Why Do Democrats Defend the Drug War?
The rank hypocrisy of Obama's position on pot has been amplified rather dramatically by last week's revelation that he literally smoked more than his share of it back in high school. It's an important conversation to have, but I think this analysis by Paul Waldman in The American Prospect lands a little off the mark.
At the moment, there remains a strong incentive to support the status quo, lest you be targeted in your next race as some kind of hippie-lover. The incentives on the other side, on the other hand, are almost nil. When was the last time somebody lost a race for being too tough on drugs? The half of Americans who favor marijuana legalization are not an organized voting bloc that gets together to punish its opponents at the polls.
This is almost the opposite of what I've been saying lately, given that in just the past month, two different well-connected democratic candidates have collapsed under the weight of their unpopular drug war posturing. First, Oregon voters roundly rejected Dwight Holton in an attorney general race that focused heavily on his opposition to medical marijuana. Then, just yesterday in Texas, U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes lost the congressional seat he's held since 1996 in a primary challenge from outspoken drug policy reformer Beto O'Rourke.
Really, the whole notion that candidates who support reform will be labeled as "hippie-lovers," is nothing more than a fictitious cliché without a single good example to justify its utterance. Instead, we're witnessing the emergence of the exact opposite, a new dynamic in democratic races wherein a history of defending the drug war is a political liability that can be exploited to powerful effect by candidates who side with the majority of voters in favoring reform.
That's why it's so frustrating to see observers like Waldman, who supports reforming drug policy, nevertheless endeavor to uphold the notion that political realities require our leaders to do the wrong thing. If Obama were to read that analysis and find it convincing, Waldman would have succeeded in helping the President rationalize his refusal to support reform. We're hurting our cause when we say stuff like this, and worse yet, the idea itself isn't even true.
The truth is that a majority of voters actually do want the President to stop waging war on marijuana. It isn't in any politician's political interest to ignore public opinion while defending bad public policy. The smart play is to steer into the changing political current, just as Obama did with gay marriage, and the result is that public opinion itself begins to change that much faster. This is what's known as leadership, and when it comes to reforming our horrible drug laws, our politicians have everything to gain by speaking up and speaking out.
Prohibitionists are either Parasites or extremely ignorant.
Nearly every mention of Marijuana Legalization activists gets marginalized or mocked by the MSM, Nearly, to a one, they'll use some silly cliche' or double entendre to undermine the message. It's time the MSM drop their "comedy" act and realize people are dying and being jailed on a wholesale basis because of laws conceived, born and nurtured from lies, greed and racism.
LEAP member, NYPD, ret.
Not funny
I agree with you entirely.
I too am sick of these silly smiles every time we try to talk about marijuana.
Which is why I keep screaming that the drug war is a "crime against humanity" and an act of genocide.
Has anyone made a list of all the wars and conflicts and crimes that have been funded and motivated by this brutal meme?
Why Do Democrats Defend the Drug War?
Because the large majority of those working in law enforcement, the courts, jails, and prisons' are Democrats.
The drug war is the bread and butter of their lively hood. There is big money in the criminal system, and they are not going to do anything that would take money away from them...or cause them to loose jobs.
It's the Money Stupid.
Take a look at the financial situation.
Pro-Drug War funding sources:
Big Pharma, Prison Industry, Police/Prison Guard Unions, and Firearms manufacturers.
Pro-Sanity funding sources:
None, Small Donors.
The Majority of US elections are decided by who spends more. Well because the Pro-Drug War side has more money they are more likely to win. Until we have Election reforms that take the money out of politics issues like the Drug War that are electorally unpopular are still going to be decided by Big Donors not voters.
Court Lawyers Cannabis: Pay Checks
Cannabis Legalized is a Healthier Society, that government bureaucracies and pharmaceutical companies deny so that they can keep getting their government support and so that governments can continue to justify PRISONS and MURDER with CANNABIS COUNTER-CULTURE.
Governments with Cannabis as an Illegal Substance are committing CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.
If this is a Drug War for the United States of America and the United Nations: War Crimes and Mass Atrocities of Cannabis are violating the Human Rights of all Citizens of America.
The International Governments will be brought to Justice for Crimes Against Humanity with Cannabis War Crimes Atrocities and ETHNOCIDE.
Cannabis is a Culture of Millions of People.
Governments are Committing Crimes Against Humanity with Cannabis as an Illegal Substance.
LEGALIZE CANNABIS.
Quit voting for Dems who don't support prohibition
I would rather live under an idiot Republican President than a hypocritical Democrat!
I think you mean
"Don't vote for Democrats who DO support prohibition"
And not all Republicans are idiots, just as not all Democrats are idiots (being an idiot is an equal opportunity political position, most politicians are idiots). However, Ron Paul is NOT an idiot and Ron Paul supports ending the "drug war". He's a Republican every American could be happier with as president. What could possibly be unpopular about having ALL our freedoms restored, a balanced federal budget with radically reduced federal debt, a monetary policy that doesn't rely on inflation to keep the economy going (providing us with lower prices for everything instead of the current situation where prices go up almost daily), and lower taxes without any accompanying reduction in services or programs?
It's our fault, not theirs.
It is not the fault of the politicians that Cannabis prohibition still exists. It is the fault of the world's oldest global culture for not recognizing its own spiritual and therefore legal legitimacy. If DPA, MPP, ASA, NORML, and all of the other over-funded mini-bureaucracies spawned by the "drug war" were to present all arguments in favor of revaluation of Cannabis, as both unique and essential, we could exercise essential civilian demand " for a "strategic" "herb bearing seed" "of first necessity to the wealth and protection" of the planet, then prohibition could end tomorrow through the powers of Grand Jury, jury nullification, and coordinated tax revolt, backed by the First Amendment. Cannabis the sacrament of the world's oldest global culture. It remains illegal because our generation hasn't found the grit to stand up for truth.
Our children and grandchildren will hate us for not doing what we ought to be doing right now."Sow hemp everywhere..." immediately, and pray it's not too late to reverse the systemic collapse we are in the beginning stages of.
See my blog for more about why Cannabis is both unique and essential for three very specific game-changing reasons.
Oh, and by the way before anyone brings it up as if it mattered, f***k the "political reality" that has the "drug policy reform establishment" (oxymoron) hypnotized, misleading the grassroots into endless, powerless voter initiatives. What has Prop 215 done but maintain high prices, impose regulation, and expose patients, doctors, and caregivers to the federal government in record numbers?
It is not the fault of the politicians that Cannabis prohibition
It is not the fault of the politicians that Cannabis prohibition still exists. It is the fault of the world's oldest global culture for not recognizing its own spiritual and therefore legal legitimacy. If DPA, MPP, ASA, NORML, and all of the other over-funded mini-bureaucracies spawned by the "drug war" were to present all arguments in favor of revaluation of Cannabis, as both unique and essential, we could exercise essential civilian demand " for a "strategic" "herb bearing seed" "of first necessity to the wealth and protection" of the planet, then prohibition could end tomorrow through the powers of Grand Jury, jury nullification, and coordinated tax revolt, backed by the First Amendment. Cannabis the sacrament of the world's oldest global culture. It remains illegal because our generation hasn't found the grit to stand up for truth.
Our children and grandchildren will hate us for not doing what we ought to be doing right now."Sow hemp everywhere..." immediately, and pray it's not too late to reverse the systemic collapse we are in the beginning stages of.
See my blog for more about why Cannabis is both unique and essential for three very specific game-changing reasons.
Oh, and by the way before anyone brings it up as if it mattered, f***k the "political reality" that has the "drug policy reform establishment" (oxymoron) hypnotized, misleading the grassroots into endless, powerless voter initiatives. What has Prop 215 done but maintain high prices, impose regulation, and expose patients, doctors, and caregivers to the federal government in record numbers?
Vote Libertarian Gary Johnson for prez
He's been for re-legalization since 1999. He will be on the ballot in all states. Obama & Romney can be considered irrelevant, as they favor the 1%. Gary Johnson favors the 100% equally. His campaign is even selling Marleyboro mugs! His website garyjohnson2012 dot com has sensible issues positions spelled out in detail. His VP Jim Gray is from judgesagainstthedrugwar dot org
He's starting to be listed in some polls. He was at 4% nationally 2 weeks ago. About half the people who've studied his positions like him, but 61% admitted they knew little or nothing about him. Please help change that by signing the petition at change dot org to get him into the debates. He's fair, kind & caring, honest & smart. No favoritism, no bashing. He can't be bought. He accepts contributions as low as $1. For that $1, Gary can get 100 more voters with his low budget internet campaign. It costs about $10 for each vote for Obama or Romney. Thanks to all who support Gary Johnson!
Please forget Gary Johnson
He cannot win, not even with all drug law reformers voting for him.
For all of you who think you want Gary Johnson over Ron Paul, please read this article:
http://www.examiner.com/article/gary-johnson-disappoints-lp-candidate-doesn-t-understand-libertarianism
And if you live in CA and will be voting in tomorrow’s primary, please vote for Ron Paul over Gary Johnson for a far, far better chance at ending the drug wars.
Ron Paul pulls votes from the Democrats, Independents, libertarians who think the LP has gone off the rails, and true conservatives (as opposed to the theocrats and neo-cons who pretty much control the GOP now). He absolutely CAN beat Obama and is the only candidate (including Johnson) who wants to (and will, if elected) completely end the drug wars. If Ron Paul gets all the drug law reformers voting for him in the States which have not yet held their primariy/caucus on top of those others I named, he has an excellent chance of achieving the nomination; but even without the nomination, he could win the election on write-ins if he registers as a write-in candidate in every State. If you want your freedoms restored, Ron Paul is the only one promising to do that and the only one with a plan to do that.
The hypocrisy of the cannabis
The hypocrisy of the cannabis prohibition based on no science. When you study the history there are some interesting facts For instance the Art word on a US $10 bill can only be described as hemp harvest in York county PA. Or American Pharmacopeia 1936 17 pages on cannabis medicines or the U.S. Patent (#6630507) I can only say that, if there were not the 20 million people that have been imprisoned and the 850,000 arrested this year and the 50,000 dead Mexican it might be funny. Its time to end this madness.
They are the same damn party.
They are the same damn party. It's nothing more than elitist dualism. The same Oligarchs control both parties.
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