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| Willie Nelson, Public Enemy? |
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Posted by CN Staff on September 25, 2006 at 07:02:26 PT By Tibor R. Machan Source: Free-Market News Network 
USA -- In the midst of the U. S. A. going nearly broke from the Iraq War, the War on Terror, and a rupturing corporate and personal welfare state, I cannot imagine something much more pointless and wasteful than the war on drugs. In my own neck of the woods several busts have occurred recently, bringing to "justice" cultivators of various patches of marijuana in various swanky neighborhoods, at huge cost to law enforcement organizations, which is to say, to the citizenry that funds them. But that is not really the worst of it.
Willie Nelson, the singer -- who looks to me to be about as harmless a soul on the entertainment-celebrity roster as one can imagine -- has recently been busted for having and using some pot on his tour bus. That, by all accounts, is the reality and the symbol of the worst aspects of this utterly insane undertaking, the war on drugs. The man was doing no one any harm -- he could have been sipping a beer, chewing tobacco, or having a martini but, instead, his choice of drugs was one that happens, quite irrationally, to seriously offend influential elements of the voting public and politicians. This new prohibition is, of course, no more sensible, nor any more in accord with principles of a just human community -- which is supposed to leave us free of out of control, offended meddlesome folks -- than was the previous nationwide prohibition of alcohol that finally had to be scrapped because of the bona fide crime it spawned throughout the country. In the case of Mr. Nelson, though, there is something else that this insane, immoral war illustrates. American prisons are filled with such harmless drug offenders! I was recently visiting one of those, in Lompoc, California, and some 70% of the inmates are there for having been convicted of drug-related offenses. Some are users, some are "pushers" or dealers, some are probably more involved on the enforcement side of the industry (which, being illegal, cannot count on the official police to provide any remedy for the commercial malfeasance that plagues many enterprises). All this is happening in what President George W. Bush and his pals so proudly call a free country, indeed, as they would have it, the only country on the face of the globe truly involved in spreading liberty to all. What a crock that is and how hypocritical it must come off to most observant foreigners, including, sadly, the worst of them whose hatred of America and its professed system, a free capitalist society, is very likely fed by it. Also, since the U. S. A. has more prisoners than nearly any country around the world, and since that's something people tend to find disturbing about a society, namely, its huge prison population -- given that this suggests widespread serious criminal activity in the place -- the proclamation by our leaders that we are a bastion of liberty can only be most embarrassing and self-defeating. Of course, free men and women can become criminals. No one should expect a free society to be a utopia. Yet, it does reflect badly on the U. S. A. to have so many of its citizens turn to crime. And when looked at without a careful consideration of what counts as crime in the country, this bodes ill for the very idea of a free society -- makes it look like freedom and crime go hand in hand. So the very objective that supposedly animates Bush & Co. in the Iraqi war -- spreading freedom to the world's enslaved and oppressed -- can seem rather pointless and even counterproductive, given this association of what is deemed a free society and the proclivity to crime by so many of its citizens. Yet, of course, the crimes these citizens have a proclivity for are phony crimes -- it is as if eating hot dogs were a crime, or dancing, or watching professional sports on TV. No wonder the prisons are full -- prisoners occupy them who have been put there unjustly, without any good reason. The statistics do not, of course, show this. But if one extrapolates from the prison I visited to all the rest, it looks like the criminal element in the country is but a fraction of those who are officially deemed to be criminals. I do wish Willie Nelson could generate a revolution from his own perfectly unjust and vile arrest on the charge of indulging in the use of marijuana. We need this war on drugs ended, immediately. Maybe that would not only improve our reputation abroad but could divert the misused monies funding it to something worthwhile -- for example, tax reduction. Source: Free-Market News Network (Canada) Related Articles & Web Site: Willie Nelson Wily Willie Could Teach Those UT Potheads On The Rope Again Shouldn't Willie Be Left Alone? Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #8 posted by whig on September 25, 2006 at 12:30:36 PT |
| So this woman's son goes off to fight and die for her freedom to be arrested and imprisoned for her personal habits. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by whig on September 25, 2006 at 12:29:11 PT |
| Tibor Machan is addressing the neolibertarians and neoconservatives. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by FoM on September 25, 2006 at 11:14:22 PT |
| I believe that Willie's bust will be mentioned at Farm-Aid and we can hope that it rallies support for changing these antique laws on marijuana. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by ekim on September 25, 2006 at 11:03:04 PT |
| i hope somehow those that will be playing Farmaid with Willie will show him respect and agree with Willie that the Drug Laws should be changed for the good of everyone. And denounce the Drug Laws which forbid our farmers from growing Cannabis --- the only industrilized country on the face of this earth to not allow its farmers to grow Hemp. some info-- upcomming movie- Keanu Reeves on Global Warming - his short video promo of The Great Warming http://greentheme.blogspot.com/2006/08/keanu-reeves-on-global-warming.html "Just as we are the cause, we can be the solution." ~ Keanu Reeves http://www.thegreatwarming.com gee just in Dodge cars are talking to China about importing its Cherry Car -------one wonders how much China Hemp will be used for car parts imported and sold here --farmers unite. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by unkat27 on September 25, 2006 at 09:13:55 PT |
| The mother of a local soldier killed in April while serving in Iraq was arrested yesterday on drug charges, police said. Betty Vezina, 41, of Lenox Avenue in Manchester, was charged with possession of a controlled drug and a narcotic drug with intent to distribute. Vezina was stopped at 7:05 p.m. by an officer at Union and Central streets who suspected she was wanted on an arrest warrant for operating under a suspended registration. During the traffic stop police found Vezina in possession of cocaine and marijuana. Vezina's oldest son, Army Pfc. George Roehl Jr., 21, was a cavalry scout killed in action just outside of Baghdad on April 11 along with two other soldiers when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle. Police noted that on April 19, Vezina's family reported a home invasion during which two masked gunman entered their Lenox Avenue home demanding money. No arrests were made in that incident. Police said Vezina was not at home during the midnight invasion. Her three youngest children were home with a family friend. As of last night, no bail had been set and Vezina remained in police custody. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX So nice to see the narco-squads enforcing democratic values and freedom at gunpoint. Democratic hypocrisy at its worst. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by mayan on September 25, 2006 at 08:57:06 PT |
| Great article. Willie Nelson is a true patriot. Everyone knows he is an honest,freedom loving individual and when he is demonized and labeled "un-American" it actually exposes the terrorists in gov't for what they are. http://www.willienelson.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=9;t=000168 They are setting the stage... Tehran Plans Nuclear Terror Attack Inside US - Ramadan 9-24: http://newsblaze.com/story/20060912182202payn.nb/newsblaze/OPINIONS/Opinions.html Misc... Who benefits from the Afghan Opium Trade? http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20060921&articleId=3294 Secession -- a Revolutionary Idea: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-secede24sep24,0,1327170.story?coll=la-home-headlines THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN... Norman Mineta’s Testimony Proves 9/11 Was an Inside Job: http://www.flatplanet.net/truth911/minetapaper.html Claim: USCENTCOM Sergeant Blows Whistle On 9/11 Inside Job: http://prisonplanet.com/articles/september2006/250906blowswhistle.htm Refuting the lie, a response to Popular Mechanics: debunking 9/11 myths: http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1242.shtml NY911Truth Action at the CFR on 9/22/06 (video): http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3418490918066547345&q=redhed718&hl=en 911 TRUTH DVD PROJECT: http://www.911dvdproject.com// Pilots For 9/11 Truth: http://www.pilotsfor911truth.org/ [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by FoM on September 25, 2006 at 08:32:37 PT |
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Here's is a little info on this years Farm-Aid. I am going to try to watch the webcast. Live webcast on Sept. 30 at 3:30 p.m. EDT The Farm Aid web site is the place to be on Sept. 30. In addition to the webcast, we'll be updating the blog and posting photos from the concert http://www.farmaid.org/site/PageServer?pagename=concert_home Artists: http://www.farmaid.org/site/PageServer?pagename=concert_artists Artists Scheduled to Perform at Farm Aid 2006 Presented by Silk Soymilk Willie Nelson John Mellencamp Neil Young Dave Matthews Jerry Lee Lewis with Roy Head Los Lonely Boys Arlo Guthrie & Family Gov't Mule Steve Earle Allison Moorer Steel Pulse Shelby Lynne Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Jimmy Sturr & his Orchestra Pauline Reese Danielle Evin [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by ekim on September 25, 2006 at 08:16:59 PT |
| I have not read anything about it -- like who will be there when is it. I hope Safer in CO can get Willie to CO for a event and would be nice to have Dennis Kucinich say something nice about Prop 44 [ Post Comment ] |
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