Barack On Pot

According to the Huffington Post and numerous other sources, Barack Obama is for decriminalizing pot. Somehow this has slipped under my radar, a presidential candidate takes a stand against the drug war. I can't imagine it. If Barack Obama has the courage to speak forcefully on this issue, I might have to vote for him, at least in the primary. I'm going to have to hear the words come from his mouth. It sounds like political suicide. I can see the big guns lining up right now and the right wing punditsphere taking aim, which is stupid. This is not a right wing / left wing issue. Its a common sense issue.




How many more billions of dollars are we going to waste? How much more manpower are we going to waste? How many more lives are we going to ruin and how much more crime are we going to create? I don't envision John McCain or Mitt Romney stepping out on that ledge. Mike Huckabee might just be looney enought to try it and sincere enough to speak the truth to the evangelicals. Christianity is a religion of compassion, regardless of the shortcomings of it's believers and if you talk to some of the less doctrinaire, less ideological Christians (yes, they are out there) you will find some pragmatic, thoughtful people. Too bad politicians pander to their base and let the tail wag the dog. A leader is willing to speak truth and even perhaps lead.




Voters have a responsibility too. Voting for someone "who looks like me" is the saddest exuse I can think of. We should demand the truth from ourselves and our politicians, otherwise we get what we deserve. To help, contact the Drug Policy Alliance. If we are serious about rescuing our cities, hell the country, of crime and drug abuse we need to be serious about ending the war on drugs which has done far more harm than the war in Iraq.