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No Thank You

Some bizarre news today:

An Idaho man charged with attempting to assassinate President Barack Obama by shooting at the White House practiced with his weapon for six months and may have been upset about the country's marijuana policy, prosecutors said in a newly filed court document.
 

Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez is currently awaiting trial for the 2011 shooting, which didn't injure anyone but left more than five bullet marks on the executive mansion.

[AP]

Assuming it's true, no thank you to Mr. Ortega -- not the kind of help we need.

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Carl Olsen's picture

Blaming Obama

I have to say the the entire reform movement seems to have some unrealistic expectation that President Obama can just reverse the entire drug war single handedly.  I wish we would stop doing that.  We only encourage idiots like this to blame President Obama for everything that is wrong in this world.

I can and will blame Obama (and Republicans)

Sorry, but Obama is a coward whose improvements on drug policy are negligible at best. We might as well have Biden as a president.

He had every opportunity to discuss this issue with the public in 2009, but he chose to laugh it off.

He had every opportunity not to choose Michele Leonhart to lead the DEA.

When he finally began to discuss the subject of cannabis, he was sure to pass the buck to a Congress full of greedy bigots. "Yes, he can" do something...

The raids on dispensaries continue.

The Drug War Budget shows no improvement, and now Kowardski is trying to sugar-coat it expecting us to believe his lies. "Trying to make drug use less of a stigma" while still arresting people and ruining their careers/marriages/lives. Really?!

Don't forget that Obama fanatics like Yahoo block out the word "cannabis" so that people are continually exposed to its stereotypical name.

By the way, stopthedrugwar.org, WHY DO YOU STILL USE THE "M" WORD??? (the same word used by Harry Anslinger)

PS: Half of the country is upset with prohibition, so I'd assume 1 out of 2 crazed whackos are using that as extra fuel for their craziness. Some are upset at their job, some at the government. "Crazy" has to manifest itself somehow...

Two words

Executive order.

Obama *is* to blame

Never forget that the Controlled Substances Act gives the Executive branch--specifically, the Attorney General--the power to schedule and/or reschedule.

Obama-Holder could make the the medical cannabis debate go way for good this afternoon if they had any will whatsoever to do so.

Medical cannabis is still "controversial" and dispensaries are still being raided because that is what Barack Obama and Eric Holder want.

Blaming Obama

Obama is not helpless in his own power to change the course of the Federal government on this front in the War on the American People.  Congress didn't make marijuana illegal:  they delegated the power to the executive branch to put drugs on the Federal drug schedules.  Obama could order his subordinates in the DEA and FDA to take marijuana off Schedule I (the only non-narcotic on it) and put it in a more rational place.

I'm with you, Mr. Borden

When you say "assuming it's true."

I'm pretty suspicious of this story.. the shooting happened in 2011.  I'd not heard anything of it at that time, or any time since.  Why is it suddenly in the news now, with emphasis on marijuana's "connection" with the story?

What's next?  When will the mass media actually start blaming marijuana on things, directly?  It seems like only a matter of time.

They've run out of other justifications to oppose legalization...

Don't blame Obama???

Of course it's sad that someone became so frustrated with the war on drugs that he actually took the war to the WH.It's also sad that Obama became a hypocrite and a liar as soon as he saw he had a chance to be President.What has this President done for any progressive cause?We all know the answer to that.Of course no one wants to be associated with someone who shot at the WH.It doesn't change anything and Romney probably would have been just as bad.I doubt there are many who would still say he would have been worse.There is no worse.Perhaps the man lost friends and relatives in the Mexican fiasco and was so grief stricken he couldn't see straight?It's easy for us to say that nothing can justify what he did.We,however,haven't walked a mile in his shoes.

People who resort to violence

People who resort to violence even for good causes should be shunned and stigmatized. What he did was inexcusable. Maybe you think the 9/11 hijackers were also justified in their cause because they it was just "revenge" against "The Great Satan". Ideologues and violent radicals should NOT be welcome in the legalization movement. What it needs is honest, rational debate and and the abolishment of stereotypes (the lazy hippie welfare queen and the pot smoking paranoid conspiracy nut, among others).

When diplomacy fails...

And since we can't get a reasonable debate after more than 40 years of diplomacy it's hard to imagine how this hasn't happened before and isn't an ongoing event... I'm not condoning his actions, but I can certainly understand being so utterly frustrated with a government that sells out its citizens to secure corporate interest, ignores the will of the people, and laughs off our concerns and pleas that one can finally crack and do something foolish. How long do you lie in the fetal position begging a bully to stop beating on you before you stand up and start fighting back?

The Drug War Causes Violence

I'd just like to put another perspective on this story. Yes, we do not need violence to further the cause of legalizing marijuana, because it won't. But consider that this fellow is a victim of prohibition. Prohibition is a violent act and many people have suffered torment and trauma from repeated raids of their homes and searches in the streets resulting in arrests, fines, imprisonment and scarring trauma. Yes, most people manage to keep their composure but a blanket policy of oppression across the community is going to ensnare those few individuals in the community who do not have the skills or strength to endure the unreasonable demands the authorities place on them.  Under such pressure they may break and do damage to themselves or others. Add to this the fact that it is quite legal for people with problems to access alcohol and anti-depressants (which are more being recognized to cause trauma, while at the same time being denied cannabis which is a proven treatment in cases of psychosis) then you have a perfect storm for ensuring that some people with problems end up seeking violent solutions to their problems. It is certainly not at all rational but neither is prohibition. Prohibition forces violence into the community. This guy needed help. He needed compassion and understanding and he needed a good supply. And if the cops really want to help the community they should be looking for people who look down on their luck and instead of searching and arresting them should be saying stuff like "Hey buddy, you got enough buds to get you through? We got some good stuff here if you want". Seriously.

Drug War causes violence.

The title was meant to read "The Drug War causes violence".

Drug War causes violence.

The title was meant to read "The Drug War causes violence".

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