You’d Have To Be Stoned To Vote Democrat
Aug 25, 2014 Opinion, Political
Paul Bedard writes an article for the Washington Examiner where he indicates that if Democrats want to retain control of the Senate or limit losses the party should push marijuana legalization initiatives in November.
The reasoning is that if these initiatives are on the ballots the young (read pot smoking) Democrat voters will be compelled to vote and while they are voting for marijuana they will also vote for Democrats on the ballot.
This is probably true. The young want marijuana legalized and they would turn out to vote if it were on the ballot (assuming they were not too high to remember to vote) but can Democrats get these initiatives on the ballots by November?
And more importantly wouldn’t they, as Bedard points out, be more likely to hold off until 2016 to help keep a Democrat in the White House and pick up Democrat seats in Congress?
I am not a marijuana user, never have been and do not intend to start now. I think it could be legal and taxed and that it is probably no more dangerous than alcohol (and no, please do not tell me it is safer because it is not) but we need a lot of things in place. How do you determine driving under the influence of marijuana (other than people driving at 4 miles an hour)? THC (the active component in marijuana) is fat soluble and stays in the body long after the intoxicating effects have subsided. This is particularly true for habitual users.
How will law enforcement be able to determine if one is high or not when THC levels are present? This is important. States that have legalized marijuana have undoubtedly had an increase in use of the drug and that means more people are driving under the influence. They are a danger to others.
But I digress. The issue is should Democrats put marijuana on the ballot to increase Democrat voter turnout (especially among the young)?
Enticing voters with pot kind of signals desperation and would only bolster the impression that politicians will do anything to keep power.
Democrats would love to offer pot as an incentive. They like their voters to be zombies who follow along without question.
And they also know one has to be stoned to vote for a Democrat.
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Hey Harlem, You Had Your Chance
Nov 18, 2010 Political
I am constantly amazed at how dense some people can be. Take for instance, the people of Harlem in New York. Now that Charlie Rangel has been convicted of 11 ethics violations many of the Harlem folks say he should resign (though some, amazingly, still support him).
The news of Rangel’s corruption is not a recent thing. He has been under investigation for over two years and it was obvious to most everyone that he was guilty. How does one explain away using official stationary and postage to mail out fund raising material? That is against the law. Even if all the other allegations were on shaky ground, this one had hard evidence.
Evidently, so did the others as he was found guilty on 11 of 13. One was dismissed and the other was combined with one of the other allegations (so he was guilty on 12 of 13 original charges).
So the question is, why are all these folks from Harlem now calling for Charlie to step down? THEY JUST REELECTED HIM.
The people of Harlem had the chance to get rid of Rangel on their own and they chose to put him back in office.
And herein lies the issue. I am willing to bet that most of the people who voted for Rangel probably had no idea that he was under investigation. They probably just discovered the issue when the news broke that he had been convicted. The people of his district probably just vote for the Democrat they have elected in the past because he brings home the bacon and he must be a great guy.
It is people like these who keep putting career criminal politicians back in office.
So you folks have no real reason to ask him to resign. You just gave him the job again for two more years.
Maybe you can get better educated and start paying attention from now on.
Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: charlie rangel, criminal, election, harlem, resignation, voters