Two of the leading contenders for the Republican presidential nomination sought to win votes by talking tough on drugs this week, with Texas Gov. Rick Perry calling for unmanned drones to overfly the US-Mexico border and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney saying the war on drugs must continue.
Rick Perry wants drones to overfly the US-Mexico border to surveil the drug traffic, but they already are. (image via Wikimedia)
Going on the offensive against President Obama as he announced his candidacy Saturday, Perry accused Obama of being "an abject failure in his constitutional duty to protect our borders in the United States." Perry waved his right hand toward Mexico as he made those remarks.
Later the same day, at a campaign event in New Hampshire, the tough-talking Texan again laid into Obama, this time calling for the use of unmanned drones to track the flow of drugs coming from Mexico. The Predator drones can stay aloft for up to 20 hours and are equipped with video and tracking technologies.
"We know that there are Predator drones being flown for practice every day because we're seeing them; we're preparing these young people to fly missions in these war zones that we have," Perry told the crowd. "But some of those, they have all the equipment, they're obviously unarmed, they've got the downward-looking radar, they've got the ability to do night work and through clouds. Why not be flying those missions and using (that) real-time information to help our law enforcement?" he asked.
That could be a valid question if one accepts the war on drugs paradigm, which Perry obviously does. The only problem with Perry's query is that the Department of Homeland Security is already deploying drones along the entirety of the US-Mexico border.
Romney, for his part, addressed substance use and the war on drugs in response to questions from the audience, including one from drug war zealot Steven Steiner, who founded Dads and Mad Moms Against Drug Dealers (DAMMAD) after his 19-year-old son died of a drug overdose.
"We've got to not only continue our war on drugs from a police standpoint, but also to market again to our young people about the perils of drugs," the front-running candidate said in response to questions in Littleton.
Romney was responding to one local businessman who complained that he and fellow rural business owners had trouble finding educated workers who can pass a drug test. He replied that people have to teach their children to get an education and stay away from drugs.
Later that evening, at a Berlin town hall, Steiner stood up and said he was frustrated with presidential candidates not talking more about drugs. Romney offered his condolences, said parents must do a better job of warning young people, mentioned his advisors on drug policy are worried about the medical marijuana movement, and offered a joke about it.
"There's a lot of marijuana on the beach," Romney said, referring to California and his home there. "It's amazing how many teenagers have medical problems that require marijuana. I'm saying that facetiously."
Drug policy is beginning to emerge as a campaign issue for the Republican contenders. Look for an in-depth Chronicle article on the candidates and their positions after Labor Day.
(This article 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.)
There's something else that's amazing, Romney you punk
How much more dangerous America's drug is than cannabis. Utterly no comparison. GET REAL, you goddamn bigot.
Yeah, there's a lot of medicinal cannabis being used non-medicinally in CA. So fucking what, is it getting people killed like America's drug does? No, of course not. Why can't you focus on violent crime for a change? That's where the real heartache comes from. You got weird priorities, buster.
Yep they're all prohibitionists
except Ron Paul!
Don't forget about Gary
Don't forget about Gary Johnson, who the media shoved him out of the race because we couldn't have two people who made complete sense. The other of course being Ron Paul.
I say Vote for real Change(not fake Obama change)
Ron Paul/Gary Johnson 2012.
Ron Paul/Gary Johnson 2012.
I like the sound of that ticket!!
So do I,
I've been saying that for some time, now, ever since Gary Johnson entered the race. Tho there was a short time where I advocated Gary Johnson for prez and Ron Paul to remain in congress where he could do a LOT of good with a prez who held similar views. But I quickly changed my mind and now that Dr. No has said he won't seek another term in congress, has taken such a close second in the Iowa straw poll, and Gary Johnson can't even get a mention in the MSM or included in such polls, that just cements it, this is the next best thing for reformers -- a Paul/Johnson ticket.
Hmm, I might have to rethink that
after reading this:
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2011/08/gary-johnson-does-national-press-club.html
Gov. Johnson might not be the best choice for VP after all, I'm changing my dream ticket to Ron Paul/Judge Napolitano
we need
Death to a Wheel Chair Victim
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY6UTnS6Z-A. Here is what this man is all about.
Total Turn Off!
I would like to vote for someone other than Obama but i will not vote for any idiot that will take this kind of stand with the drug war. They act like they have blinders on or something; they seem to have the pulse of the public correct when it come to the economy but as far as how the public feels about the drug war they are way behind. Get a Clue Dudes!!! The only people these guys will attract are Hard Core conservatives.
You can bet that almost
You can bet that almost nobody ever smoked their first joint and said "Wow, Man, now I realize that those repubicans have been right all along.."
The GOP will fight the expensive and stupid drug war forever
The same can be said about the Democrats
So many of the liberal/democrat crowd keep blaming the GOP, but the Democrats in government have been just as complicit in keeping this abomination called "the drug war" going, have even expanded it -- Biden wrote and pushed through congress the bill which created the ONDCP, the cabinet level office of "drug czar", and the mandate that the government employees of this agency must lie whenever confronted by citizens or the media on the failures or tragedies of drug policy; or when they ask about the growing scientific research on the medicinal uses of this herb.
Ron Paul is a different kind of candidate. He may have a (R) behind his name but he does NOT represent the current hierarchy of the GOP. He represents the Constitution, he represents liberty for ALL Americans (and hope for the rest of the world), and he represents sound monetary policy. What more could you ask for? His position on the Constitution (that the government should obey it in ALL things) means the federal war on drugs would be ended in 2013. Is that not what you want? Is it only a win if a Democrat does it? If so we could be another century before it's done.
Both guilty
The republicans are at least honest about how they feel.That I prefer to the sleazy flip that Obama has done on this issue.Obama,the guy that ran on a leave cannabis alone platform only to become as rabidly anti drug as any president in Washington.Now he won't even allow it as a question at his so called town halls.What a classless hypocrite.
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