It’s not been a good week for the drug warriors, with the Global Commission and LEAP making all the news, and lots of media sources following up.
Yesterday, Leonard Pitts, Jr. hit hard on Obama’s role in not doing something about the drug war..
Dear President Obama:
Right after your election, somebody asked if I thought having a black president meant black people’s concerns would now receive attention at the executive level. I told them I expected the opposite. […]And the limitations of your presidency where African Americans are concerned have never been more obvious than they are this week.
And he mentions LEAP and the Global Commission.
Frankly, Mr. President, you should take this one personally. As you must know, the War on Drugs has been, in effect, a war on black men. Though whites are the nation’s biggest users and dealers of illicit drugs, blacks are the ones most likely to be jailed for drug crimes and to suffer the disruption of families and communities that comes with it.
You have done little to address these and other racial inequities of the criminal injustice system. […]
Here’s the thing, Mr. Obama: Our last three presidents are known — or in George W. Bush’s case, strongly believed — to have used illicit drugs when they were young. None of you were caught.
But what if you had been? They might have been given a second chance by some judge who saw merit or potential in them. They might still have gone on to become productive men.
Mr. President, what do you think would most likely have happened to you?
You know the answer as well as I do. And what you know should compel you to do something about it. No, that might not be politic, but it would definitely be right.
Very strong words.
Is there any chance of Obama returning his Nobel Peace Prize any time soon? The longer the delay, the greater the embarrassment. Ah, wishful thinking: you also had a dream!
Gart Valenc
http://www.stopthewarondrugs.org
Leonard Pitts, Jr. is spot on.
Bambi will ignore his letter or turn on the fake charisma and hope that works to shut him up.
I thought Pres, Obama was going to do so much more in helping at least call for Pot rescheduling or legalization,boy was I dumb, He’s turned into Bush Horrors.
As I wrote over at StoptheDrugWar.org:
Perhaps it is time we reformers join as a class to sue the federal government, NIDA, ONDCP, DEA, FDA and any other agencies connected with the drug war in a class action lawsuit for lying to the representatives of the American people (and therefore, to the American people) about this herb. Anyone know of a law firm willing to take on something like this? The publicity for any such law firm would be massive, and if they won, the law firm could pretty much write it’s own ticket for the rest of its existence. It seems to me to be a much more lucrative, not to mention important, lawsuit than most class action suits, and maybe we could throw in the charges of libel and slander of the herb and those who use it, since they defame us and the herb in both written and spoken forms.
I guess it’s a good idea to continue to expose Obama’s service to the Empire’s dominionist elements, at least in the hopes that more people will clue in.
But anyone who expects that salesman for the complex to do anything principled, or even what he promised in order to get elected, is deluded to the point of dementia.
It’s like expecting Casper Milquetoast to go 10 rounds with Ali and win. Obama is weak to start with but more importantly his handlers work for the people who bought and paid for his services and they keep him on a short leash.