Slog - Comments on Washington Dems Roll Out Red Carpet for the Feds

Comment by arduous

arduous — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:16:03 -0800

Maybe pot-heads should spend more time writing their Congressman and less time watching "Waking Life."

Comment by Original Andrew

Original Andrew — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:17:00 -0800

"If contempt of Congress is a crime, aren't we all guilty?"

-Wonkette

Comment by Dominic Holden

Dominic Holden — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:25:06 -0800

@1, Maybe you should stop expecting the 15 percent of the population who smokes pot to fix a national policy for everyone else. Disease from dirty needles, erosion of civil liberties, and an over-bloated budget in the name of fighting the drug war is everyone's problem. We'd all benefit from treating drug abuse as a pandemic and not a scourge.

Comment by christopher

christopher — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:32:28 -0800

For reals. Democrats keep pulling this horseshit and I'm losing more patience all the time. Does anyone here have a record of how the presidential hopefuls voted on this? I'd like to know if Hillary put her money where her mouth is, regarding recent statements...

Comment by arduous

arduous — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:39:13 -0800

Sorry, Dominic, it was a JOKE. But, the truth is that if that 15% of the population took the time to write their Congresspeople, they could accomplish a lot. 15% is actually a high percentage of the population. The problem is that the people who favor medical marijuana lack political will and motivation. Meanwhile the law-and-order side probably gets tons of letters asking them to keep federal laws on the books.

Comment by NaFun

NaFun — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:49:15 -0800

@4:
This was a bill in the House of Representatives. Obama, Clinton, Biden, and Dodd are Senators, so they couldn't have voted for it. Gravel and Edwards are former Senators, and Richardson is a Governor.

The only Dem candidate that could have voted for it was Kucinich, who did vote in favor.

What this really shows is that for even small change at the Fed level, a broad base of grassroots effort is needed. Helping Burner or Rodney Tom beat Reichert in this election would likely give the Hinchey amendment another vote in favor, for instance.

Has anybody asked their opinion on medical marijuana, btw?

Comment by NaFun

NaFun — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 12:58:46 -0800

@5
Actually, it's because nearly EVERYONE lacks political will when it comes to drug policy. Did you call your Representative and urge them to support this amendment? If not, why not?

Comment by unPC

unPC — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:02:56 -0800

Dear STranger: please ask Dicks Larsen McDermott Sally Clark Nick Licata and al of them to reveal what drugs they themselves did now matter how far back.

Basically we are stuck on the drug issue because all of us who did do drugs and do drugs now are too chicken shit to go public.

Our leaders are basically hypocrites an we let them be. Probably most of them or a key 30-39% of them did drugs and as Michael Bloomberg said, actually inhaled and actually enjoyed it.

If this comes out everyone else will no a bit o drug use is no big deal.

How could you change laws to recognize the right to have reproductive freedom or get equal rights for gay lesian transgendered and bi folks if none of them ever came out of the closet and legitimized their status as women who had abortions or persons of diferent sexual orientation?

One reason voters let these politicians do nothing is that themedia lets thepoliticians engage in this hypocrisy. Ask them have you ever used or sold drugs, how much, when, did you get high, if you think you should not have gone to jail how can you do nothing about laws that send other people to jail?

All it takes is a few more questions on a questionnaire.

Also some f your readers may only want to vote for those who enjoyed it!

Comment by Will in Seattle

Will in Seattle — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 13:45:07 -0800

I'm sorry, I was paying attention to Rove being forced to testify under Oath, Gonzales being found out due to other testimony and documents today, and the continuing two indictments of other Red Bushies.

In fact, I ordered pizza last night to celebrate the latter.

Comment by arduous

arduous — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 14:37:03 -0800

@7, because it's not my priority.

It's just not. I spend enough time writing letters advocation a pull out of Iraq, or farm bill reform, or comprehensive immigration reform. Also, I didn't know about the vote. Plain and simple. Had I read a piece on this BEFORE the vote (and Dominic might have written one, I dunno, I might have missed it) I probably would have called my congressperson even if it was not my priority.

But I'm sorry. To expect everyone to advocate for EVERYTHING is ridiculous. People are going to put pressure on Washington for the things they deem important. That's why the pot-smoking population, for whom this is a more important issue than the average person, should be leading the forefront of this effort.

Comment by md

md — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:13:54 -0800

I'm glad that bit about Smith got corrected. He really is a great guy. Saw him speak once - he blew Al Gore off the stage.

Comment by Dianna

Dianna — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 18:46:37 -0800

Agreed that we have to let them know how we feel. Politicians aren't going to walk on a tightrope without any support from their constituents.

Comment by Dianna

Dianna — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 19:14:33 -0800

The annoying (and good, at the same time) thing is that my reps usually vote the way I want them to (Neil Abercrombie, my rep, voted for it), so all my letter writing really does nothing. Maybe I should move to the sticks?