cannabisnews.com: Effect of Obama's Candor Remains To Be Seen










  Effect of Obama's Candor Remains To Be Seen

Posted by CN Staff on January 03, 2007 at 10:53:34 PT
By Lois Romano, Washington Post Staff Writer 
Source: Washington Post 

Washington, DC -- Long before the national media spotlight began to shine on every twist and turn of his life's journey, Barack Obama had this to say about himself: "Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man. . . . I got high [to] push questions of who I was out of my mind."The Democratic senator from Illinois and likely presidential candidate offered the confession in a memoir written 11 years ago, not long after he graduated from law school and well before he contemplated life on the national stage. At the time, 20,000 copies were printed and the book seemed destined for the remainders stacks.
Today, Obama, 45, is near the top of polls on potential Democratic presidential contenders, and "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" has regularly been on the bestseller lists, with 800,000 copies in print. Taken along with his latest bestseller, "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream," Obama has become a genuine publishing phenomenon.Obama's revelations were not an issue during his Senate campaign two years ago. But now his open narrative of early, bad choices, including drug use starting in high school and ending in college, as well as his tortured search for racial identity, are sure to receive new scrutiny.As a potential candidate, Obama has presented himself as a fresh voice offering a politics of hope. Many say he offers something new in American politics: an African American with a less-than-traditional name who has so far demonstrated broad appeal. What remains to be seen is whether the candor he offered in his early memoir will be greeted with a new-style acceptance by voters.It was not so long ago that such blunt admissions would have led to a candidate's undoing, and there is uneasiness in Democratic circles that "Dreams From My Father" will provide a blueprint for negative attacks.Two decades ago, Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was forced to withdraw as a nominee for the Supreme Court after reports surfaced that he had used marijuana while he was a law professor. As a presidential candidate, Bill Clinton thought marijuana use could be enough of a liability in 1992 that he felt compelled to say he had not inhaled. And President Bush has managed to deflect endless gossip about his past by acknowledging that he had an "irresponsible" youth but offering no details.Through his book, Obama has become the first potential presidential contender to admit trying cocaine."I believe what the country is looking for is someone who is open, honest and candid about themselves rather than someone who seems endlessly driven by polls or focus groups," said Robert Gibbs, Obama's spokesman. Gibbs said yesterday that Obama was not available for an interview.Presidential aspirants tend to write more sanitized books for use as campaign tools. "Faith of My Fathers" by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) depicts his family's history of military service. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has reissued "It Takes a Village," which offers her views about child-rearing in contemporary society. In fact, Obama's latest book, "Audacity of Hope," lays out his policy positions.But "Dreams From My Father" is not like that. Obama wrote the highly personal book when he was in his early 30s, after being approached by a publisher when he became the first black person elected editor of the Harvard Law Review."This is not the kind of book you would ever expect a politician to write," said GOP consultant Alex Vogel. "Anyone who has a career in politics has to be concerned with what's in their past, but there is no question that Americans have an appetite for redemption."In fact, Bush himself has been a beneficiary of those sympathies. He has suffered little criticism from his conservative base after acknowledging that he drank too much in the past and is now a teetotaler.Obama's partisan opponents and experts said it is too early to know whether the admissions will be a liability because the public seems to be enthusiastically embracing his openness at this point. What's more, they note that it is better for a politician to disclose his own transgressions, rather than be put on the defensive by revelations.A senior Republican strategist who will be advising a GOP presidential candidate in 2008 said he did not see anything in the book that would be a "disqualifier," but he cautioned that Obama has not yet gone through an intense vetting process and that a problem could arise if there is more to his story than he has chosen to share. The strategist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also suggested that there will be high tolerance for marijuana use among voters because many baby boomers probably tried the drug in the '60s."Who's going to cast that first stone?" asked Anita Dunn, a veteran Democratic political consultant, who has advised Obama's political committee.Rhodes Cook, a independent political analyst, said that Democratic primary voters, who are typically more liberal, would be more understanding of his drug use -- "and if he makes it to a general election, it will be old news."Obama's supporters said his admissions in the book could work to his advantage."I think it will be received as refreshing," said Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Obama's fellow Democrat from Illinois. "If you compare similar books, many of us in the political business tend to have selective memories."Obama writes extensively about his struggle to come to terms with being a black man whose African father returned to Kenya when he was 2, leaving him to be raised by his white Kansas-born mother and grandparents in Hawaii. He describes an identity crisis arising from his realization that his life was shaped by both a loving white family and a world that saw in him the negative stereotypes frequently ascribed to young black men. He recounts a search of self that took him from high school in Hawaii to Columbia University, and then to the streets of Chicago as a community organizer."We were always playing on the white man's court . . . by the white man's rules," he writes. "If the principal, or the coach, or a teacher . . . wanted to spit in your face, he could, because he had the power and you didn't. . . . The only thing you could choose was withdrawal into a smaller and smaller coil of rage."And the final irony: should you refuse this defeat and lash out at your captors . . . they would have a name for that too. Paranoid. Militant."Obama has not expressed any regrets for his candor. In a preface to the new edition, he says that he would tell the same story today "even if certain passages have proven to be inconvenient politically."In the book, Obama acknowledges that he used cocaine as a high school student but rejected heroin. "Pot had helped, and booze; maybe a little blow when you could afford it. Not smack, though," he says.In an interview during his Senate race two years ago, Obama said he admitted using drugs because he thought it was important for "young people who are already in circumstances that are far more difficult than mine to know that you can make mistakes and still recover."I think that, at this stage, my life is an open book, literally and figuratively," he said. "Voters can make a judgment as to whether dumb things that I did when I was a teenager are relevant to the work that I've done since that time."Note: Senator Admitted Trying Cocaine in a Memoir Written 11 Years Ago.Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: Lois Romano, Washington Post Staff WriterPublished: Wednesday, January 3, 2007; A01Copyright: 2007 Washington Post Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ CannabisNews Justice Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/justice.shtml

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Comment #43 posted by global_warming on January 05, 2007 at 17:05:26 PT
the apology
the title of my last post 'powerfully good'should have read as Wonderful Writings,there is never a correct way to ask a delicate question,where hath the whigger been,is hee ok?
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Comment #42 posted by global_warming on January 05, 2007 at 16:53:40 PT
powerfully good
ThanksIs that what happened in the sixties? Time warp?
Did our collective conscience warp time? Did our souls uniting those days at Woodstock deposit something in space that we are passing through right now? Did we miss the point the first time, and are we getting another chance to "Give peace a chance"? Have we influenced enough people in the last forty years to make it work this time around? Perhaps forty years of maturity will be more convincing."I feel like the sixties are about to arrive. And we’re in some sort of time warp and it’s still going to happen."Who else feels like this, or similar? Why, at 52, have I decided to, once again, let my hair grow long? Why do I notice that the younger AND the older men are doing the same? Why have I recently (past year) decided to decorate my home in "Hippie" theme? I have a subscription to Mother Earth news, like then, I have a Beatle poster, a wooden peace sign I made, incense burners, and a desire to hang bead curtains in my living room/dining room entrance? Why do I come here, like Dreyfus being driven in "Close encounters..." to his hill? Why are so many of us once again using cannabis? I have noticed students in our colleges dressing EXACTLY like we did. John Lennon's presence is stronger than before his death. Is it just me, or do others feel it too?"Something's happening here."-----------------------------------"Did we miss the point the first time, and are we getting another chance to "Give peace a chance"? "In my opinion the 'wave' that we are beginning to feel, see, and experience is not so much a return to the past, but more like Paul said, the sixties were like a demo of the future.The profundity of our collective realizations that have come about directly and indirectly because of the infuences of the sixties and early seventies, should not be discounted by any means, but for the boomer generation it's not going to be as easy to accept the necessary changes as it is for the present upcoming generation.The irony is that though as a generation, over-all and in general, we actually rejected the tenants of the '60's revolution' for the 'American Dream' and the apparent overwhelming desire to be acceptable in the 'status quo,' our children have - in many cases - embraced with much more conviction and committment the very ideals our collective generation sacrificed on the altar of materialism.So through our children we have been granted a 'second chance.' Because the idea of "Peace, Love, and Understanding" was offered and as a generation we had the opportunity to percieve it in a fresh light, that will aid us to join with the 'Aquarian consiousness' that is growing in leaps and bounds in this generation, but let us not make the mistake of believing that we are the ultimate guides, when ultimately we will have to be guided by the very ones whose education we are now finishing.This fact is being driven home to me.
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Comment #41 posted by The GCW on January 04, 2007 at 20:27:44 PT
Obama Osama: calculated?
The search for Obama continues http://www.boulderweekly.com/incaseyoumissedit.html
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Comment #40 posted by The GCW on January 04, 2007 at 20:02:39 PT
Boulder (Colorado) Weekly thoughts.
"Democrats not ready for their close-up" &"Congress destined to live in mother's basement" -Both at:http://www.boulderweekly.com/archive/122806/incaseyoumissedit.html
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Comment #39 posted by FoM on January 04, 2007 at 17:48:23 PT
ekim
That's great. Thank you. I'll sign it and add my thoughts.
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Comment #38 posted by ekim on January 04, 2007 at 17:44:23 PT
Got more ideas on the 100 hours
 Nancy Pelosi is hoping to start off big with her "100 Hours Agenda." It's a bunch of progressive proposals, including cutting oil subsidies to invest in clean energy, getting cheaper prescription drugs for seniors, and raising the minimum wage.Naturally, the big drug companies, oil companies, and business lobbies are fighting hard to stop her.MoveOn has started a petition to Congress so we can show our representatives we're ready for some real progress, and they should act quickly to pass the 100 Hours Agenda.Plus, the total signature count and some of our comments will be read out loud on the floor of Congress during the debate -- so the more we get, the louder our voice will be. http://pol.moveon.org/100hours
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Comment #37 posted by global_warming on January 04, 2007 at 16:39:43 PT
yes, I looked into
my 'mothers eyespeeked into her eyesand realized,half of the human population are women, of the female persuasion,Bows in their HairOnce glimpsedthere are so many users of cannabisfarther than the eye can see
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Comment #36 posted by global_warming on January 04, 2007 at 15:32:57 PT
Who wrote the article above?
Was it by By Lois Romano, Washington Post Staff Writer?Is that name Lois some hot babe?
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Comment #35 posted by FoM on January 04, 2007 at 14:22:08 PT
museman
I agree that we must demand that they do what they were voted in to do. Back when the Republicans gained control the Internet was in its infancy. Now the Internet is alive with people who are concerned citizens. The people have a voice for the first time ever. It's a good feeling.
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Comment #34 posted by museman on January 04, 2007 at 14:05:39 PT
FoM
Let us enjoy those rare moments, but let us not sit down.
America needs to step up now while the errors are in focus, and not let up on the fat-cat-politicians. We need to send 'em millions of emails, and letters. WE need to tie up their phones with our justified angst over their absolute failure not only as leaders, but as human beings. We need to stand outside their favorite restaurants and make sure that they get indigestion.Most of all we need to demonstrate that we aren't a bunch of ignorant yokels, and that we are growing up as a people, and no longer in need of Big Brother to dictate our lives for us. As long as we capitulate by giving into their system and control, without loudly demanding accountability, it's only going to get much worse.
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Comment #33 posted by FoM on January 04, 2007 at 13:48:11 PT

museman
I don't believe anyone who is in politics but that aside it was pleasant today to see Pelosi smiling compared to Hastert all the time looking like he ate something that didn't agree with him. LOL!
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Comment #32 posted by museman on January 04, 2007 at 13:15:00 PT

simple solution
Throw 'em all out, fire 'em all, and start fresh. Maybe a little 'people responsibility' like holding a constituional convention to take back our country. Anybody got the fortitude to try? If so I will be there holding open the door, and making sure that none of the ones we fired don't sneak back in.
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Comment #31 posted by museman on January 04, 2007 at 13:08:58 PT

nancy -same ol
Wonderful words, lots of 'em. But why can't people realize that they are only being spoken because right now people are paying attention. Where were those words when the monkey and his rich power base decided to take the world for a ride on their roller coaster, while milking it for all it was worth and then some? Oh, that's right, they were standing in line waitng to get their cut.Where was that attitude when the election was blatantly ripped off right in front of all of us? Where was that 'concern' when American covert activities - a very "special" group of covert ops, slammed two planes into the WTC?Sure, sure we got little choice, it's the rich, high society reps, or nothing at all. Which one is the least evil? How can you tell when they are all speaking the same language of lies, obfuscation, hypocricy, and psuedo-intellect?Clinton made a grand speach when he was elected, sounded very similar, with the exception of certain specifics that weren't as obvious then - like the inclination to create a disaster to justify an illegal war, but did he follow through on any of it? Not that I can see.I heard 'em all speak of their 'concerns', their 'moralities', their "promises" LOL. I am amazed that Americans still continue to prop up that dead horse of a republic, and continually sweep the error under the rugs of controlled media, and the financial strangle hold on our lives.I would get a good moments satisfaction out of impeaching bush, but then all the rest of 'em are still there, so it would amount to very little, except to make their invisible robes shine a little in a fools eyes.
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Comment #30 posted by FoM on January 04, 2007 at 12:20:32 PT

Excerpt from Nancy Pelosi's Speech
"The election of 2006 was a call to change -- not merely to change the control of Congress, but for a new direction for our country. Nowhere were the American people more clear about the need for a new direction than in the war in Iraq. "The American people rejected an open-ended obligation to a war without end. Shortly, President Bush will address the nation on the subject of Iraq. It is the responsibility of the president to articulate a new plan for Iraq that makes it clear to the Iraqis that they must defend their own streets and their own security, a plan that promotes stability in the region, and a plan that allows us to responsibly redeploy our troops. Transcript: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/04/BAG5ANCTQ27.DTL
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Comment #29 posted by FoM on January 04, 2007 at 10:10:42 PT

nuevo mexican
Today I am watching the news and it isn't hard to watch. I'm just thinking and putting my Christmas decorations away. God Bless Cindy Sheehan for her activism to end the war and bring our troops home. This could get very interesting because Republicans didn't care about Cindy or anti-war protesters but maybe the Democrats won't be so easy to dismiss them since that is why they were voted into power. I only feel bad for the soldiers who will be in serious harms way as we back our troops out of Iraq. ***January 4, 2007Excerpt: Pelosi wins re-election by huge margins and stays true to her San Francisco constituency, voting against the Iraq war resolution and co-sponsoring legislation to end federal prohibitions against medical marijuana. Her liberalism makes some moderate Democrats leery, and she's avoided campaigning in some conservative districts.http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/04/america/NA_GEN_US_House_Leader.php
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Comment #28 posted by nuevo mexican on January 04, 2007 at 09:24:53 PT

Now AP smears Obama! 
Let the AP now you're not letting them get away with the 'soft bigotry' of racist media portrayals:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Yahoo_News_puts_Bin_Laden_caption_0104.htmlThe gloves are off, and the Repugs, and their sycophantic steno press minions (yes, that's you, lurking journalists', most of you are NOT doing your job, and are NOT journalists', please get new jobs, and confess your complicity),are revealing the techniques that will CONTINUE to be used to sideline and credible candidates for President.Impeachment is now the ORDER of the day, bringing the troops home NOW, and holding the media accountable NOW will be the only thing that keeps bush from stealing another election for McCain, or Rudy, both are the WORST of the pack!"Everywhere I go, activists call for impeachment"Check this out from wapo:  One lawmaker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of alienating such voters, said wherever he goes, he hears from activists calling for Bush's impeachment. Cutting off funding for the Iraq war comes in a close second.Impeachment is the deal and the time is now...http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/1/4/3176/66109bush can now open your mail!!!http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/485561p-408789c.html
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Comment #27 posted by FoM on January 04, 2007 at 07:30:05 PT

Hope
I havent seen any anti-drug commercials for a long time. I love Pete's Couch because it is so much safer. I'll keep my eyes open for the new one.
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Comment #26 posted by Hope on January 04, 2007 at 07:12:09 PT

He keeps insisting she "play" the game...
"What am I?"She said a croissant and something else. "No! No! No!" "I'm a joint," he says.She says, "No, you're not. You're too fat."And he says, in a "I gotcha" kind of way..."How would YOU know?"
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Comment #25 posted by Hope on January 04, 2007 at 07:08:49 PT

Off Topic
Anyone see the ONDCP ad were the "Dad" is rolled up in a sheet, saying "What am I?" to his "daughter"?
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Comment #24 posted by FoM on January 03, 2007 at 20:26:42 PT

Another Attack Already on Obama
I don't understand why they hate him before he even gets in the race. Are they afraid he might win? I do feel sorry for how the right will treat him. Bill O'Reilly Uses Mike Tyson To Smear Barack Obamahttp://www.newshounds.us/2007/01/03/bill_oreilly_uses_mike_tyson_to_smear_barack_obama.php
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on January 03, 2007 at 20:11:44 PT

Dankhank
I really didn't understand the article so I thought I should archive it. Here it is if you or anyone would like to comment on it.The GCW time will tell about Senator Obama. He is against the war and against more troops being sent to Iraq. He has always been against the war as far as I know and that matters to me. We will see how hard he is attacked if he chooses to run. It might not be very pretty. He doesn't have a lot of experience and that could be a good thing but who can really say at this point. It's a long way until 08 and elections.http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread22491.shtml
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Comment #22 posted by The GCW on January 03, 2007 at 19:57:50 PT

Kucinich is the real thing, but...
Kucinich has come out saying He would regulate cannabis like booze.He gets it.Obama is a big question mark at this time. I don't know anything about Him with out tv...but what I hear is that Obama is getting much attention around the world...Kucinich is not getting the same media; Kucinich is not a household word.Kucinich is the one who spoke and speaks peace.If a candidate doesn't come out and speak reasonably about cannabis then that person doesn't get it.I don't care about charisma. Charisma works to get votes but a charismatic politician that doesn't favor cannabis legalization garnering more votes than Kucinich is not worth much...And then, a prohibitionist Obama is worth more that any bush type or even another Clinton.Cannabis activists should hope Obama is allowed to be publically questioned on the cannabis issue in detail.If Obama is not getting questioned publically about cannabis in detail it could be a sign that He is beging controlled by handlers... there is some thought that the only people allowed to be President are those who allow themselves to be handled.  -We don't need that. People that think it is ok to cage other people for using a God-given plant are lacking.I want to say, PERIOD.
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Comment #21 posted by Dankhank on January 03, 2007 at 19:27:28 PT

This Is Your Brain on Drugs, Dad
from NYTimes ...http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/03/opinion/03males.html
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on January 03, 2007 at 18:34:55 PT

mayan 
What I like about Obama is what he says and how he says it. It's really that he has Charisma. Charisma is important when dealing with a world gone mad. I like Dennis too. 
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Comment #19 posted by museman on January 03, 2007 at 18:14:19 PT

toker
Well put, and I agree. Small steps forward - in generational terms - is certainly better than no steps, or stepping backwards.The times we live in are certainly times in which some rather profound decisions have to be made on a collective level, and having personally suffered great disappointment in my own generation, and seen the refreshing new seeds of the same 'Peace Love and Understanding' that has been an option since Adam, manifesting in the youth makes me look at that youth and see promise that seemed to have eluded my own. When i went to the Rainbow Gathering this year, I marvelled that the human scenery looked very much the same in appearance, as we did in our own youth - long hair, color, and "peace!" being a phrase of greeting and parting. The difference was also notable, in that I saw sincerety and belief in the places where a lot of my generation could not hold focus. There is change in the wind, and for the moment it seems to be a contrasting breeze of positive possibility to the hot breath of satan down our necks in the past several years. A time of positive productivity is almost upon us, we must make the best use we can while we can, because there is most probably going to be another resurgence of such thinking as has got us all near the brink of oblivion, within a few short years.So though we may get an oportunity to 'breathe a collective sigh of relief' that will be an indication to get down to some serious work, because nothing other than a breathing spell has been accomplished.It is time for individuals to demonstrate resolve in a collective motion to re-estanblish sane avenues of social and economic reform, and most importantly teach peace instead of war.
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Comment #18 posted by FoM on January 03, 2007 at 18:14:02 PT

 user123
You're right. That's the way it could happen but maybe this could happen. Maybe marijuana will almost become a low priority and a non issue? Laws on the books really are only important if they are enforced. I don't know if the money to fight marijuana will be available because of our current war debt. Just a thought.
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Comment #17 posted by mayan on January 03, 2007 at 18:12:13 PT

Obama Vs. Kucinich
I would take Dennis any day when it comes to the democrats. At least we know where he stands regarding cannabis. The establishment media despises Kucinich but they drool all over Obama. Maybe they know something that we don't. It is time to choose our own candidates instead of letting the media choose them for us. In unrelated news, the build-up continues...Second U.S. carrier group to deploy to Gulf: sources 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070103/ts_nm/usa_gulf_navy_dcThe stage is being set...Robertson predicts 'mass killing': 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070102/ap_on_re_us/robertson_predictionGod told him so.THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB - OUR NATION IS IN PERIL:
http://www.911sharethetruth.com/
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Comment #16 posted by user123 on January 03, 2007 at 17:58:49 PT:

Whatever or is it Whe-never?
A senior Republican strategist who will be advising a GOP presidential candidate in 2008 said he did not see anything in the book that would be a "disqualifier," If Obama runs, the GOP (Greed over Principle) will tear him a new one over past drug use. Never mind that Bush & Cheney have 3 DUI's between them. Oh, and if Obama does get elected, here's what'll happen to marijuana - It will NOT be legalized. Because while youthful indescrection is OK for elected officials, you my friend can go screw yourself & go to jail. They're all victims, while we're all addicts.
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on January 03, 2007 at 17:54:55 PT

Toker00 and Museman
This is always an interesting topic for me because as I search to find where the disconnect happened in my mind it was the results of a few different events happening. I loved CSNY's Our House and Teach Your Children. Those two songs told me to be peaceful and family oriented and pass those values on to your children. I still believe that today as one of the most if not the most important thing in my life. I first noticed myself pulling back from The Hippie Dream when Altamont happened. When Charles Manson did what he did that was another check for me. Then as we were building our home the Reagan era began and Just Say No and the drug Cocaine becoming a popular drug. I always thought of certain drugs as selfish drugs. Me type drugs. I didn't want to be apart of what that might create and it did what I thought it would do sadly. Here we are today and we have to re-look at our values and why we feel they are important. That's my two cents.
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Comment #14 posted by Toker00 on January 03, 2007 at 17:43:00 PT

But then...
I think about John F. Kennedy, or at least some of the things he said. I really think he wanted to hand those ideas down to us, and they weren't his Father's ideas. But they were also his Brothers ideas. So maybe WE were also a WAITING generation. I dunno. It would be great if THIS generation were the lucky Charms...Toke.
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Comment #13 posted by Toker00 on January 03, 2007 at 17:34:13 PT

museman
I would never assume ourselves to be the ultimate guides. Each generation both before us and after us have been confronted with the same task. Learn to live in the Way, the Truth, and the Light. Just being human has caused so many of us to stumble from the right path. And I guess I'm speaking more, not as in a "Generation", but as in "Humanity". We are maturing as Humanity. And how much maturity does it take to realize we can't go on as Creation ruled by War? Humanity HAS to mature enough as a whole to see this. We must grab the children who insist they are our Leaders, and though they are the generations BEFORE us, (We all fantasized as children, we just didn't have the mega-bucks to realize those fantasies, our leaders did and do.) take away their nightmarish toys that Greed and Ego built, explain to them in great detail and with little patience, that it's time for them to grow up and join the Real World. The one that's left over after they ran through the planet mindlessly destroying things, as children do. It's time for them to pick up their things, learn to share, be responsible for their actions, and get used to spending a few years with their noses in the corner...of a PRISON CELL.Museman, I don't recall a recent generation passing the idea of Peace, Love, and Understanding down to a WAITING generation, like we have. I think those ideas only come along between many generations as prominently as it has been for us, and now, the Next. I've been reading in history of cannabis how an entire people discovered how to live in Order and Peace after being a violent people, by just listening to what cannabis says. Then outside forces and the next generation caused them to go back to the old way of chaos and murder. The messages of Peace, Love, and Understanding must be consistent. Maybe we are at that point. Maybe the generation after Next will also be a WAITING generation. If you do it three times, it becomes a habit, so let's hope for complete addiction!Toke.  
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Comment #12 posted by museman on January 03, 2007 at 16:38:25 PT

toker
"Did we miss the point the first time, and are we getting another chance to "Give peace a chance"? "In my opinion the 'wave' that we are beginning to feel, see, and experience is not so much a return to the past, but more like Paul said, the sixties were like a demo of the future.The profundity of our collective realizations that have come about directly and indirectly because of the infuences of the sixties and early seventies, should not be discounted by any means, but for the boomer generation it's not going to be as easy to accept the necessary changes as it is for the present upcoming generation. The irony is that though as a generation, over-all and in general, we actually rejected the tenants of the '60's revolution' for the 'American Dream' and the apparent overwhelming desire to be acceptable in the 'status quo,' our children have - in many cases - embraced with much more conviction and committment the very ideals our collective generation sacrificed on the altar of materialism.So through our children we have been granted a 'second chance.' Because the idea of "Peace, Love, and Understanding" was offered and as a generation we had the opportunity to percieve it in a fresh light, that will aid us to join with the 'Aquarian consiousness' that is growing in leaps and bounds in this generation, but let us not make the mistake of believing that we are the ultimate guides, when ultimately we will have to be guided by the very ones whose education we are now finishing.This fact is being driven home to me.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on January 03, 2007 at 15:33:00 PT

Toker00
I know what you mean and yes it's time now. Ever since I've been online I have been looking and searching trying to find the disconnect and reconnect. It's time.
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Comment #10 posted by Toker00 on January 03, 2007 at 15:27:21 PT

Is that what happened in the sixties? Time warp?
Did our collective conscience warp time? Did our souls uniting those days at Woodstock deposit something in space that we are passing through right now? Did we miss the point the first time, and are we getting another chance to "Give peace a chance"? Have we influenced enough people in the last forty years to make it work this time around? Perhaps forty years of maturity will be more convincing. "I feel like the sixties are about to arrive. And we’re in some sort of time warp and it’s still going to happen."Who else feels like this, or similar? Why, at 52, have I decided to, once again, let my hair grow long? Why do I notice that the younger AND the older men are doing the same? Why have I recently (past year) decided to decorate my home in "Hippie" theme? I have a subscription to Mother Earth news, like then, I have a Beatle poster, a wooden peace sign I made, incense burners, and a desire to hang bead curtains in my living room/dining room entrance? Why do I come here, like Dreyfus being driven in "Close encounters..." to his hill? Why are so many of us once again using cannabis? I have noticed students in our colleges dressing EXACTLY like we did. John Lennon's presence is stronger than before his death. Is it just me, or do others feel it too?  "Something's happening here."Wage Peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW! 
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on January 03, 2007 at 15:19:51 PT

Related Article from RushLimbaugh.com
Drug Use Is Democrat Resume Enhancer 
 January 3, 2007 Excerpt: Hell, folks, this is résumé enhancement stuff for Obama! You have to understand: there are no standards. The standards don't apply to Democrats. The standards only apply to Republicans. He's not going to be held accountable, because he didn't do anything wrong. Wait 'til you see the way this spins out. "He wanted the experience. He was in pain, and those drugs were helping him forget the process of him finding out who he was, and so he had to do that." So it's going to turn into a positive by the time they get through with this, a very big one. Watch and see.Complete Article: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_010307/content/stop_the_tape_2.guest.html
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on January 03, 2007 at 15:04:20 PT

Thestales 
I also wonder how he will deal with the drug issue when he is asked. He is a pragmatic person and he thinks things thru in my opinion. If he really does think things thru then maybe he will have a suggestion on how to change the direction in the drug war. Maybe not but maybe.
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Comment #7 posted by Thestales on January 03, 2007 at 14:16:46 PT

Barack
I like people to form their own opinions. http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/Barack_Obama.htmMy Opinion, I would vote for him over any other person with the exception of Ron Paul and Kink Friedman.My understanding is that Obama is NOT for Prohibition. He knows it is failing. I just wonder what how he will approach it when solutions for the drug problems questions arise.
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on January 03, 2007 at 13:41:30 PT

Paul McCartney On Drugs
January 3rd, 2007 Excerpt: In today’s climate, I hate to talk about drugs because it’s not the same. You have someone jumping on your head the minute you say anything, so I’ve taken to not trying to give my point of view unless someone really very much asks for it. Because I think the “just say no” mentality is so crazed. I saw a thing in a women’s magazine the other day: “He smokes cannabis, what am I to do. He laughs it off when I try to tell him, he says it’s not really harmful…” Of course, you’re half hoping the advice will be, “well, you know it’s not that harmful; if you love him, if you talk to him about it, tell him maybe he should keep it in the garden shed or something,” you know, a reasonable point of view. But of course it was, “No no, all drugs are bad. All drugs are bad. Librium’s good, Valium’s good, ciggies are good, vodka’s good. But cannabis, oooh.” I hate that unreasoned attitude. I really can’t believe it’s thirty years since the sixties. I find it staggering. It’s like the future, the sixties, the sixties to me, it hasn’t happened. I feel like the sixties are about to arrive. And we’re in some sort of time warp and it’s still going to happen.Complete Article: http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2007/01/03/paul-mccartney-on-drugs/
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on January 03, 2007 at 12:28:50 PT

museman
You mentioned Kerry and I voted for him. He would have been much better then Bush but it really doesn't take much to be better then Bush. The spin machine got Kerry.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on January 03, 2007 at 12:05:02 PT

museman
I totally understand what you are saying. I think so far Senator Obama would make our best next president but I don't know how he will use his youthful drug use politically. He has seen the devastation of hard drugs in the inner cities so I suspect he won't be to fond of Cocaine or Heroin but Marijuana could be totally different. I want to believe because then I have hope but I am not holding my breath about how he will stand concerning marijuana. I hope he gives it deep thought. Carter didn't follow thru when he had a chance and many of us remember that.
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Comment #3 posted by museman on January 03, 2007 at 11:53:20 PT

FoM
It's obvious that you have more faith in our system than I have. I haven't studied Obama like you have, so your information is actually my main source. I don't want to study the history of any politician, I've already gone down the road of expecting humanity when there was none, too too many times. I can't even believe that I let myself get behind Kerry like I did. The way that he is quoted to have dealt with 'drugs' in his youth could be a two edged sword. On the one side he may have a deeper understanding of the underlying cause of drug addiction -which is a sick society- but his wanting to 'reclaim the American Dream' makes me wonder. His idea of the American Dream might be different from the status quo, but the only rendition of that concept I have seen, is manifested only for the rich. For the rest of us it is an Amercian Nightmare.On the other side of that sword, is the over-compensating hard-line of the ex-junkie. Or ex-smoker. Having dealt with their own addictions, and weaknesses, they tend to be very punative minded towards lifestyles that might resemble what they were going for before their addiction caused them to fail.For example; I once knew a man and wife, who's daughter had befriended mine. They were originally from Liverpool, and their 'claim to fame' was that the man actually was a contemporary with the Beatles, and was in a skiffle band at the same time, played gigs with them, hung out and smoked and drank.This man, like so many of his contemporaries, got himself and his wife strung out on heroin. They were junkies for nearly 20 years, Because he had a skill much in demand, he was able to maintain financial stability during that time. They finally went to rehab, and kicked.That would have been a good thing, except that having kicked heroin they immediately got on the status quo bandwagon, and began condemning everything that the system condemns, like pot.I had occasion to meet these people, and somehow the discussioon got around to the herb.Picture this. Two inebriated ex-junkies, who think they are something special because they once breathed the same air as the Beatles, standing there with their third glass of vodka, yelling at me to 'get out of their house' because I was a 'criminal' and evil- I smoked pot.Hypocrits, and still junkies, albeit addicted to a 'legal' drug. They still hold a prominent position in their community, people like the fact that there are 'former associates of the Beatles' living in their neighborhood. They also like the fact that they throw good alcohol parties, and have the money to pay for all the drunken damage that is caused.Anyway, I will be watching Obama, because you FoM have endorsed him, but I am a 'missouri mule' from the 'Show Me' state. I've heard lots and lots of great sounding rhetoric, and political promises, but I've yet to see any reality in any of it.
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on January 03, 2007 at 11:11:07 PT

My Thoughts
Senator Obama has shown me to be a wise young man and I like him. I don't know if he knows how important marijuana reform is to many people but if he continues to think deeply like he has on other issues we might actually get a debate going and that would be wonderful. I also don't think we need a Drug Czar anymore. They only push agendas and really don't have any actual knowledge about what they say. We need honesty desperately.
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on January 03, 2007 at 11:01:53 PT

Related Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dif7LjZAOk0
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