Sunday, July 22, 2007

Hastert to leave? It was a good day when Dennis Hastert was no longer the Speaker of the House. Now, Think Progress reports... According to the Politico, columnist Robert Novak will report this weekend: Former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert has indicated to a close former aide that it is likely he will not run for a 12th term from his northern Illinois district and may even resign from Congress before his present term concludes. I have no love for Hastert, and would be thrilled to see him leave power entirely. The question is why he would leave before his term is up (if the rumor is true). Could it have anything to do with his alleged connection with the Turkish drug mafia? 10:03:18 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Odds and Ends and Open Thread An interesting feature in the New York Tmes: The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement- Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul Chicago Tribune article about the drug war and racism: Drug war enforcement hits minorities hardest "There was a thought back in the 1980s that it was better to be tough on crime than to be said not to be tough on crime; that if you just lock these people away that somehow that's going to solve everything," Evans said. "Hasn't worked. And I believe now the pendulum is swinging away from lock 'em up and throw away the key back toward trying to find a rational way of solving this problem." Nonsensical drug war article from Reuters. This fails even rudimentary journalistic standards. I'm not even sure what it's about. But they did get a chance to highlight this quote: Drug traffickers, said Donovan, are "the epitome of evil." Here's another really stupid editorial from Danny Zahara of the Central Peace Signal (whatever that is) in Alberta A couple of good articles from Montana (thanks, Tom) Meth Project founder critical of 'crazy' drug policy Rehberg praised for medical pot Ninth cabinet minister admits smoking dope Should be a non-story, if it wasn't for the overall blatant hypocrisy of politicians wanting to lock everybody else up that does what they did. Good article at Grits for Breakfast: If you don't have probable cause just fabricate it, say drug enforcers and some TX prosecutors. It's scary the degree to which conventional thinking says anything law enforcement does is justified if it's part of the drug war. Councilman Michael Polensak (Cleveland) has a little too much time on his hands. He actually wrote a letter (on City of Cleveland official stationary) berating an alleged drug dealer who had been arrested, including these gems: Mr. Winston, you have to be "dumber than mud." [...] In closing, I told you just recently to stay out of my neighborhood, you crack dealing piece of trash. [...] Go to jail or the cemetery soon,... LA City Beat reminds people about the History of Federal Confusion and Persecution Over the 'Evil Weed' 3:28:42 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []