Friday, March 27, 2009

From a small acorn...

For all of you crying for the government to "legalize it," I refer you to this.
Sen. James Webb (D-Va.) was guy who knocked off the odious George Allen in the 2006 elections. At the time, many lefties were both happy at Allen's demise and leery of Webb's resume, which included a stint as Reagan's Navy Secretary. They feared another Blue Dog conservative Democrat who would play both sides of the fence.
Webb has been a blessing, however. He was the guy who rammed through a long-overdue refit of the GI Bill that should help the VA better deal with the new wave of vets coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. It's too bad there wasn't anything in that bill about stringing up Bush and Cheney for their craven exploitation of good, patriotic Americans.
And now Webb has put forth a shocking thesis: Our justice system doesn't work! Uh, yeah, me and about everyone else who has dealt with the system or dealt with anyone who has ever dealt with the system could've told you that. What heartens me about Webb's proposal is his argument that simply locking everyone up doesn't work, nor does ignoring the mental health needs of people in the system. There's nothing in his press release about legalizing it. However, should Webb get a commission with some teeth, that is the place to start with the decriminalization arguments.
Should it stop with weed, though? For a long time, as long as I have had opinions about drugs, I've thought pot should be legal but coke, heroin, acid, speed and the like should remain criminalized. I've changed my mind. I think it should it all be legal now.
The quick argument is that people can abuse tobacco and alcohol, so why not the other stuff? I agree with that, but my thinking has gotten deeper recently. Yes, I do believe pot, coke, heroin, pills and the rest should be continue to be controlled. Kids shouldn't be able to buy them at Wal Mart, but consenting adults should be able to buy them at a pharmacy.
In the grand scheme, is a coke head or pill head really any more of a threat to society than a drunk? Has locking up junkies done anything to curb drug consumption? Do poor addicts get the same treatment in the justice system that rich addicts get?
You know the answers to those questions, just as I do. I vote for maintaining current spending levels for cops, courts and jails and ditching the drug war. That leaves more money and time to fight crime and frees society from spending hundreds of billions per year fighting private behavior. The streets aren't going to fill up with junkies; I've never tried smack, never even been curious and wouldn't try it even I could buy it at the drug store.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Vent

I am probably jinxing it, but I think Spring may be just days away from the North Pole. All of the squirrels, skunks, rabbits, etc. are coming out and I've heard a few seagulls this week.
The day job was a royal pain this week, with having to deal with gossipy mouthbreathers on the website and mediocre prima donna.
I've never been one to shy away from admitting mistakes, but it sucks when others don't have the grace to do the same. I've been a newsguy for a long time and have yet to write anything that couldn't use a bit of editing. I just don't understand the paralyzing fear that seems to grip some when it's pointed out that they are not yet perfect, or confronted by others who are willing to admit to mistakes.
Anyway, I spent much of this week dealing with a mess that was about five percent of my making and am done with it, thankfully. You're probably wanting specifics, but I don't think I'll share them.
Sorry, I just wanted to vent.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Dunderhead for president in 2012

I decided after the presidential election to quit wasting time and energy commenting on Sarah Palin. I didn't think anyone would take her seriously enough to merit expending time and energy rehashing just how vapid she is.
Then I saw this at Huffington Post this morning.
After reading this item, a thought occurred to me. I think I know why all of the mouthbreathers love her so much: she doesn't believe in consequence or accountability. She not only is without shame; she is unaware of the concept.
Anyone who paid attention to the fall campaign last year would have to admit that Palin was ridiculously overmatched. She tried time and time again to bullshit her way through interviews, speeches, debates and the like, only to humiliate herself. Or did she? Any intelligent adult with even a trace of scruples would either retire from public life or resolve to improve themselves and be ready for the next national go-round. She isn't doing either. She intends to continue pursuing her presidential ambitions just as she pursued the vice presidency: by appealing to her supporters' addiction to willful ignorance.
Earmarks are bad, and how dare ABC News mention that she requests just like every other governor! The press should leave her family alone, but it's okay to have her family up on stage with her and pass her infant son around like a bong, as Sam Seder so eloquently observed. Talk up her average, middle class life, then go on six-figure shopping sprees and send the bill to the Republican National Committee. Talk up fiscal conservatism, then bill your state for driving to and from work and family outings to the lower 48.
Palin plans to run for president in 2012 without doing anything to better prepare herself to be president. It's tragic, really, because she will have several million supporters who will place their money and faith in her. They won't win, of course, but her candidacy will harden their heads even more in the belief that any facts that challenge their half-assed notions are evil and wrong.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Could it be?

Is it just me, or are more people getting as pissed as I am at the clowns who ran our economy into the ground? Could it be that our new president will dragged further to the left in dealing with Wall Street? I don't want to say yes quite yet, but smarter people than I are seeing what I think I see.
Take James Howard Kunstler, for instance. I hope you have clicked on his link over there on the right of this page, because he has been way out in front in warning folks that our suburban dreams and delusions are gone, baby, gone. He has a brief, but interesting, post today:
The bigger question for now is whether any of these authorities will act effectively before the public simply goes apeshit and starts burning down Greenwich, Connecticut. The dangerous shift in public mood is liable to occur with shocking swiftness, in the manner of "phase change," where one moment you see a bewildered bunch of flabby clown-citizens vacuously enraptured by "American Idol," and the next moment they are transformed into a vicious mob hoisting flaming brands to the window treatments of a hedge funder's McMansion. The moment of opportunity for avoiding that outcome is looking sickeningly slim right now.
I think he may be on to something. Click the aforementioned link and read the post.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

I'm also addicted to Eastbound and Down

Eastbound and Down is the Citizen Kane of television series. Get HBO and watch it today. Go. Do.

I'm addicted to schadenfreude

For those of you who enjoy watching the fascists and dittoheads flail about wildly in opposition to everything Obama, I give you this gem (via crooksandliars.com):