Meet the new boss....same as the old boss.
Bummer.
Even though Kerlikowske’s former city is famously tolerant of marijuana — which is less harmful and less addictive than America’s most popular, legal intoxicant, alcohol — that did not stop America’s new drug czar from demeaning the president’s position on medicinal use, telling a crowd in Fresno, California on Wednesday that marijuana is "dangerous" and "has no medical benefit," according to The Fresno Bee.
The Democratic desire to become the GOP is relentless.
This is NOT CHANGE.
This is the same old tired bullshit the GOP has regurgitated for 3 generations.
The same old tired bullshit that gets debunked over and over and over again, until some fucking tool comes out and regurgitates the lies again, sending us through another cycle or wasting time re-debunking the bullshit.
The fucking media gives this bullshit a free ride every goddamned time, they never ask the first challenging question. They just drop down on their knees and take stenography.
Obama , of course, due to the prissy nature of presidential politics, isn't allowed to tell the truth on the subject, even if he wanted to, and I am sort of certain he doesn't want to. He could, if he wanted. He's the fucking president. And the decision, once made, WILL be popular, but nooooo... we must cower in fear.
Political calculators seem to think that despite the pressure for reform (decrim or proper regulation) would somehow cost him the next election, something I find to be utterly superstitious in nature. It is an idea whose time has come again and again and is now more prevalent than ever.
But noooooooooo. Politics insists on maintaining totally stupid situation. Look at Iraq. Look at Afghanistan. Look at healthcare. Look at torture.
Every single one of those issues has a clear and correct answer and by God, we will NOT implement those right actions because politics demands we do the stupidest of all things.
We can bring troops home from Iraq. We put them on planes and make the planes fly this way.
We can bring them home from Afghanistan. See my plan for IRaq.
We can have proper healthcare. Do you just love watching people fight tooth and nail to maintain a wholly unacceptable situation?
Torture is torture and it is wrong and it could be stopped, but it won't be. Despite Obama's proclamation that the US doesn't torture, the US tortures people and isn't about to stop. Because nobody is lifting a finger to stop it. Plenty of fingers are lifted to interfere with any and all efforts to stop torture.
And Marijuana is less dangerous than a glass of water - it can't be proved otherwise - but we have to keep it illegal and demonized and utter ridiculous bullshit about it when all around us is the truth.
President Obama has maintained that legalization of marijuana is "not in my vocabulary" — words that were echoed by his drug czar in Fresno — but has never denounced his stated support of decimalization.
Senator Jim Webb (D-VA), who recently introduced legislation to form a a presidential commission on prison reforms that would study drug criminalization, has insisted that marijuana legalization must be "on the table." His bipartisan bill would form a group to make recommendations to Congress after 18 months. Webb has reportedly received "quiet encouragement" from President Obama on the issue.
Decrim is a total waste of time, a perfect political non-answer that maintains everything bad about marijuana prohibition.
I feel stupid for trying to "hope" for smart reform from Obama. Its so goddamned infuriating. The proper answers are plain as friggin' day but the nature of politics is to put off the right decision as long as possible.
Only MORONS unnaturally uninformed people and republicans still REALLY fear teh Evil of teh mar-ju-wanna, so the holdup of a situation that can be easily and smartly resolved languishes and hope takes a beating.
Americans have been well-trained to believe they must tolerate insanely stupid situations as hopeless to change. "Yeah, we all know mar-ju-wanna ain't as bad as tobaccah or al-key-haul, but we's powerless to change the law".
It is not acceptable to embrace abject stupidity with this much zeal...particularly for Democrats.
Keeping pot illegal is simply doing the GOP's work for them.
Given that Dems try so hard to be like the GOP, I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised.
Update [2009-7-24 9:45:23 by xxdr zombiexx]: From snud, in the comments
If there's "no medical benefit"
Why the hell did Marinol get FDA approval? Oh... that's right! Silly me! Marinol makes some pharmaceutical company rich and the continued prohibition funnels billions to bullshit "law enforcement" agencies and fills our (many private) prisons.
I agree Doc... This is status quo we can believe in and it's pretty sad coming from a POTUS who's admitted to smoking it himself - and had he been caught, wouldn't be POTUS right now.
Teamwork.