Monday, April 7, 2008

Truthiness would be an improvement For those who have followed the Cobert Report, you know that Stephen Colbert uses a special kind of humor to skewer his opponents. He pretends to agree with points of view he opposes in order to show how absurd or illogical they are. So when he did a piece on "the drug lobby - the fighting stoners!" (complete with an interview with Ethan Nadelmann) he was constantly showing the absurdity of the pro-drug war position, while seeming to ridicule Nadelmann. Colbert: "The war on drugs: a great war, or the GREATEST war?"[...] Colbert: "We've got hundreds of thousands of people in jail right now, because of the war on drugs." Nadelmann: "That's right." Colbert: "So you admit the war on drugs is working." [...] Colbert: "On the day when you think you might win your little battle of freeing all these criminals from jail, please just give me like a two week warning so I can build a panic room in my house for when your drug addled zombies take to the streets ruling the night and feasting on human flesh." You get the idea. So I was dumbfounded when I discovered that the Drug Czar's "blog" was linking to that Colbert segment. Not much is funny about drug abuse, but Stephen Colbert takes a shot: The Drug Czar: Developing a sense of humor, or completely clueless? 11:36:54 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

They write letters I got this today from Senator Obama: Dear Peter: Thank you for contacting me about your concerns with the excessive use of force by law enforcement officers. I appreciate hearing from you. I am troubled by accounts of unnecessary force used on innocent people, especially when it results in tragedy as in the case of Kathryn Johnston, the 92-year old Atlanta woman killed by Atlanta police in a "no knock" raid. I also agree we need to ensure that our nation's law enforcement officers are trained to prevent unnecessary use of force and violence. Our law enforcement plays an important role in keeping our communities safe, and most of our men and women serve their communities with great care and pride. But we must ensure that our policies do not create an atmosphere where police tactics place innocent people at risk. Again, thank you for writing. If any vote comes before me in the Senate that can help address the unnecessary use of force, I will keep your views in mind. Sincerely, Barack Obama United States Senator Very nicely said. Note: I received this letter because I'm a resident of Illinois and have written to my Senators. If others have received similar letters from their Senators (including others who are candidates for President, feel free to let me know). 6:11:34 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []