Category Archives: Political Commentary

8 Reasons Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized

November 6, 2009

<Disclaimer:  I do not smoke marijuana.  Nor would I even if it was legal.  >

Today I came across a video on YouTube about LEAP, which is an organization of law enforcement officials who want to legalize certain drugs.  Now, the commentary was provided by Fox News, which in general makes me twitch – Fox News is typically full of fear-mongering, uneducated, crackpots ( let me tell you how I really feel about Fox News…hehe ).  But…in this case they had a point, though maybe not for the reasons you would expect.  Here is my take on why marijuana should be legal.

  1. Tax Dollars. We have sin taxes on alcohol, cigarettes, and gasoline.  It would work just as well for marijuana.
  2. Control.  Let’s face it.  Most teenagers are going to try it at some point.  Would you rather Jr. picked up a joint laced with PCP, strychnine, or some other potentially deadly substance, or get a government-controlled pack in a safety-sealed, inspected package?  I know which one I would choose.
  3. Safety. Another facet of control, maybe.  Which is safer?  Picking up a pack of doobs at the local gas station (or state store), or going down to the hood to pick up your dime bag from criminal type people who have close relationships with illegal weapons and other dangerous behavior?
  4. Less exposure to heavier drugs. The clerk down at the corner store isn’t going to try selling you esctasy, heiroin, cocaine, or other very addicting drugs.
  5. Good for agriculture. I guess we’d need less soybean subsidies from the Dept of Agriculture when the cash crop is readily available. :P
  6. Less Smuggling. We don’t need more people trying to run for the border.
  7. Less Prison Crowding. Most pot smokers aren’t violent people.  Putting basically non-violent and generally productive people ( most of the people I ever knew who smoked it were recreational users who had good jobs ) in with a bunch of criminals who will either harden them or scar them for life is counter-productive for society.
  8. Keep Cops Busy Fighting Real Crime. I don’t want cops wasting their time busting some teenager for his bong.  I DO want police out on the streets keeping hard core drug dealers and gang out of our neighborhoods.  I want them catching murderers.
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Fort Hood Shooter did a disservice to Muslims

November 6, 2009

No one is sure exactly why Nidal Malik Hasan opened fire at Fort Hood and killed 12 people.  He is in stable condition and I assume at some point he will talk.  I hope sincerely that this was NOT religion motivated. Though because he is Muslim and is shown in surveillance video wearing Muslim garb, the general public is going to associate his craziness with Muslim extremism now whether they find out he was mentally ill regardless.

We’ve done a pretty good job so far of not persecuting Muslims just because they follow the same religion as the jihad-mongers in Iraq.  But when something like this happens…it will stir up the distrust of non-Muslim Americans.  Some of those Americans may be uneducated (dare I say rednecks?) who may take matters into their own hands.

What will happen then?  Muslims in this country will be suspicious and defensive because one of their own was a victim of potentially unjustified vigilante justice (or call it a hate crime….in this case, po-ta-toe, po-tat-oe).  There will be international screaming about how Americans are evil and the incident will be used to exemplify how Muslim extremist actions against us are justified.

WHERE WILL IT END?

For me personally, and most Americans I suspect, we don’t have anything against Muslims in general.  I don’t really care what religion a person chooses to practice, so long as they aren’t forcing it on anyone else or hurting anyone else in the process.  I don’t mind that Muslims live here and I certainly don’t believe every Muslim on the planet deserves to be persecuted due to some overzealous crackpots.  I DO have a fundamental problem with people who were born here or who moved here and who enjoy the fruits of America’s democratic process going around killing innocent people.  If you don’t like it here, move somewhere with people who share your beliefs.  Murder and violence aren’t going to change anyone’s mind…it’s just going to lead to more retribution and more murder and violence.

The root of the problem is that for some reason Muslim extremists in the Middle East decided that their way should be the way for everyone.  And that anyone who didn’t agree with them should be killed.  So they decided to come here and try to kill us.  Even though they are outgunned and outnumbered.  Even though we didn’t know why they hate us so much.  You know, China’s government doesn’t like everything it sees on the internet.  Did they go shooting web developers?  No….they put a filter in place to prevent their people from accessing content they found objectionable.

The Middle East could’ve done something similar.  Picking up a gun shouldn’t be a  first resort.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/11/06/texas.fort.hood.shootings/index.html

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