or ashamed depending who you ask. It would be unfair not to mention that Joe Biden doesnât like John Walters, who he says runs ONDCP "like an ivory tower." One might credit Biden with taking a stand for accountability, but youâd have to ignore the irony of his complaints that the "Drug Czar" position he created seems to lend itself to tyranny.
That drug war cheerleaders so often prove to have high political ambitions is probably no coincidence. From Harry Anslingerâs race-baiting demagoguery to Karen Tandyâs campaign against Tommy Chong (which swept her into the top office at DEA), drug war grandstanding is one way to get your name in the paper. Running for President is another.
Electioneering laws prevent us from opining on the merits (or lack thereof) of various presidential candidates. So Iâll just say this: if the 2008 presidential election comes down to a contest between Rudy Giuliani and Joe Biden, the prison industrial complex canât lose.
(This blog post was published by StoptheDrugWar.org's lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also shares the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Add new comment