MAKE ME! (Do It)
by Ed Rosenthal - Monday, November 2 2009Regular readers of my blog know that one of the problems that the U.S. and the world are facing is Obama’s severe case of Marijuana Deficiency Syndrome (MDS).
Symptoms of this condition, are loss of grounding and acceptance of facts that are “generally regarded as true” without thorough examination. One example: dithering over whether to just continue the war, obliterate Afghanistan, or give them war reparations in the form of a trade agreement allowing the import of Afghani hash. Which would you choose?
Another symptom is Obama taking advice from the pinstripe bankers and speculators, rather than outfitting them in horizontal black and whites with the occasional orange or spring green jumpsuit for variety (or as Maricopa County, Arizona’s Sheriff Joe Arpaio - pink underwear).
However, his handling of the health care bill wending its way through Congress has been astute. Marijuana activists can gain insight by looking at this struggle for health care. It has a lot of parallels with our efforts to reform marijuana laws.
Obama was in favor of both marijuana and single-payer health care in the past. When he took office he started working on health care but single-payer wasn’t part of his original proposal. There was outrage among his supporters who started a campaign to energize the public and pressure recalcitrant legislators.
This is exactly how Roosevelt moved some of his most important programs including Social Security. He created expectations. Then when the proposals didn’t deliver what people had expected, public pressure eventually pushed the programs forward.
Attorney General Holder’s recent half-hearted memorandum calling off the DEA from enforcement of federal laws in medical states has changed the paradigm and increased the distance between expectations and the reality of enforcement. Most people see “A Great Awakening” or “A New Opening” and have believed the headline version of Holder’s story.
A closer reading of his statement doesn’t leave me as optimistic about federal policy. It can be easily summed up- “DEA Agents: our policy is not to bust medical marijuana suppliers and users… But if you do, no harm done, and don’t worry, defendants can’t use government policy as a defense in court.” You can see how far apart expectations are from reality.
Expectations presuppose future action. You know, WE WANT POT LEGAL NOW rather than “Please Mr. Legislator, would you pretty please consider changing the marijuana laws?” A slight difference in inflection says it all.
Will you just accept Holder’s statement with a hearty thank you? Or will this slight concession create a demand for more?
I think the answer can be seen in the California marijuana movement. Tom Ammiano’s bill (A.B. 390), which would legalize marijuana, is being discussed in the state legislature today.
Along with A.B. 390, two competing initiatives are gathering signatures and are likely to be on the ballot. Both will make marijuana legal. The legalization movement is flexing its muscles. It can smell the smoke of legalization coming from the dispensaries and can taste the future without having cops in the marijuana equation.
So what can you do to help? There are two ways.
First, GET ACTIVE: participate in demonstrations, write letters, join organizations, and pass on the information to your friends and family.
Second, - JOINTS FOR OBAMA. Barack is still suffering from MDS! Ever since he won last November he hasn’t been able to get any good stuff and has to sneak cigarettes. Send him a joint. Maybe one will get through, he’ll get high and get more grounded- even though he’ll be flying.
I wonder if any joints even
I wonder if any joints even make it TO the white house? I would expect for security reasons, the mail would be sorted off the property, joints seized, or stolen. One would have to wonder if Obama even knows there are joints being mailed to him. Has anyone that sent a joint received a response?
yes he has a staff for his
yes he has a staff for his mail....and if he got 10,000 joints he would know....doubt he has got 10,000 though...maybe like 2,000
President Obama seems to
President Obama seems to want to be all things to all people. That is why he made this big statement about stopping med pot busts while ACTUALLY not changing a damned thing. In short he is attempting to sit on a fence. This applies to the wars also. During the campaign he said his top priority was to extricate us from these wars of "choice" 100 days wasn't it that he said we'd be out of Iraq?. Yet today we are still in BOTH places. His unwillingness to make enemies is not in good service to the country. If I were to offer advice to the pres, it would be simply, Grow a pair. Piss of the DEA or us potheads, but for fucks sake take an actual stand!
Where are the fathers?
I just wonder what war is next for the American Govt,
Perhaps a war on war?
It seems to me, as we look back into history, how many years it has been that U.S.A has not had some war going of some kind? Perhaps start at the arrival of American settlers in America and follow history. I believe you will find, USA has been in some kind of war almost always. Is war really that profitable? Heck, I would rather live in poverty.
I propose a war on war, no more war, give peace a chance, at least for more than a 5 year stretch, Try it, You may like it.
I have a feeling some other countries are already preparing for a war to end all wars. I wonder, what would that mean to the world?
An impressive list of American wars.
18th Century
American Revolutionary War, 1775 – 1783
Boston campaign, 1775 - 1776
Canadian Theatre, 1775 - 1776
New York and New Jersey campaign, 1776 - 1777
Saratoga Campaign, 1777
Philadelphia Campaign, 1777 - 1778
Western Theatre, 1775 - 1782
Northern Theater, 1778 - 1781
Southern Theatre, 1775 - 1782
Northwest Indian War, 1785 - 1795
Quasi-War, France, 1798 – 1800
19th Century
First Barbary War, 1801 – 1805
War of 1812, 1812 – 1815
Tecumseh's Rebellion, 1811 - 1813
Lake Champlain Campaign, 1812 - 1814
Niagara Campaign, 1812 - 1814
Detroit Campaign, 1812 - 1814
Chesapeake Campaign, 1813 - 1814
Creek War, 1813 - 1814
Peoria War, 1813
Southern Campaign,
Second Barbary War, 1815
First Seminole War, 1817 - 1818
Winnebago War, 1827
Black Hawk War, 1832
Second Seminole War, 1835 - 1842
Mexican-American War, 1846 – 1848
Cayuse War, 1847 - 1855
Third Seminole War, 1855 - 1858
American Civil War, 1861 – 1865
Union blockade, 1861 - 1865
Eastern Theater, 1861 - 1865
Western Theater, 1861 - 1865
Lower Seaboard Theater, 1861 - 1865
Trans-Mississippi Theater, 1861 - 1865
Dakota Conflict, 1862
Pacific Coast Theater, 1863
Colorado War, 1863 - 1865
Red Cloud's War, 1866 - 1868
Korean Expedition, 1871
Modoc War, 1872 - 1873
Red River War, 1874 - 1875
Black Hills War, 1876 - 1877
Nez Perce War, 1877
Bannock War, 1878
Cheyenne War, 1878 - 1879
Sheepeater Indian War, 1879
Ute War, 1879-1880
Pine Ridge Campaign, 1890-1891
Battle of Leech Lake, 1898
Spanish-American War, 1898
Philippine-American War, 1899 - 1913
20th Century
Boxer Rebellion, 1899 - 1901
Banana Wars:
United States occupation of Nicaragua, 1907-1933
United States occupation of Honduras, 1907-1933
United States overthrow of Guatemalan Government, 1907-1933
Intervention during Panamanian Election, 1908
United States occupation of Cuba, 1912
United States occupation of Veracruz, 1914
United States occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934
United States occupation of the Dominican Republic, 1917-1924
Mexican Expedition, 1916 - 1917
Battle of Ambros Nogales, 1918
World War I, 1917 – 1918 (time span of U.S. involvement)
European Theatre, 1917 - 1918
First Battle of the Atlantic, 1917 - 1918
Russian Revolution, 1918-1920 (time span of U.S. involvement)
Polar Bear Expedition, 1918 - 1919
American Expeditionary Force Siberia, Soviet Union, 1918 - 1920
World War II, 1941 – 1945 (time span of U.S. involvement)
Second Battle of the Atlantic, 1941 - 1945
Pacific War, 1941 - 1945
African Theatre, 1942 - 1943
European Theatre, 1944 - 1945
Korean War, 1950 - 1953
Operation Blue Bat, Lebanon, 1958
Bay of Pigs Invasion, Cuba, 1961
Operation Powerpack, Dominican Republic, 1965 - 1966
Vietnam War, 1962 - 1973 (time span of United States involvement)
Laotian Civil War, 1962 - 1973
Cambodian Civil War, 1969 - 1970
Contra War, El Salvador, 1981-1990
Invasion of Grenada, Grenada, 1983-1984
Iran–Iraq War, 1987 - 1989
United States invasion of Panama 1989 - 1990
Persian Gulf War, Iraq, 1991
Operation Desert Shield, 1991
Operation Desert Storm, 1991
Somali Civil War, 1992 - 1994
Operation Provide Relief, 1992
Operation Restore Hope, 1992 - 1994
Yugoslav wars, 1994 - 1999
Bosnian Conflict, 1994 - 1995
Kosovo Conflict, 1997 - 1999
21st Century
War on Terrorism, 2001 - present
Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan 2001 - present
Operation Enduring Freedom - Philippines 2002 - present
Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa 2002 - present
Operation Iraqi Freedom, 2003 - present
War in North-West Pakistan, 2004 - present
War in Somalia, 2006 - 2009
Operation Enduring Freedom - Trans Sahara 2007 - present
Well? What do you think? What war will there be after this one? Perhaps a war on single mothers who have no husband, or a war on fatherless children who have no Father figure.
I ask, if the fathers were home instead of fighting and dieing in a war, what would this world be like?
Lindsay S
P.S. I hope Obama gets to smoke one of those joints that have been sent to him, he sits down and thinks about what I have said. Maybe he will see the light.
Sorry it is so long. Had to be said.
What About...?
Seems to me you missed one of the biggest and longest wars of all. I don't see the War On Drugs(read: War on Non-White Minorities) in your list. Allow me to make the addition.
War on Drugs, 1937 - Present (time span of US federal involvement)
A bit of an oversight given it's the longest war in US history and possibly also the most costly (depending on how you count the cost).
I would love to read more
I would love to read more about this topic.
I look forward to hearing
I look forward to hearing some of your thoughts about why certain UI decisions are made.