One of the many valuable services performed by Pete Guither at DrugWarRant is that of finding the most mind-numbingly absurd drug war editorials, reading them in their entirety, and illuminating the gratuitous logical fallacies upon which pro-drug war editorialists are so habitually reliant.

Recent examples can be found here and here.

Believe me, it ain't easy responding with any civility to the frightened and frustrated fulminations of these paranoid drug war cheerleaders, but Pete does so as gracefully as can be expected.

I know from painful experience that it begins to feel like you're banging your head against a wall defending the most basic principles against attacks from scared and angry people. Still, there's value in demonstrating that incoherent pro-drug war rants will be picked apart and their authors identified unflatteringly. These people do google themselves, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if a few of them have taken a long pause after being eviscerated by Pete Guither and his readers.

People with bad ideas about drug policy at least care enough about the issue to speak their minds. As long as they know the issue matters, there's a chance they'll come to reach the right conclusions. Bob Barr and the brave folks at LEAP are proof that our best allies don't always start out on our side.

Update: I changed the title to say "Pro-drug war editorials" instead of "Anti-drug editorials." While our opposition likes to think of itself as "anti-drug" that's often not the effect of their policy preferences. I also reject the kneejerk "pro-drug" label often used to smear reformers, so I shouldn't be defining our opposition as "anti-drug" either.