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| Barack Doesn't Blow It |
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Posted by CN Staff on March 29, 2007 at 15:12:10 PT By Andrew Bruss Source: Berkeley Beacon 
USA -- Ever since the nation was bitten by the 2008 presidential election bug-roughly one day after the 2006 midterm elections, it feels like-each one of the potential future leaders has been scrutinized over past indiscretions.One such tidbit to emerge was admission by Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to a history of not only marijuana use, but also cocaine use. Plenty of Americans, still under the illusion that the War on Drugs is a noble fight that can be won, might feel a candidate who has used such a serious substance is not fit to hold our nation's highest office.This is sheer silliness. In fact, Obama's handling of the issue suggests just the opposite. Looking back at the historical role that "the drug question" has played in presidential campaigns, Obama's honesty about his experimentation suggests he may be exactly what the country needs. When Bill Clinton was asked on MTV during his 1992 campaign if he had ever smoked pot, he replied that he had used the substance but "didn't inhale." For anyone who has ever taken a toke, Clinton's laughable answer was rightly seen as an example of a man who knows how to weasel his way out of tough questions. Years later, when Clinton was facing impeachment, he once again displayed his masterful skills of weaseldom by having his questioner define the word "is" while under oath. Yet again, when Slick Willy found himself between a rock and a hard place, he smooth-talked his way out of it in a fashion many feel characterized his presidency. Clinton wasn't the only presidential candidate whose handling of the drug question gave the American electorate a clear view into the style they would govern with. During the 2000 race, when George W. Bush was repeatedly questioned about his alleged past cocaine use, he dodged the question like it was the Vietnam draft. With the 2000 election mere days away, it was revealed the future president was once arrested for drunk driving during the height of his alcoholism. Although he has spoken about his prior love of the drink, the other substances were not something Bush talked about in public. When it comes to this and other touchy subjects, like torture, unconstitutional wiretapping, faulty intelligence and the exposure of a CIA operative, Dubya has consistently given the impression he'd simply rather not talk about it. If only we had given the drug question a little more thought. As our next presidential election draws closer with each passing broadcast of "Hardball," the question of Obama's potential as a quality president can be previewed by the way he handles the current onslaught of questions regarding his drug history. In his book "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance," Obama talks about his past in an honest and comfortable way. Openness and transparency: these are things that have been missing from the executive branch for too long now. After what will have been eight long, frustrating and destructive years of neoconservative governance, many political spectators are already suggesting that Barack Obama's "RFK meets the American dream" image will strike a real chord. Whether it does or not remains to be seen, but Obama should at least take comfort in the fact that he remained honest in the face of at least one difficult question. Barack doesn't blow it. Source: Berkeley Beacon (CA) CannabisNews Justice Archives Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #30 posted by FoM on March 30, 2007 at 17:12:23 PT |
| I believe that Ron Paul is a very good man from what I have seen and read. I am not looking at this next election the same way maybe you and others are. I am not a Republican or a Libertarian because I don't believe the way they believe. I am more a Democrat or a Green. We should vote what our heart tells us to do if we care about who is our next President. I care about more then changing the laws on Cannabis. There are other issues that are really important to me and Conservatives just doen't care about some of the things that matter to me. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #29 posted by mayan on March 30, 2007 at 16:54:24 PT |
| He is the only candidate that can draw support from all across the political spectrum. He wants to help us take our country back but we have to help him first!!! We MUST make him our candidate. If you support cannabis law reform and 9/11 Truth how can you not support Ron Paul? Just my two cents. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #28 posted by whig on March 30, 2007 at 15:50:39 PT |
| Nature abhors a vacuum. Authority cannot be destroyed, but it can be removed from unjust hands and distributed, according to the will of God. Do you concur? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #27 posted by whig on March 30, 2007 at 15:46:14 PT |
| Neuroleptics are made from pesticide. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #26 posted by whig on March 30, 2007 at 15:44:15 PT |
| http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2046431,00.html [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #25 posted by FoM on March 30, 2007 at 15:41:55 PT |
| I've been busy today and now am watching the NBC Nightly News for the first time in years and it really is amazing to watch our country slipping so badly in about every way possible. That just shows me that when you put priorities in the wrong order really bad things can happen. That's all for now. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #24 posted by museman on March 30, 2007 at 15:17:07 PT |
| Yes, the walls of the governing, the controlling, and the 'authority.' Down with it all. Trash it, and burn it...at least metaphoricly. Trash and burn it within our hearts and minds. Purge the corruption with the sacred illumination of the truth, a fire that only burns those who fear it. And...Thank God for the flashlight! [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #23 posted by FoM on March 30, 2007 at 13:26:56 PT |
| I check out Hillary's web site and it doesn't have hardly any activity. I can't get over how the donations are going up so quickly on Obama's web site. I thought some here might want to see it. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #22 posted by whig on March 30, 2007 at 12:37:29 PT |
| Sunlight is always the best disinfectant, but when you are in the depths of the dungeon it's a bit hard to illuminate when all you have is a flashlight. What needs to happen in this case is the walls have to come down. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #21 posted by museman on March 30, 2007 at 11:43:47 PT |
| To tell a story. Once I had a job as a janitor, working as a civilian for the USN. I got the job through a 'human resource' program called WIN (work incentive program). It was an ok job, but the pay wasn't great. I suppose there would have been nothing worthy of a tale, if I hadn't discovered- along with a few of my co-workers that there was some funny business going on. Through careful investigation, and clandestine meetings after work, 5 of the 6 employees decided to form a union. Here's what we discovered; The 'company' that hired us was 2 sailors whose job it was to oversee the process. They were getting paid 3 times! Once from the Navy for doing the job they hired us to do. Again from the navy for their 'civilian' business, and once from the state -who paid half our wages. The scam was, that they employ us for 6 months as 'training' and then the state would stop paying, and they would have to pay our wages themselves. After asking around, we discovered, that though these guys had been at this for a couple of years, there was not a single employee who was paid by them, all of us were part of the 6 month program. As soon as the 6 month period was up, they would fire you, and get another from the state. In our 'union' we decided to take the information to the 'proper authorities,' which we did. We went -all together to the State Supervisor for WIN. We gave him our evidence. He listened, and thanked us for 'bringing this to' his 'attention.' He told us to go on back to work on monday (this was a friday) and not to do anything else. No to worry, they would take care of it. What do you suppose was waiting for us next monday? Pink slips. Do I need to elaborate? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #20 posted by whig on March 30, 2007 at 10:01:43 PT |
| Richardson is at least supporting medical marijuana, publicly and in his actions. That's all I'm saying. If you don't want to vote for anyone I respect that completely. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #19 posted by Toker00 on March 30, 2007 at 09:24:29 PT |
| those requests, how can I vote for them? Because by fulfilling even ONE of those requests, it will be a domino effect for the others. When we start to see all these organizations we have been supporting in order to get Dems back in Congress get behind their front runners we'll see whether there will be change or not. We already know that change has not come in two thousands years and unlikely to come in '08 unless we DO THE RIGHT THINGS. Two Right Things are exposing 9-11 Truth and the other is Ending Cannabis Prohibition, Totally. Not doing the Right or Righteous Thing will give us the exact same thing we have seen since governments began. Do we continue to believe in and produce governments based on the Love of Money, or the Love of God? Do we intend to continue with the Religion of Business? Remember, business is about property and profit. Religions are Businesses that sell Beliefs. God is Righteousness, not beliefs. One God. No Religion. No Business. Only Righteousness. No Kings. No Queens. Just People Sharing All The World. Governors of Righteousness, not Leaders of Business. People who Care, for Free. Brothers and Sisters in the Family of God, not Man. That's Righteous. Business is Selfishness. Religions are Businesses. The Bible contains the Laws of Righteousness, but it also contains translations and interpretations of Rulers throughout History. A Reliable, yet Unreliable book. That is why we are told to ALSO read other GOOD books. I gave the Library at my Community College a list of book requests. They were all books about 9-11 Truth. I also want to request any good books out there about the Truth of Cannabis. Can someone help with suggestions? I mean besides Jack's Wonderful Cannabis Bible. That will be on top of the list. I Love you guys. Toke. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #18 posted by whig on March 30, 2007 at 08:12:26 PT |
| I'm not the one who has been encouraging voting. Are you advocating the non-vote now? [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #17 posted by The GCW on March 30, 2007 at 06:15:49 PT |
| I just tried to vote on it, but it's already over. - Action Alert - Tell Moveon.Org You Want Dennis This vote takes only about 30 seconds but YOU MUST VOTE BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. So please take a moment NOW to tell MoveOn.org to invite Dennis to its "Virtual Town Hall Meeting" being held on April 10. Click Here to vote: http://kucinich.us/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?q=477230&u=617
[ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #16 posted by The GCW on March 30, 2007 at 06:04:42 PT |
| Action Alert - Tell Moveon.Org You Want Dennis This vote takes only about 30 seconds but YOU MUST VOTE BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. So please take a moment NOW to tell MoveOn.org to invite Dennis to its "Virtual Town Hall Meeting" being held on April 10. Click Here to vote: http://kucinich.us/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?q=477230&u=617 Rather than let all the candidates be heard, MoveOn only plans to invite candidates who receive support from 10 percent or more of the people who respond to its poll. So it's important that everyone you know is urged to vote. Please support Dennis now, then forward this message to all your progressive lists. People do NOT have to be a "member" of MoveOn.org to vote (although they will have to provide an email address.) This is a great opportunity for Dennis to reach out to primary voters across the nation, and for our campaign to get the word out to MoveOn.Org that Dennis Kucinich is THE Progressive candidate. Click Here to vote: http://kucinich.us/modules/civicrm/extern/url.php?q=477230&u=617 Please help! Thank you! Kucinich for President 2008 www.kucinich.us ( (((Kucinich is the only candidate that said He will regulate cannabis like alcohol and put it on His plantform))) ) [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #15 posted by Sukoi on March 30, 2007 at 03:45:20 PT |
| Don't forget about Ron Paul. He has been very vocal about ending the "DrugWar" for years. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #14 posted by Toker00 on March 30, 2007 at 03:26:01 PT |
| They've never done anything for us. Only for the State. Many Businesses will profit greatly from cannabis based medicines. Many Religions will be relieved of their guilt. Many Citizens will say there's your medicine, but if we catch you with the original naturally produced ingredient, we will STILL put you in Prison, we will still call you Hippie and hate you just as before. Making cannabis partially legal only makes portions of us acceptable, and only ONE lie about cannabis destroyed. Not only is cannabis medicine, but it is all the other True things we say about it. Until it is totally legalized, it's powers will be limited, and our ability to create our New Earth will be limited, too. Richardson is still a Liar, whig. He's just lying less than the others. When a Man says let's end all the Wars. I'll vote for Him. When a Man says let's cure all the Diseases. I'll vote for Him. When a Man says let's love all the People. I'll vote for Him. When a Man says let's share all the World. I'll vote for Him. I'm still waiting... Toke. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #13 posted by whig on March 30, 2007 at 00:09:32 PT |
| The only candidate who has done anything for us. Anything at all. Think about it. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #12 posted by Wayne on March 29, 2007 at 22:33:10 PT |
| There's a Parkinson's drug on the market that just got pulled by the FDA. They've known about the problem for FOUR YEARS!! And they're JUST NOW doing something about it. Read the article, if you dare...be warned, you'll probably get angry. If you read the article in its entirety, you'll see that they're making a lot of the same arguments we make about cannabis. Why more people don't see the blatant conflict of interest between the FDA and BigPharma is beyond me at this point. Congress is going crazy with all of their hearing lately, I think they need to hold one regarding the FDA's incompetence. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #11 posted by FoM on March 29, 2007 at 20:44:53 PT |
| I never liked Bill Clinton. He reminded me of a politician who really wanted to be a Republican. I think Hillary is more of a Republican in many respects. As far as Obama goes I know he is very popular with young people and he is liberal and trying to stay out of the politics in Washington but it must be very hard. I would guess that Obama would bring the Crack and Cocaine sentences closer together. I think he will stop the raids in California. I believe treatment for those addicted will become more important then sending people to jail. I think that because of what he says in general but we will know when they do some college tours and questions are asked. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #10 posted by The GCW on March 29, 2007 at 20:42:15 PT |
| From Laura Kriho Nederland, Colorado Mar. 29, 2007 US CO: LTE: Peace Tax Fund by April 15 On Feb. 6, it was revealed that the U.S. lost $12 billion in cash it sent to Iraq between 2003 and 2004. The cash was sent from the Federal Reserve in New York in the form of 483 palettes of $100 bills. Now those 360 tons of cash are missing. We need look no further at who is funding the insurgents that are killing our soldiers in Iraq. We are! That money didn't go to rebuild roads or schools. It went straight into the hands of the insurgents to buy guns, IEDs and chemical weapons to kill our soldiers. As Tax Day approaches, we need to de-fund the war ourselves by demanding that Congress enact a Peace Tax Fund that is guaranteed not to fuel the Iraq War, as an alternative to the sending taxes to the IRS and the U.S. Treasury general fund. I have contacted all of Colorado's Congressional delegation on this matter and await their reply. I encourage all citizens to contact members of Congress toll-free, 24 hours/day at (800) 459-1887. http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070329/LETTER/103290063 [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #9 posted by Hope on March 29, 2007 at 20:05:42 PT |
| That worries me, too. We've been burnt by politicians so many times. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #8 posted by Hope on March 29, 2007 at 20:04:07 PT |
| It never occurred to me then, but it has now, just now, knowing the way Clinton operated and his "language skills". He ate his cannabis....brownies...betcha. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #7 posted by FoM on March 29, 2007 at 19:40:14 PT |
| Video Link: http://tinyurl.com/33fbt7 [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #6 posted by FoM on March 29, 2007 at 18:39:04 PT |
| That sounds good to me. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #5 posted by RevRayGreen on March 29, 2007 at 18:25:06 PT |
| Obama hinges on the questions soon to be answered.(With
11+ states already having medical marijuana programs, he
can carry 11+ states into it if he says he will) ....... #1-allow medical cannabis and compassionate laws regarding #2-Bringing the troops home #3-a review of marijuana posession laws compared to deadlier street drugs. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by FoM on March 29, 2007 at 18:19:49 PT |
| I really don't have an idea how he feels about drug laws. This is all I know about. Barack Obama on Drugs Democratic Jr Senator (IL); previously State Senator Understand why youngsters want to use drugs. Junkie. That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man. Except the highs hadn't been about me trying to prove what a down brother I was. Not by then, anyway. I got high for just the opposite effect, something that could push questions of who I was out of my mind, something that could flatten out the landscape of my heart, blur the edges of my memory. I had discovered that it didn't make any difference whether you smoked reefer in the white classmate's sparkling new van, or in the dorm room of some brother you'd met down at the gym, or on the beach with a couple of Hawaiian kids who had dropped out of school and now spent most of their time looking for an excuse to brawl. You might just be bored, or alone. Everybody was welcome into the club of disaffection. And if the high didn't solve whatever it was that was getting you down, it could at least help you laugh at the world's ongoing folly and see through all the hypocrisy and bullshit and cheap moralism. Source: Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama, p. 87 Aug 1, 1996 http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Barack_Obama_Drugs.htm [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #3 posted by mayan on March 29, 2007 at 18:08:47 PT |
| Considering that our last two Presidential elections have been stolen by the neo-cons, maybe election fraud should be of a bit more concern than whether or not a candidate consensually used this or that substance in the distant past. THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN... O'Donnell 9/11 Rant Reaches 30 Million Viewers: http://prisonplanet.com/articles/march2007/290307odonnellrant.htm Breaking News: Rosie Talking Building 7 On The View: http://911blogger.com/node/7328 Criticism of film won't deter Cuban: http://tinyurl.com/32nvy8 Cuban Resolute Against Neo-Con Intimidation: http://infowars.com/articles/sept11/loose_change_cuban_resolute_against_necon_intimidation.htm Breaking my silence on 9/11 Truth: http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_john_kus_070328_breaking_my_silence_.htm The 9/11 Truth Domino Effect: http://infowars.net/articles/march2007/290307domino.htm [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #2 posted by Taylor121 on March 29, 2007 at 18:00:33 PT |
| How does he feel about drug law reform? Just because he has used these substances does not mean that he would help our cause of taxing and regulating marijuana for adults. Look at Bush as the obvious example. He smoked marijuana, we have him on tape admitting it. Yet even though he did this, he is a prohibitionist. Let's be careful at lining up Obama's past use with drug law liberalization. [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 29, 2007 at 15:52:30 PT |
| How do you think Barack Obama's admittance of previous cocaine use will affect his presidential bid? *** * He was stupid to admit it, and will suffer the consequences. * At least he actually admitted the truth instead of dodging the question. * He will win points by telling the truth. * Although it was the right thing to do, he will lose points. * Who cares about Barack? I'm Republican. * Who cares? I'm voting for another candidate. *** Please Vote: http://www.berkeleybeacon.com/ [ Post Comment ] |
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