cannabisnews.com: Hub Rips Cops Featured in Soft-On-Marijuana Ads
Hub Rips Cops Featured in Soft-On-Marijuana Ads
Posted by CN Staff on October 23, 2008 at 12:05:30 PT
By Dave Wedge
Source: Boston Herald
Massachusetts -- Boston cops and Mayor Thomas M. Menino are up in arms that pictures of two uniformed officers and a marked cruiser appear in new political ads supporting a controversial proposal to decriminalize marijuana.“Their decision to incorporate the BPD brand into their ad campaign was very inappropriate,” Boston Police Department spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said. “They did not ask for permission and we in no way endorse this advertisement.”
In one ad, retired Sgt. Howard Donahue says he supports Question 2 because it would free up cops to fight “violent criminals.” The ad features an old picture of Donahue in uniform in front of a BPD cruiser.Another ad features retired Lt. Tom Nolan and a picture of him in uniform while he argues that existing weed laws give offenders a lifetime criminal record that makes it hard to get jobs and student loans. Question 2 would make possession of up to one ounce of pot a civil offense punishable by a fine.“I entered law enforcement to catch bad guys, not to deny someone an education for life just because they made a mistake,” Nolan says.While state ethics laws ban the use of taxpayer-funded resources in political ads, Yes on Question 2 spokeswoman Whitney Taylor said, “There are no ethics violations. Those were personal pictures from retired police officers.”Menino spokeswoman Dot Joyce also slammed the group’s use of the BPD car and uniforms, saying, “It’s an unfair tactic to try and confuse voters. The mayor doesn’t support this ad.”In 1998, several Boston cops came under fire for appearing in uniform in a political ad for former state Sen. Lois Pines. In 1996, Sen. John F. Kerry drew sharp criticism for using a uniformed cop in an ad filmed in Lowell.And in 2006, Somerville Police Chief Robert Bradley was accused of ethics violations for appearing in uniform in a political ad opposing the sale of wine at supermarkets.Newshawk: Sam AdamsSource: Boston Herald (MA)Author: Dave Wedge Published: Thursday, October 23, 2008Copyright: 2008 The Boston Herald, Inc.Website: http://www.bostonherald.com/Contact: letterstoeditor bostonherald.comRelated Articles & Web Site:Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policyhttp://www.sensiblemarijuanapolicy.org/Marijuana Reform Right for Bay Statehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24247.shtmlQuestion 2 on Marijuana Possession Heats Uphttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread24246.shtml
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Comment #36 posted by FoM on October 27, 2008 at 16:51:52 PT
afterburner
That was interesting. There's nothing new under the sun comes to mind.
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Comment #35 posted by afterburner on October 27, 2008 at 16:03:43 PT
FoM #34 - "It sure seems the same to me too."
Curtis Mayfield - Hard Times (1975)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwfaMJbqYbMCurtis Mayfield – Hard Times – Listen free at Last.fm
http://www.last.fm/music/Curtis+Mayfield/_/Hard+Times [also contains links to other Curtis Mayfield songs]Notice the poster with the suburban family in their car while the black people stand in the unemployment line.This could be updated today to a boardroom table populated by banker-pirates while people of all races (black, white, yellow, red and brown) stand huddled in the unemployment/bread/soup line.THE ECONOMY.
How pirates fashioned our fiscal crisis.
There was 'the sense that the organization is more powerful than the states themselves.'
Oct. 26, 2008 04:30 AM.
Comments on this story (4).
Leslie Scrivener,
Staff Reporter
http://www.thestar.com/News/Ideas/article/524724
{
Watching your savings vanish like a ship over the horizon? Peter Hayes, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Sunderland, says that we can see the roots of the modern corporation in marauding pirates of the 17th century, who created nothing themselves, but by practising hostile takeovers and sometimes willing mergers, made fortunes for themselves.His latest paper, "Pirates, Privateers and the Contract Theories of Hobbes and Locke," appears in the autumn issue of History of Political Thought. He spoke to the Star from Sunderland, in northeast England, where some of the oldest churches bear the scorch marks of plundering Vikings. more...
}
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Comment #34 posted by FoM on October 27, 2008 at 07:41:42 PT
afterburner
It sure seems the same to me too.
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Comment #33 posted by afterburner on October 27, 2008 at 07:31:25 PT
FoM #31
"They said the reason for capping the wells was so we would use up other countries oil and then in the end we would have high priced oil in America to use."I remember seeing a tv news report during the so-called energy crisis of the 1970s showing a gasoline truck pumping gasoline into the fuel storage tanks of a decomissioned gas station. I also heard a former oil executive state that oil tankers were waiting off-shore during the same period.Different decade -- same dirty tricks, it seems!
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Comment #32 posted by FoM on October 26, 2008 at 06:28:38 PT
afterburner
LINCVOLT LEAVES WICHITA!Watch Video News Story Herehttp://www.lincvolt.com/
The '59 Lincoln is from the days of when cars came with lots of chrome, lots of weight and guzzled more 30-cent-a-gallon fuel than a camel in the dessert. Over the past 14 months, Neil Young has come to Wichita to oversee some of the conversion work and take it for a spin around town. Now, the car is headed west.
"This is it. This is the very last day in Wichita for probably at least six months," said Jonathan Goodwin, H-Line Conversions. Goodwin and his crew have turned Young's Lincoln from a nine mile per gallon car to a car that gets more than 75 miles to the gallon. They had to completely replace the original engine. "What we've done is installed an electric motor. And this motor generates 500 foot pounds of torque. That's more than a diesel pickup truck," Goodwin said.
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Comment #31 posted by FoM on October 26, 2008 at 06:23:40 PT
afterburner
I'll check out the video. Thank you. None of what is happening now seems new to me. We had a number of friends that worked on oil wells back in the 70s. They capped them after they were drilled. They said the reason for capping the wells was so we would use up other countries oil and then in the end we would have high priced oil in America to use. We had a big oil well fire back in those days near our house and we would just stare at the fire at night in awe of it's power. They had to get a man named Red Adair to finally put out the oil well fire. They want to drill on our land and we said no. They came back a couple of times and I kept saying no not on my land and they finally stopped coming here. I guess we are sitting on a lot of oil.http://www.redadair.com/
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Comment #30 posted by afterburner on October 25, 2008 at 21:45:13 PT
FoM #28
The election campaign that never ends,By Jeff Mahoney.
Palin is wired so she won't blink but McCain always seems to be blinking.
The Hamilton Spectator.
October 23, 2008
http://www.thespec.com/go/living/article/453891A humorous, but logical look at the US election campaign.***Have you watched The Sarah Silverman Program on Comedy Central? If you like Weeds, you might like this episode. If you have broadband, you can watch it online here:The Sarah Silverman Program : (Ep. 213) "High, It's Sarah"
http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-sarah-silverman-program/season-2/the-sarah-silverman-program-ep-213-high-its-sarah/Warning: This is not a medical cannabis presentation. The characters (stoners) are reckless, but some truth prevails. It's a good laugh with a message.***Anyone remember the 1970s when the energy crisis had people lining up for gas and the counter-culture was all a-buzz about solar, wind and hybrids? Then, oil was discovered in Alaska and the north seas off UK, and all the energy alternatives ceased to be cost-effective. However, these new energy reserves did not keep the USA from overreliance on foreign (arab) oil. Flash forward 30 years and another energy crisis caused possibly by reaching "peak oil" and by the expense of fighting wars in oil-producing nations was impoverishing the populace. The Internet and the mass media were all a-buzz about solar, wind and hybrids. Then, McCain wants to "drill, baby, drill" and Palin wants to tap those reserves discovered 30-plus years ago.Then, a financial crisis caused by irresponsible lending and spending decimates the credit market, starting with mortgages and spreading to credit cards, car loans and business financing. Jobs are lost in record numbers and commodity prices follow the stock market down, baby, down. A new cheap oil without jobs to buy it: a lose-lose situation. All the energy alternatives again cease to be cost-effective, especially those centralized mega-projects that require investment by Big Business and Big Government. It almost looks like someone planned it, eh?Individuals who "see" have a responsibility to our planet, society, family, and descendants to do what they can on a small scale to bring energy alternatives into the mainstream, to build sustainable ecocultures and "small is beautiful" businesses. Remember, when you're replacing the dinosaur industries of food, medicine, energy, transportation, building, communication and control, do it with a smile on your face and a song in your heart.
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Comment #29 posted by FoM on October 25, 2008 at 11:56:49 PT
Obama Supporters for Marijuana Law Reform
http://my.barackobama.com/page/group/ObamaSupportersforMarijuanaLawReform
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Comment #28 posted by FoM on October 25, 2008 at 10:38:58 PT
CommonSense
I actually voted 3 times in a general election because I just voted yesterday.
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Comment #27 posted by FoM on October 25, 2008 at 10:17:55 PT
CommonSense
South Eastern Ohio has a lot of Fundamentalist Christians and they vote Republican. We have one other house on our country road that has an Obama sign but not one McCain sign. Maybe there is hope for our area. If Obama didn't have a chance in my state I wouldn't vote for someone else. I just wouldn't vote. I have only voted two times in a general election.
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Comment #26 posted by Commonsense on October 25, 2008 at 10:13:01 PT
FoM
If you look at the polls at Real Clear Politics though it looks like Obama is actually ahead in Ohio. He has a really good chance of taking that state. It's good that you didn't vote for Barr. I would only suggest doing that if McCain is way ahead in the polls in your state and it looks like there is no chance Obama could win. If McCain is winning in the polls consistently by better than ten points, then maybe it's worth it to consider voting for someone like Barr, or Nader, or whatever floats your boat. One caveat though is that if you live in one of the few states where electors will vote the way those in their district vote, then you should probably vote for Obama unless you know there is absolutely no chance Obama could take your district. In most states though it's winner takes all. Your district might vote for Obama, but all the electors will vote for the candidate that wins the state as a whole.
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Comment #25 posted by FoM on October 25, 2008 at 05:47:56 PT
CommonSense
Barr was on Ohio's Ballot and I didn't even know it until I voted and saw his name. In South Eastern Ohio where I live people are really backward so I understand what you are saying. I live here and love the area but I still have a PA frame of mind where I grew up.
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Comment #24 posted by Commonsense on October 24, 2008 at 21:13:34 PT
Hope and FoM
Oh, I'm no Bob Barr fan. I want Obama to win. He just can't win in my state. Our electoral votes will all go to John McCain. My vote wouldn't help Obama. This vote for Bob Barr was just in hopes that the major parties will look at some of the things I like about the Libertarian party and go a little in that direction to win voters who would vote Libertarian. I'm not a Libertarian. I'm not a member of any party. I just like how Libertarians prize freedom, dislike the war on drugs, and want to shrink government. They can be extremist in ways I don't like and I wouldn't really want Libertarians running the country, but there really isn't much risk of that happening anytime soon. If I thought my vote would have helped Obama I would have voted for him. I voted a straight Democrat ticket this year except for the president's position.
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Comment #23 posted by FoM on October 24, 2008 at 14:24:03 PT
CommonSense and Hope
We just got back from voting for Obama. We stopped into the Obama headquarters after we voted and he gave us 4 Obama yard signs and stickers that said we voted early for Barack Obama. We went into Walmart and I was afraid to wear the sticker but my husband said we should wear them and we did. We saw someone else with an Obama sticker on. I am not a Libertarian or a Republican but an Independent that always has leaned to the Democrats. Hope, as far as jobs go fear of losing a job shouldn't be a reason to vote against Obama. Fear is a control mechanism. It keeps people from hoping that things will get better.PS: I would never consider voting for Bob Barr. He made his bed years ago with the DC Initiative.
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Comment #22 posted by Hope on October 24, 2008 at 13:56:49 PT
Completely of topic question...
Today, on a newspaper site, when I searched their paper for an article pertaining to cannabis legalization, I got the article but it had an annotation at the top of the page. "need_to_map".What does "need_to_map" mean? I haven't found, so far, at least, a real answer to the question by googling that term
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Comment #21 posted by Hope on October 24, 2008 at 13:49:06 PT
Commonsense
I'm voting for Obama but I feel very lonely here. The only thing I've accomplished by being pro-Obama is at least they know better than to share their anti-Obama views with me.The thing I'm hearing that concerns me the most is that people are going to lose jobs because of his tax the rich more attitude. So many people seem to think it's ok if the wealthy have loopholes and all sorts of tax relief that regular people don't get, as long as their wealth provide jobs of any kind. I've been told that manufacturers and such, in some communities, apparently, are promising to lay off hundreds of people the moment they know that Obama has won. McCain seems to me a terrifying prospect on so many levels. I don't trust Democrats any more than I do Republicans, but at least Obama isn't promising to put more people to ruin because of a plant and I believe McCain is promising just that.Libertarian has been my protest vote before, but I can't do that because of Barr, because of what he did to Washington D.C.'s medical cannabis vote while he had the power he had in Congress.McCain promises more jack-boots on more people's necks. I just can't support that.
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Comment #20 posted by Commonsense on October 24, 2008 at 12:25:21 PT
FoM
Where I am from most in the middle class and below will vote for John McCain. It used to be almost all Democrat down here in the South but the abortion issue has changed that. In the Bible Belt a lot of people actually believe you're going to Hell if you don't vote Republican. Fundamentalist denominations aren't the only ones putting this out there, Catholic priests will often suggest to parishioners voting for a pro-choice Democrat is a sin. It's all about abortion, and "the attack on families" by gays and all that "culture war" nonsense comes into play too. I'm sick of hearing about all of it.Driving around in my town you'll almost never see an Obama sign. You'll see plenty of "NObama" bumper stickers and plenty of McCain/Palin signs everywhere. Polls conducted in my state consistantly give McCain at least a ten to fifteen point edge over Obama, and of course all of our electoral college votes will go to the candidate who wins our state. An Obama vote is wasted here. I just early voted for Bob Barr. He has zero chance of winning and I wouldn't want that to begin with, but I figure I might as well add to the number of votes the Libertarians will get. The more they get the more Republican and Democrat strategists will be trying to capture these votes in the future. Hopefully that translates into better marijuana laws. It probably won't help, but at least I can feel like I'm not just wasting my vote.
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Comment #19 posted by FoM on October 23, 2008 at 18:49:54 PT
John Tyler
Republicans are for the rich people and Democrats are for poorer or middle class people. Why do they pretend they care when I sure know they don't? Joe Six Pack and Joe The Plumber make no sense to me as an issue for Republicans.
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Comment #18 posted by John Tyler on October 23, 2008 at 18:43:44 PT
fashion statement
Re #11 Did you notice she got her clothes (thanks to the Republican National Committee) from Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus? According to current Republican demagogy, real American only shop at Walmart, not those swanky, elitist department stores. If the Republicans weren’t so serious I would think their rank hypocrisy was big joke. Hey Republicans guys, I liked you better when you were upfront country club elitist. That is what you are, so be that. There is really nothing wrong with it. It’s just kind of shallow, empty, and meaningless though, but that’s OK. But for your own sake, stop trying to be plain, down home folks, it makes you look ridiculous.
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Comment #17 posted by FoM on October 23, 2008 at 18:27:21 PT
fight_4_freedom
This is a very exciting time. I am hoping Michigan wins and I really think you will. I haven't felt this much of something good about politics really since I was a teenager and JFK. Then MLK and RK were killed too and that was the end of my caring about our country really. I turned it all off until Obama. You are seeing what many of us look back on with hope and disappointment that it was taken away from us. You will never forget this time and you will tell your children and grand children all about it someday like we tell you.
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Comment #16 posted by fight_4_freedom on October 23, 2008 at 18:04:10 PT
Isn't this an exciting time to be alive :)
I currently have this uplifting, political high that I cannot seem to come down from. Seeing everyone so passionate about the world around them and the issues that surround them is just amazing. I have never in my life seen so many yard signs out around election time. It seems like this is all bringing so much life back into the community. I have two different proposal 1 shirts that I have and will be wearing everyday, from now until election day. I am having lots of discussions about our issue. Nearly everywhere I go someone asks me either what proposal 1 is, or what it will actually do if it passes. And I love it. There is nothing better than speaking out about issues that you are passionate about. And like you said FoM, little things amount to a lot if we all do them. I'm happy to hear you had fun speaking out for Obama and this site. It sounds like you are having just as much fun as I am with this election.12 days to go!Vote YES on PROPOSAL 1 http://www.stoparrestingpatients.orgOBAMA in 08*
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Comment #15 posted by FoM on October 23, 2008 at 17:58:20 PT
The GCW
Thank you so much. I hope so too. Here's a funny political video I found. It made me smile.Ron Howard's Call To Action Ron Howard wants to talk about the election. So does Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler. http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cc65ed650d
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Comment #14 posted by The GCW on October 23, 2008 at 17:48:10 PT
Aunt FoM, -about comment #6
"I think I made an impression on my nephew"I remember an outspoken / activist family member as a child that spoke up against the grain and it opened My eyes and mind to the concept that there were different perspectives than the otherwise majority narrow ultraconservative -often oppressive- view point.I had teachers that sometimes did the same ...Often times, the ignoid doesn't want people to hear the alternative veiwpoint. (speaking up can make them squirm funny and I really like that)Exposing Your nephew to other thinking processes may be a part of His life that He's likely to remember as an adult.And it may open the door to thinking for Himself.And help make change.For Me, I thank My Aunt Alice.For Him, He may thank His Aunt FoM.
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Comment #13 posted by FoM on October 23, 2008 at 16:55:01 PT
museman
I think we are voting tomorrow. If our friend can't go we will wait until she can. I have a copy of our ballot so she will be able to read it and become familiar with it. I hope Obama's visit with his Grandmother is all he and she want it to be. I hope she lives long enough to see him win.
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Comment #12 posted by museman on October 23, 2008 at 16:39:24 PT
FoM 9&11
There was an old Rainbow/Grateful Dead 'saying' that was similar;"Onward through the fog!"Obamas shoes. What a concept. Says a lot about the man. Kind of like noticing dirt under the fingernails. Some people (the pretentious) would look down and judge such a thing as a sign of inferiority, making an assumption like the one that assumes all poor people are either stupid or lazy. Then there is the perspective that realizes the obvious; that dirty, calloused hands, and/or worn shoes is a sign of ones efforts and dedication.I am as impressed with Obama as I could possibly be. I am impatient to make my little mark on that ballot. The anticipation is a little like I used to anticipate christmas before the Santa bubble was burst. I'm not believing in fairies though, I'm daring to believe in people again.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on October 23, 2008 at 16:18:25 PT
museman
With all the hoopla about Palin's $150,000 clothes look at a pair of Obama's shoes! I had shoes like that before.http://micheleroohani.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/obamas-tattered-soles.jpg
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Comment #10 posted by FoM on October 23, 2008 at 15:56:24 PT
LaGuardia
It's good to see you.
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Comment #9 posted by FoM on October 23, 2008 at 15:53:40 PT
museman
Thank you. I'm like Neil Young. I find it hard to look backwards. Always forward but never straight. Do you remember that one? LOL!
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Comment #8 posted by museman on October 23, 2008 at 15:50:59 PT
FoM- let me paraphrase
"Little things amount to a lot if we all do them."Just so it might fit better on a bumper sticker, cuz it oughta be! On a bumper sticker.You should go back through all of your posts FoM, and select all of those simplified profundities you have written, compile them as a book of quotations;"The Amazing Sayings of FoM" or something.I'm serious!A lot of 'little things' that amount to a lot.FREE DAGGA FOR EVERYONE
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Comment #7 posted by LaGuardia on October 23, 2008 at 15:25:19 PT
BPD
Poor BPD; retired officers disagree with the party line with respect to "earning overtime" (a/k/a "making marijuana arrests and appearing in court"), booh hooh. This is almost as funny as when the Dead Kennedys used a photo of a Philadelphia police officer--who was pretending to be dead--as an album cover. The officer and the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police sued, and lost!
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Comment #6 posted by FoM on October 23, 2008 at 15:20:01 PT
museman
We went to a family gathering a few days ago. On the way up we drove thru the country. I decided to count Obama and McCain signs. All the way I saw way more Obama signs then McCain and then we hit the town where the gathering was. All I saw were McCain signs. I don't talk politics to my family since most of them are Republicans. We were out on the back porch cooking hamburgers and a nice young man with shoulder length hair and a clip board and Obama pin appeared at the bottom of the steps. I lost it. I smiled and grinned and said I love Obama. He smiled and my one nephew who is very quiet looked at me a little stunned but he was smiling. I went on and on and even mention this web site and I didn't care. I just didn't care. I think I made an impression on my nephew. Our one friend is voting for the first time because of how we have been following Obama. Little things amount to a lot if we all do the little things.
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Comment #5 posted by museman on October 23, 2008 at 15:09:06 PT
FoM
We really are in agreement.What Obama realisticly represents for us is opportunity, not guarantee. If we don't apply ourselves to the opportunity it will have been wasted -that is my concern.
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on October 23, 2008 at 14:49:34 PT
museman
My thing about Obama is when he talks about an issue I understand what he means. When Obama becomes our next President what will that really mean to me? It will mean a door that has been closed for a long time might open. I see a chance that reason will be important again. Obama is an open book so we should become open books too if we want to be a part of any positive future we might be so lucky to have.
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Comment #3 posted by museman on October 23, 2008 at 13:39:24 PT
FoM
Obama just continues to raise hope and possibility in something other than 'politics as usual.'I hope to be able to change my observational perspectives on the almost entirely corrupted arena of politics.What if politicians actually had to represent their constituents instead of the elite, wealthy, corporate interests they selectively represent now? Only if the people continue to put the pressure on the failures -without compromising with what is KNOWN to be right, or ethically correct. If people take the oportunity that is being granted us throught the election of Obama -who actually might truly represent the beginnings of real change, to govern ourselves as the US Constitution was intended to guide us towards, through any kind of action we can come up with -including protests, initiatives, and people running for office instead of carreer politicians and the 'lawyers only' club.If intelligent people realize that GW was one of the biggest wake up calls we will ever get, and steel themselves to NEVER GO THERE AGAIN, and act to replace the failed systems with systems that actually work, starting with an economy based in local supply and demand, instead of corporate outsourcing, and 'investment capital' institutionalization of the common features of life on earth, then Obama represents real change.If people believe that just electing Obama in itself is going to amount to anything except the early greying of a good man, then they might as well vote for McCain.All presidents look for the so called 'mandate of the people' when they get elected. The status quo has successfully re-defined the meaning to be a direct relationship to getting a 'majority' of the vote. Obviously this is BS, because the 'majority' hasn't elected many presidents. That 'mandate' however could be real in the case of Obama IF the people work as hard at the tasks of governing as Obama claims he himself will.Obama cannot break the status quo all by himself, even with a 'democratic majority' because the 'hand-in-pocket' relationship between the rich power elite , and their puppet politicians is just too well established.The election of Obama is just the opening door. If we don't keep up the same kind of impetus that has built up to 'GET RID OF BUSH' to fix our broken country, Obama will be our last chance at survival of the world as we know it. As it is we can no longer be the same kind of consumer society that we have been for the past 60 years, there's just not enough to go around and still allow those few undeserving rich to have most of it.I am definitely hopeful. Obama is almost too good to be true. Almost. But I give him more than just a benefit of a doubt at this point. But I cannot stress enough of the FACT that WE should not expect our representatives to be able to do more than we ourselves can do.The purpose of the United States Federal Government is to 'provide for the safety and promote the well being, and welfare of the people of the United States of America.' I think they have gotten their priorities very confused and mixed up. Only the people can fix that situation, and not just by voting, particularly when the 'choices' are just degrees of corruption, band-aid solutions, with no real attempts to get to the root and bottom line of the problems."Personal responsibillity." Should be an active term in the coming decades.FREE GREEN FOR EVERYONE
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on October 23, 2008 at 12:50:32 PT
Does Obama Oppose Mandatory Prison Sentences
Fact Check: Does Obama Oppose Mandatory Prison Sentences for Violent Criminals and Drug Dealers?October 23, 2008The StatementIn a new automated telephone call being sent out by the Republican National Committee in battleground states, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican and former presidential candidate, says, "I'm calling for John McCain and the Republican National Committee, because you need to know that Barack Obama opposes mandatory prison sentences for sex offenders, drug dealers, and murderers. It's true, I read Obama's words myself."Get the facts!The FactsDuring a debate as a senatorial candidate in October 2003, Obama was asked whether he'd vote to abolish mandatory-minimum sentences. "I would vote to abolish mandatory minimum sentences," he said. "One of the things that I've done in the state Senate has been to try to reform the capital justice system …, trying to make sure that our criminal justice system is in fact just. … (W)e need to do the same thing at the federal level; the mandatory minimums take too much discretion away from judges." Obama did not specifically mention sex offenders, drug dealers and murderers.Speaking at Howard University in Washington, D.C., almost four years later, on September 28, 2007, Obama gave a more detailed answer to a similar question. "I think it's time we also took a hard look at the wisdom of locking up some first-time, non-violent drug users for decades. Someone once said that '…long minimum sentences for first-time users may not be the best way to occupy jail space and-or heal people from their disease.' That someone was George W. Bush — six years ago. I don't say this very often, but I agree with the president. The difference is, he hasn't done anything about it." Obama said that, as president, he'd work to "reduce the blind and counterproductive warehousing of nonviolent offenders."Complete Article: http://drugsense.org/url/gKFzN8oF
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Comment #1 posted by museman on October 23, 2008 at 12:30:04 PT
????
“It’s an unfair tactic to try and confuse voters."What?Ha-ha-haaaaaaa. Har har. LoL!All government officials must go to a secret "Hypocritic University" or something. What the hell is politics except one grand expensive attempt to confuse the voters?FREE JOINTS FOR EVERYONE
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