Hey I haven't done this in awhile now!
I haven't commented on current events in awhile, mostly because I've been too busy to give a lot of thought to it (although I believe the Republican's threat to remove the filibuster an attempt to remove one of the great checks and balances our founding fathers envisioned, and even the threat of its removal absolutely reprehensible, and the vast majority of Americans seem to agree with me), or there hasn't been much to comment on (the media has been pontificating enough about the Michael Jackson trial, thank you).
No, this is about the today's Supreme Court ruling that Federal authorities can prosecute users of medicinal marijuana. I might surprise you on this one: I actually agree with their ruling.
Why? Because simply put, federal law supercedes state law. It's not an ideological agreement. I think that doctors should decide what's best for their patients, not federal law. But it highlights the fact that I think states should have the power to control their own destiny.
One thing I've come to believe is that there has been this huge "sea change" (sorry for the buzz word, but it's true) in politics. Republicans used to be the party of small government. The states should have the power to control their own destiny, fiscal conservatism (repeat after me: "Borrow and spend Republicans"), and many others.
However, now Republicans have become the government that decides for me so many details about my life, including how I'm born, how I die, and now--thanks to the recent Energy bill that extends daylight savings time--even what time I wake up in the morning.
Unless of course, you're a corporation, and then you should be able to do whatever damn thing you want.
[Sidebar: Not that I believe that all corporate regulations are good. For example, I've seen Sarbanes-Oxley turn perfectly honest and good corporations divert huge resources from creating shareholder value into compliance machines. Penalize like hell those who abuse the system and leave the good guys alone, I say. I can't complain too loudly though. It's created a huge job security for me!]
But I digress.
So it's my belief that the feds shouldn't legalize medicinal marijuana. Rather, I believe that the feds should allow states to choose whether or not to legalize medicinal marijuana. This is a point I'll emphasize again and again.
This is no longer the Republican party platform. I really believe the Democrats need to reign in this former-Republican stance, because it's what Democrats believe, although more piecemeal. An official takeover of it will be a huge symbolic and classic measure that almost everyone can agree with: Let Texas be Texas, and let California be California.
And among the people, it's something widely believed. Medicinal marijuana is legal (at a state level) in many "Red" states, such as Alaska and Montana. It's just not believed among Republican leadership.
The political reprocussions are huge. There's a classic line that if you try and please everyone all the time, you'll end up pleasing no one. That is exactly what both parties have tried to do. In their pursuit, Bush won with 51 percent of the vote, Kerry 49. Neither could get more than a slight majority.
However, Kerry actually started on the idea, but never simplified it down to a few simple statements (a fault he was regularly attributed for). With that, you can say, what's your position on gay marriage? Like Cheney said in 2000, that is up to the individual states. Medicinal marijuana? Up to individual states. Death with dignity? Up to individual states. So you have no position? No, I just believe that divisive policies like this are too difficult and dividing to have one blanket policy on, and should be decided by the individual states as they are culturally and legally ready to do so.
Because it's issues like these that Republicans have used to divide this country. I believe that Democrats can take this opportunity to say, you know, I don't necessarily always agree, but I'm okay with the fact that's it's okay to disagree. It's what makes this country great, and it's not something I want to shove down your throat whether you like it or not.
And that's a party platform everyone can agree with.
No, this is about the today's Supreme Court ruling that Federal authorities can prosecute users of medicinal marijuana. I might surprise you on this one: I actually agree with their ruling.
Why? Because simply put, federal law supercedes state law. It's not an ideological agreement. I think that doctors should decide what's best for their patients, not federal law. But it highlights the fact that I think states should have the power to control their own destiny.
One thing I've come to believe is that there has been this huge "sea change" (sorry for the buzz word, but it's true) in politics. Republicans used to be the party of small government. The states should have the power to control their own destiny, fiscal conservatism (repeat after me: "Borrow and spend Republicans"), and many others.
However, now Republicans have become the government that decides for me so many details about my life, including how I'm born, how I die, and now--thanks to the recent Energy bill that extends daylight savings time--even what time I wake up in the morning.
Unless of course, you're a corporation, and then you should be able to do whatever damn thing you want.
[Sidebar: Not that I believe that all corporate regulations are good. For example, I've seen Sarbanes-Oxley turn perfectly honest and good corporations divert huge resources from creating shareholder value into compliance machines. Penalize like hell those who abuse the system and leave the good guys alone, I say. I can't complain too loudly though. It's created a huge job security for me!]
But I digress.
So it's my belief that the feds shouldn't legalize medicinal marijuana. Rather, I believe that the feds should allow states to choose whether or not to legalize medicinal marijuana. This is a point I'll emphasize again and again.
This is no longer the Republican party platform. I really believe the Democrats need to reign in this former-Republican stance, because it's what Democrats believe, although more piecemeal. An official takeover of it will be a huge symbolic and classic measure that almost everyone can agree with: Let Texas be Texas, and let California be California.
And among the people, it's something widely believed. Medicinal marijuana is legal (at a state level) in many "Red" states, such as Alaska and Montana. It's just not believed among Republican leadership.
The political reprocussions are huge. There's a classic line that if you try and please everyone all the time, you'll end up pleasing no one. That is exactly what both parties have tried to do. In their pursuit, Bush won with 51 percent of the vote, Kerry 49. Neither could get more than a slight majority.
However, Kerry actually started on the idea, but never simplified it down to a few simple statements (a fault he was regularly attributed for). With that, you can say, what's your position on gay marriage? Like Cheney said in 2000, that is up to the individual states. Medicinal marijuana? Up to individual states. Death with dignity? Up to individual states. So you have no position? No, I just believe that divisive policies like this are too difficult and dividing to have one blanket policy on, and should be decided by the individual states as they are culturally and legally ready to do so.
Because it's issues like these that Republicans have used to divide this country. I believe that Democrats can take this opportunity to say, you know, I don't necessarily always agree, but I'm okay with the fact that's it's okay to disagree. It's what makes this country great, and it's not something I want to shove down your throat whether you like it or not.
And that's a party platform everyone can agree with.
posted by Joe Carlin at 9:33 PM
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