Was Ron Paul ‘railroaded’ in drug war debate on CNN?
The railroading will be televised
UPDATE (at bottom): NORML donations skyrocket after Obama comments
Lately, it seems the ‘War on Drugs’ debate has been everywhere. And to think, the volume on this discussion was turned up 10 notches by a troublesome Olympian who was photographed with his mouth to a water-pipe.
Then came the California legalization bill, news that Oregon is considering a socialization of medical marijuana and, most recently, Rep. Barney Frank saying he plans to introduce federal legislation to eliminate penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana.
Frank, who announced his intent on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, said he plans to call it the “Make room for serious criminals act.”
And even President Obama, who flippantly dismissed a question on legalizing pot as not a “good strategy” for economic recovery, was quietly encouraging Sen. Jim Webb to move forward with legislation that would form a committee to study prison reforms and retool existing drug criminalization.
At the very least, one can say Obama’s position on marijuana policy has been consistent. He has never once said he supports legalization. Let’s flash-back to Jan. 21, 2004 …
If his most recent statements sound like double-speak to you, get familiar with “Chicago politics.” It’s not ‘say one thing but do another.’ It’s ‘confuse your opponents by touching on common ground while your friends and associates work other avenues.’ For drug law reform advocates, that’s not such a bad thing. He’s not a blunt progressive (no pun intended) and a second term is definitely on his mind, even this early in the game.
And let’s not forget, Attorney General Eric Holder has said the only time a marijuana caregivers club will experience a DEA raid is if they’re suspected to be in violation of state and federal law. After the announcement that random assaults on dispensaries would stop, California’s medical marijuana patients breathed a sign of relief. But the news was followed by the feds smashing through a San Francisco dispensary. However, even here, the DOJ’s argument was consistent: they were suspected of breaking state law, which likely means the DOJ thinks there was some back-door distribution going on.
And then, there’s Congressman Ron Paul, the most kindly, grandfatherly elder statesman to ever advocate for the peoples’ right to get stoned. (Or have unfettered access to medicine, depending on your purview and present bill of health.)
In spite of the recent string of high-profile victories for the legalization crowd, Paul’s appearance on CNN yesterday, debating the ‘War on Drugs’ with former Congressman Earnest Istook, was not one of them.
After watching this, the first word out of my mouth was “railroaded.” See for yourself:
This video is from CNN’s Campbell Brown, broadcast Mar. 26, 2009.
Download video via RawReplay.com
What I want to know from you … Was CNN’s Campbell Brown fair? Did she intervene enough (or too much) when Istook continually spoke over Rep. Paul? And what’s with those wonky Rand Corporation “facts”?
Furthermore, Obama seems to be playing a complex game of behind-the-scenes chess on this issue. His flippant dismissal of legalization made older conservatives feel all warm and authoritarian inside, but his mere acknowledgement of the public’s growing will to see it happen may have actually amplified the discussion even further. Do you think he’s changed his mind on decriminalization?
And what do you make of Rep. Paul’s position that the ‘War on Drugs’ is unconstitutional and should be done away with? How would an all-drugs-are-legal America function?
Enlighten us.
– Stephen C. Webster
Raw Story video by David Edwards
**Update:
Well, whadday know …
Marijuana backers aren’t laughing about President Obama’s flippant dismissal of a pot-related question during Thursday’s online town hall meeting — and the country’s leading marijuana advocacy group, The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, has seen its donations quadruple over the last 24 hours.
Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of NORML, told CNN “our donation boxes started to flood” after Obama laughed off a Web question about whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation. St. Pierre said traffic to the group’s Web site has “increased precipitously” since Thursday.
“About half of the donation comments have a reference to Mr. Obama’s comments,” St. Pierre said. “As far as I’m concerned, he could show up every single day and rag on marijuana.”
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