Saturday, February 24, 2007

Daigling the SSDP table at the NH Liberty Forum

We're here at the Liberty Forum in New Hampshire.

When I arrived, the SSDP table was barren. So:





....I'll have some more pictures in a little while.

Rob Kampia just arrived; we're expecting Jack Cole any minute.

Check out my blog for more info about this conference.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Souder Gets Burnt.

Congressman Mark Souder of Indiana, the man behind the HEA Aid Elimination Penalty made a fool of himself on Tucker Carlson's show.

Attempting to defend the ONDCP's failed anti-marijuana propaganda ads, Tucker Carlson catches the congressman in a lie. Souder adds some extra stink to his usual bullshit with this:

"Furthermore, the THC content of BC Bud, Quebec Gold and this marijuana that's currently on the streets isn't like the Cheech and Chong marijuana. It's more like cocaine."

Once Souder says marijuana is like cocaine, Carlson is on his ass like white on, well... cocaine:
Carlson:
... and how many people died from marijuana overdoses last year?

Souder: Uh, if you count the, uh, uh, amount of crime associated with marijuana...

Carlson: No, no, just marijuana overdoses. Just the drug itself, which you said is like cocaine now. How many people died from it?

Souder: Uh, I don't, I don't, uh. 65 percent of emergency room admissions for drug abuse are marijuana.

Carlson: Huh. OK. But did anyone die that you know of?

Souder: Uh, presumably so, thousands have died, the only question is, you said "overdose" --that isn't even most of the deaths related to prescription drug or to cocaine or heroin -- there's a whole range of drug crimes and so on. I don't know the number of overdose. Marijuana is often managed ah, with meth -- no drug user is a single drug user so marijuana is often in the mix of most deaths so it would be very hard to separate what's what. A marijuana user is very seldom just a casual marijuana user, ah, except in the early stages, they're often gonna polydrug.

Carlson: Yeah. OK. I'm not endorsing drugs, but I know a lot of casual marijuana users, so, that's wrong.

Souder even points to the fact that it is the crime associated with marijuana that causes deaths. That crime is in fact associated with pot prohibition. A plant cannot commit crimes.

Mr. Souder, what a poor argument you have put up for marijuana prohibition. It was down right pathetic. Your lying makes drug use even more dangerous to teens. Teens know marijuana is not going to kill them. When you lie and say marijuana today is more like cocaine compared to the marijuana you smoked in college, do you seriously think that will be a deterrent to drug use?
Your misinformation is a gateway drug. Grow up Congressman. Your not half as mature as the thousands of young students that won't be returning to school next year because of you.

A one minute reminder...

...that sanity still exists in some small parts of this increasingly mad and dangerous world.



What's important to note about this video isn't what you see - it's what you don't see. You don't see well-armed paramilitaries raiding the shop and bringing these peaceful people to jail. You don't see well-armed drug dealers shooting it out with other well-armed drug dealers in order to protect their obscenely large illicit profits. And you don't see anyone giving a damn about how this gentleman chooses to spend his pocket change on a sunny afternoon.

What you do see is a man walking into a store with a processed piece of plant matter stamped with government-issued ink and walking out with another piece of plant matter stamped with government-issued stigma. How advanced of a civilization can we be if we still treat this simple, innocuous act the same way we treat those who rape and murder?

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to replay this video and dance a little bit to "Dancing in the Moonlight."