City Council Goes Rogue

El Paso, Texas – a mere stone’s throw from Mexico and the violent drug war there – naturally has concerns about the drug war there, and the fact that everything we’ve been doing just makes it worse and more violent.
Well the city council apparently must have snapped from the pressure, because they actually suggested, unanimously, in a resolution, that the U.S. government start an “open, honest, national dialogue on ending the prohibition of narcotics.”
Deranged council member Beto O’Rourke tried to defend the radical proposition:

“We think it should at least be on the table and so far it hasn’t,” O’Rourke said.

Hmm, seems like a pretty far fetched idea – to discuss options that haven’t been discussed yet.
Fortunately, Mayor John Cook stepped in to restore sanity and promptly vetoed the non-binding resolution to insure that nobody would think that El Paso wanted the U.S. government to discuss options.

Cook called the request to look at legalizing drugs “unrealistic” and urged the council to adopt a broader resolution that looks for other solutions.

Right. Other solutions. Like the ones that have been working so well for us. You know. Prohibition.
Then the Associated Press writer tried to explain why the resolution wasn’t so smart…

But the request would have been a tough sell to a newly minted Congress facing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and two wars.

Yes, it would be a tough sell, because it would deprive them of a third war and another bottomless hole for cash… ?
So U.S. Representative Silvestre Reyes (and former U.S. Border Patrol agent from El Paso) steps in to clarify:

“Legalizing the types of drugs that are being smuggled across the border is not an effective way to combat the violence in Mexico, and I would not support efforts in Congress that would seek to do so.”

Ah, yes. That makes it so obvious why we should not discuss options. Thanks for clearing that up.
Good thing we’ve got strong, patriotic citizens like Mayor John Cook and Representative Silvestre Reyes on the job. Without them watching out for rogue City Councils, we could end up with cities, towns, states, and citizens actually calling for an “open, honest, national dialogue.”
Whoa. Scary thought. What could that lead to?
Update: Council Member O’Rourke discusses the issue — extremely well — in this video at El Paso Times. Worth watching. [Thanks to Steve in comments.]