Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Warning: Strong language advisory. The above video breaches all Ricochet's potty-mouth codes. But.....
It makes a good point very well. Here Penn Jillette calls President Obama on his outrageous hypocrisy, on his arrogance, on the counterproductivity of his political policies and the way he has trampled all over States' rights. So far you'll all agree with the great magician and exposer of snake-oil salesmanship. Where your opinions will diverge violently however - I know because we've been here many times before - is that the issue he's talking about is drugs.
Jillette thinks Obama's drug policies are outrageously extreme from a man who, himself, has freely admitted not only to smoking marijuana but dabbling with harder drugs in his youth.
President Obama mentioned that he had smoked "weed" and done "maybe a little blow" in his 1995 book "Dreams from my Father."
Here's the key passage (expletives deleted)
What troubles me about this... I think it's beyond hypocrisy. I think it's something to do with class. A lot of people have accused Obama of class warfare, but in the wrong direction. I believe this is Obama chortling with Jimmy Fallon about lower class people. Do we believe, even for a second, that if Obama had been busted for marijuana -- under the laws that he condones -- would his life have been better? If Obama had been caught with the marijuana that he says he uses, and 'maybe a little blow'... if he had been busted under his laws, he would have done hard [expletive] time. And if he had done time in prison, time in federal prison, time for his 'weed' and 'a little blow,' he would not be President of the United States of America. He would not have gone to his fancy-[expletive] college, he would not have sold books that sold millions and millions of copies and made millions and millions of dollars, he would not have a beautiful, smart wife, he would not have a great job. He would have been in [expletive] prison, and it's not a god damn joke. People who smoke marijuana must be set free. It is insane to lock people up.
Seems to me Jillette has hit the nail on the head. What say you, Ricochet?
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Comments:
May '12
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
I don't think there are really very many people doing "hard ****ing time" for smoking marijuana. The people who get rolled up for felony possession charges and who spend time in prison are dealers and people who have been busted for having large amounts of pot repeatedly. Let's not exaggerate the manner in which our drug laws are enforced.
Sep '10
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Heard this on his podcast Penn's Sunday School a week ago and thought of posting it here then. Funny how long some things take to see the light of day. Drudge picked it up yesterday and today it's here.
I have had this same revulsion when Obama or other politicians joke about dope and have it both ways. They do nothing about the laws when in DC and when in Hollywood they get funky. Ha ha!
Sep '11
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
I listened to the video clip earlier today. Two items jump out at me:
First is the skepticism (okay, outright laughter) at Obama's use of the phrase "maybe a little 'blow'." Which, Jillette and his sidekick observe, is patent nonsense. "Maybe a little blow" means "I regularly used cocaine at least once a week."
Second--and what I found really striking, is Jillette's adamant insistence that "one out of six convicts in prison is there for marijuana...."
I'll play the cynic and ask, "marijuana what?" Marijuana growing? Marijuana dealing? Marijuana import/export?
I'll also admit that Jillette's point about this being a question of class elitism by Obama (how Jimmy Fallon plays into this I don't understand) worries me as well. If we're locking up poor black men for marijuana possession, but letting well-to-do suburban kids "get treatment" so they don't end up with an arrest record, that's...wrong. Not just wrong--evil.
Jun '10
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Prisons that are releasing thousands due to overcrowding include some violent felons. Does that mean they've released all the "simple possession" people? Or do other criteria pertain?
(Penn's rant is also instructive on What Not To Do if you have unregulated high blood pressure.)
Sep '10
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
People who think there aren't real consequenses for regular people who are caught with small amounts of marijuana aren't living in the real world.
Penn is exactly right. Had Obama been caught with cocaine or "blow" as he calls it, he would have had a criminal record and would have had difficulty getting into the schools he applied to and his life would have taken a different course.
There are people who can't get jobs because they have a "criminal" record. They were caught with weed.
And to a large extent, kids who go to Universities and smoke weed or do lines of coke are not going to get busted at the same rate the kids in the ghetto who do the same. The richer kids who do get busted can afford to hire a good lawyer and get it off their record or otherwise mitigate the charges.
May '10
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
The War on Drugs sounds like a great idea as long as it's LaShawn, Yolanda, Jesus, Maria or some meth-addled white trash doing time. But when it's Ashley and Jordan making interesting new friends in Dwight and Stateville (infamous Illinois prisons) it's a different story for the soccer moms and dads.
Jul '11
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Perfect rant and I happen to agree even though I don't want my kids using the stuff.
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Beautifully put.
Sep '10
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Franco: People who think there aren't real consequenses for regular people who are caught with small amounts of marijuana aren't living in the real world.
Penn is exactly right. Had Obama been caught with cocaine or "blow" as he calls it, he would have had a criminal record and would have had difficulty getting into the schools he applied to and his life would have taken a different course.
There are people who can't get jobs because they have a "criminal" record. They were caught with weed.
This is not my experience at all.
I have several friends that were arrested for pot in high school. It was a big deal to all of us at the time, but turned out to be a big fat nothing. No high priced lawyers involved.
Some of my friends were even arrested at a concert with psychadelic mushrooms. Ended up spending two weeks in a county jail later that summer. All of them were accepted, and graduted from, major universities. One even went to an Ivy.
Maybe I didn't grow up in the real world.
May '12
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
The truth is, if we did start seeing more middle class and upper class kids and young adults receiving serious punishment, you would see a lot less drug use. The fact that the vast, vast, vast majority of people who smoke dope don't experience any real penalty is exactly why it's use is growing, even as use of harder drugs is declining. Law enforcement goes after harder drugs with much more determination, use of those drugs has gone down. Law enforcement doesn't really enforce penalties against pot users except dealers and people who possess large amounts, use of pot has steadily grown. Interesting how that works, isn't it?
Sep '10
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Mark,
You are proving my point. The laws are enforced differently in different locales and with differently with different people. And if you don't think spending two weeks in a county jail is anything, try it sometime.
And if you and Cylon and any others believe that there are no consequenses to being caught with small amounts of marijuana - no not in Ann Arbor Michigan but somewhere in Georgia or Texas (not Austin) then I invite you to do a little experiment and drive around with a few joints in your car and see what happens when a cop asks if he can search your car.
Sep '10
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
This is not true. Law enforcement doesn't (really) enforce laws against pot users? Total nonsense.
Police are free to enforce any laws they wish to enforce, like this one. Now if they had found a joint in his car, do you think this guy wouldn't have to fight against "child endangerment" charge?
Edited on May 22, 2012 at 6:13pmMay '12
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Franco, no one is saying that there are no arrests for pot made. The point is that the penalties tend to be fairly light, unless you are a dealer or producer of large amounts and/or get caught repeatedly. And compared to other drugs, tolerance for pot use by law enforcement is very high. (not pun intended)
Edited on May 22, 2012 at 6:12pmSep '10
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
What Penn is saying here - and don't forget we are talking about cocaine here too - is that Obama's casual "hip" attitude, reflecting modern understandings that pot (and cocaine) aren't really harmful, and that everyone does it (wink, wink) is not in keeping with how most localities use the drug laws to justify all manner of over-the-top activity. I hope you click on the link and just consider what would have happened to that guy (and his children) if he had had a joint in his car considering he got a ticket for not having his insurance documents (they were in the car) and he didn't apply the emergency brake, along with the threat that, had the child actually fallen, he would be charged with child endangerment.
Sep '10
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Franco: Mark,
You are proving my point. The laws are enforced differently in different locales
This is a feature, not a bug. I favor full blown states rights for the less hard core drugs. Why should California and Utah have the same policy towards pot when the culture of the majority of citizens is not the same?
If the policy in Texas and Georgia bothers you, stay away from Texas and Georgia.
My experience is that in the city of Milwaukee, where those possesing pot are likely to be black, the police are less likely to pursue mere possesion. They have better things to do. In the suburbs, where those possesing are likely to be white, the cops push all limits of reasonable searching practices and charge fully.
I didn't say this, nor imply it. I said the jail time didn't prevent them from achieving career goals, including college degrees.
Nov '11
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Without commenting on the drug war further (once per week is enough for me) I will say that I agree with Penn: if your attitude towards drug use is a wink and a nod then having law enforcement officers raid the homes of head shop owners is hypocritical.
I would argue that the law is not concerned with hypocracy but in Obama's context we've already seen with DOMA that he doesn't care much for enforcing the law of the land so much as the laws he prefers. And that is why his enforcing drug laws in the face of this attitude is so glaring.
Sep '10
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Mark,
So you are saying, in effect, that because you know a few people (in certain localities) that no one, or an insignificant proportion of people (whatever that is to you) have their lives affected by having been arrested for pot? Is that correct? If so, I can say flatly you are wrong.
So my point remains. Peoples' lives are adversely, and sometimes radically, affected whether they have to do hard time or not.
On the second point - differently with different people - you bring up something that supports my point, only in the other direction (is that better to you?) To me this is the same.
One the third point...It sure seems like you are dismissing two weeks in jail as no big deal, and I recognize it is in the context of how it affected their lives long-term, but bad things can happen in jail, I'm glad your friends avoided these things.
But this all brings us to the other side of this debate. Drugs are either a scourge or they aren't. How many people who have smoked pot or done mushrooms become upstanding productive citizens - even Presidents? Therein lies the dichotomy and the fallacy.
Sep '10
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Feel free to comment on my post on Biden on the Member Feed.
Edited on May 22, 2012 at 6:41pmSep '10
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Mark Belling Fan
Franco: Mark,
You are proving my point. The laws are enforced differently in different locales
If the policy in Texas and Georgia bothers you, stay away from Texas and Georgia.
I said locales - I'm not talking about States. However even if I was talking about states, it bothers me when people resort to this argument. As though I, or anyone, can punish Georgia or Texas by witholding my presence. Since that notion is ineffectual and preposterous, I'm supposed to forgo work in those states (I do work in Texas) or avoid them whilst making plane connections or choosing interstate routes on my way from NJ to Florida, where I also work. This is my country as much as anyone's and we have a right to challenge laws and the ideas and beliefs that stand behind those laws. That's all I'm doing. So saying, why don't you just stay in your own little village is not a valid argument.
Jun '10
Re: Obama's Drugs Hypocrisy
Prison is where convicted felons go to earn their MBA's in crime. When you throw a bunch of drug dealers together in the same place, you create an instant network for more criminal activity. Incarceration only increases the opportunity for more of the same.