A good article by Jim Wyss of the Miami Herald: At summit, drug talk likely to be hot but hidden
The whole article is worth reading, but I want to highlight one small item:
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told The Miami Herald that legalizing drugs is tantamount to legalizing murder to bring down the homicide rate.
“I do not support that,†he said.
Really? This is the Attorney General of the United States. The top law enforcement officer and lawyer for the government. And he doesn’t know the difference between murder and marijuana?
We’ve talked about this at length before — there are fundamental differences between laws dealing with consensual crimes and laws dealing with crimes of violence against others. Laws against murder don’t create a massive black market with violent trade routes and corruption. Laws against murder don’t end up incarcerating millions of non-violent citizens.
Laws against murder take violent criminals off the street. Laws against drugs fuel the development of violent criminals. When you arrest a drug dealer, you automatically create a job opening to meet the demand. There is no demand for being murdered.
If the Attorney General of the United States doesn’t understand these basics, then the rule of law is truly dead in this country.
If Attorney General Eric Holder doesn’t understand the difference between crimes against people, crimes against property, and victimless crimes then yes, we are well and truly screwed.
Wait, Holder opposes legalized murder now? When did the Obama administration change its stance on the targeted assassination of American citizens?
in defense of Mr Holder… both murder and marijuana start w/ the letter “m.”
Want to bet that no one in the media will call him on that bit of nonsense?
We should’ve expected this and everything else the DOJ has done the minute Obama nominated Holder as his AG. That department is an absolute disgrace, from drugs to whistleblowers to immigration to basic human decency. A big group of lawyers who care more about their careers than about justice.
He knows, he just doesn’t care. I’m sure he rationalizes his dishonesty somehow.
Anyone who can’t differentiate between murder and cannabis is in desperate need of a check up from the neck up.
Didn’t John Ashcroft say the same thing? The two-party idiocracy continues.
Since day one of Obama’s political career in 1998, Obama has shown he cares more about his career than about justice, or democracy, or even human decency. Obama kicked his opponents off the ballot to get his seat in 1998, using stupid technicalities that are only found in Illinois election law, some of which have since been ruled unconstitutional. Obama’s morals are disgraceful, and have been since day one.
Eric Holder AND Joe Biden in positions of power? YES WE CAN, continue the barbaric policies of Dick Cheney and John Ashcroft.
Someone PLEASE take Holder back to first year law and explain the difference between “malum in se” and “malum prohibitum”?
It’s just of a sign of increasing desperation on the part of prohibitionist. They have no valid arguments so they have to fall back on these much discredited cliches, many springing from the sabet excuse mill.
The good thought is that when Obama leaves, Ickabod Holder will be right behind him!
maybe it is the “m” words that confuse Holder. He might also have trouble w/ masturbation, misogyny, message, myth, mime (I’m sending a basic mimed message now), mine (as in business and property)…
I’m also wondering if some of those “Thuds!” we keep hearing aren’t occasionally the sound of dull Prohibitionist heads knocking together copying each others’ work. I mean thick as a brick does apply here…
When are we going to test the strength or
the numbers of our base ? I have seen this
double talk merry-go-round for 40 years. The
Prohibitionists have come to realize that stalling
is the same as winning? You can have as many debates
as you want but if they end up in draws, not covered
by the media, or the same old talking points by both
sides what really has been gained ? Nothing, and the
Prohibitionist wins because the law is on their side.
When are we going to see what we have? When are
we going consolidate all of the followers of this cause
to see how strong we are ?
I doubt the Feds will leave Colorado or Washington
alone before this election. A series of raids and threatening
letters will scare a lot of the fringe voters. Hell, Washington
is internally divided already! All of our hopes and donations
will possibly not get us over the top.
Let’s face it I’m scared.
I still work. I can’t go out and protest. I can’t talk about
this subject at work. I’ll be fired. Please don’t tell me to
be strong, I have kids to finish college. I think a lot
of us are in the same situation.
I would never propose to give up your responsibility
to vote because there are too many local issues and local
elections that are important for where you live. But, what
about a no vote for President ? Leave it blank.
Would it effect the election ? I don’t know, how big are we?
Would it send a message? Maybe. Would it make Obama quit
pandering to the conservatives? I doubt it. Does it matter who
is President anymore ? It might, but if we do not understand how our
votes work we might as well hunker down for the police state.
Maybe we need to take a chapter out of the religious right’s notebook. As much
as I despise them they have been able to infiltrate all bodies
of government to push their agenda.
Just had to vent…
If marijuana is equivalent to murder, alcohol is tantamount to genocide or an apocalypse on a biblical scale.
Eric Holder and Michelle Leonhart: Change that will make you want to vote Republican.
Mitt Romney, a Republican that makes you barf at the thought.
I saw an ad on Facebook that was promoting firing Eric Holder, so I clicked on it to see if they had the same reasons for firing him that I do.
But no, it was this pathetic right-wing fundraising crap.
Really? That’s what you’ve got?
There are so many good reasons to oppose what the Obama administration is doing and yet the right wing is still pissing in their pants over imagined boogie monsters and arguing over birth certificates. On the other side, you’ve got morons on the left who seem to actually believe that Obama is good in civil liberties issues (I saw some comments at Balloon Juice yesterday claiming that Obama is far better in civil liberties issues than libertarians are). We’ve got these partisan echo machines where people actually end up believing the crap they’re fed.
I weep for my country.
They (establishment right wingers) have to be very careful where they go with their arguments. The arguments have to be isolated from any real issues, because you follow a conservative argument to it’s logical conclusion, you have to embrace inconvenient concepts like personal liberty, and civil rights and a constitutional government. Far better to stoke the rubes with arguments over things like birth certificates. They don’t lead down the road to inconvenient ideas. Birth certificates are perfect, the point is moot, he’s serving his term currently, and it really doesn’t lead anywhere, but has the hot headed ones foaming at the mouth. I mean, what are they going to do when they figure out it wouldn’t matter if he were born on Mars? According to the law he’s a “Natural Born Citizen” of this country even if he was born in Ugga-Buggastan and only ONE of his parents was a Citizen. Now, how many minds do you think that would blow? Better to keep ’em distracted with the safe stuff.
“I weep for my country.”
Thank you, I appreciate that. You care, and you are not alone. Maybe, seemingly, outnumbered for the time being, but you are not alone in wanting a better today and better future for generations to come.
“Partisan echo machine”, I like because it is so accurate, and I will steal that from you. That is the first time I’ve seen those Republican arguments against Holder. Bizarre comes to mind first. TERRORISTS, TERRORISM, DOMA is what I see. Suppose it makes for some of them, although I would guess very few. Fundraising from a few is better than none, sadly, so perhaps that is why those arguments exist on FB. That is sad.
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One of the things that makes me genuinely angry is the assertion that we don’t care about our country, that we just want to get high. I’ve been getting high without a problem now for almost 35 years. So long ago that Jimmy Carter was the freakin’ POTUS 34 July 1sts ago. If all I wanted to do was to get high that’s exactly what I’d be doing. Honest to god it’s only a few days ago right here that I became aware of a fan of heroin actually arguing in favor of re-legalizing that drug. Before that the only people I’ve ever known in favor of hard drug re-legalization were Libertarians and pragmatists.
The problem is not the problems caused by the war on (some) drugs, it’s the invisible success of prohibition that only deluded prohibitionists can see. All of those people, singing in the church choir on Sunday, volunteering full time at the soup kitchen full time and helping diminutive elderly women negotiate busy intersections in the rest of their spare time for no other reason than that prohibition has prevented them from becoming degenerate addicts. In my best Ben Stein voice, “Wow.”
I’e been fighting the battle over an overbearing, far too intrusive government for 6 years longer than I’ve been getting high, and I’ve been getting high for 42 years.
You are describing the standard “left” “right” Hegelian dialectic BS that produces all sorts of political freak shows (a concept I write about in this April 1 article ‘interview’ with the King of Spain):
http://wwwsouthcapitolstreet.blogspot.com/2012/04/interview-with-king-juan-carlos-on.html
Weirdly, he injures himself and has a hip replacement the following Good Friday:
http://southmallblogger.blogspot.com/2012/04/surreality-2012-april-6.html
Most of the genuine reasons to oppose Obama (his stepping up the WOSD, continuing the Bush foreign wars policies and Guantanamo Bay, doing Wall Street’s bidding, implementing the insurance industries’ favored health plan, generally being a conservative in disguise) are not attack options open to the Republicans, for obvious reasons. They therefore have to invent this mythical “Obama” who is a socialist, muslim,kenyan etc in order to get the know-nothings to oppose him, safe in the knowledge that they won’t know the difference. As Pete says, you just have to weep.
I have found that there are way too many people that are afraid of losing their jobs. They cannot speak the truth due to fear. It doesn’t matter if what they say isn’t even close to factual as long as they do what they are told. It has been said to me on many occasions. “I’m sorry I can’t say anything to the media I would lose my job.” How frustrating!
These types of statements came from a Professor, Corp of Engineers, Water Resources Board, Physicians. And the list goes on!
Not really so surprising since Holder’s boss doesn’t appear to know the difference between virtue and hypocrisy.
What about his recent ex-boss?
http://freedomofmedicineanddiet.blogspot.com/2012/04/ex-covington-burling-pharma-attorney.html