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While President Obama won’t discuss the results of tonight’s brutal election until an afternoon press conference, one part of his Administration already commented on the results of Proposition 19, California’s initiative to legalize marijuana.
Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske issued a two-sentence statement applauding the defeat of Prop 19:
“Today, Californians recognized that legalizing marijuana will not make our citizens healthier, solve California’s budget crisis, or reduce drug related violence in Mexico,” read the statement. “The Obama administration has been clear in its opposition to marijuana legalization because research shows that marijuana use is associated with voluntary treatment admissions for addiction, fatal drugged driving accidents, mental illness and emergency room admissions.”
Aside from none of that being true, it’s clear that the Obama Administration will continue to stand in the way of marijuana legalization efforts in 2012. The drug warriors are dug in, and will keep their $1 trillion war going at all costs.
Don’t forget to catch the video Just Say Now’s petition delivery to Kerlikowske to end the war on marijuana.
76 Comments
Obama has lost so much of my respect.
obama lost my respect before he was elected when he had democrats vote for bush’s bank bail out, right there and then we knew he was a corporatist
then once in office when he refused prosecuting war crimes, that was bad enough but when he doubled down on war crimes himself that’s when I knew he was not only a corporatist but a fascist
the man is a trojan horse and I’ll tell you what, if the republicans know enough to bring articles of impeachment for the correct crimes, they will win my support and tons of other democrats
this guy needs to be humiliated out of running for another term
we need a democrat running not a republican making believe he is a democrat
OUT WITH OBAMA
PS
those “correct crimes” are war crimes, there is clearly no legal support for impeachment under the principles repukes propose
We need marijuana legalization to be on the ballot in every state in 2012. How does that happen? Could an ordinary citizen get it on?
Obama’s slogan in 2012: **** you goddamned commie leftist nazis! Do you like me now moderate america?
Does this moron want ANYONE to vote for him?
Or does he plan on not getting elected so he can cash in on that sweet phrma and wall street paycheck?
I sure hope he plans on not running and the democrats damn well better begin looking for a primary challenger and FAST
this man needs to be embarrassed out of running on a democratic ticket and he needs to be gone
on a side note, I cried when I found out russ would no longer be working for us, I cried again when I found out the same for grayson
we got PUMMELED and I feel like I got kicked in the stomach
This is getting to be so similar to 1968. War on Drugs, War on Third World colored people, War on leftists. Since the Administration has successfully gotten its agenda, they got nothing else to do anyway except hippie bashing. The betting should start whether Obama will emulate LBJ and Barracuda Barbie and quit because things are too hard for him.
One of these days, Republican voters will reward Democrats like Obama for acting like Republicans! Any day now!
http://www.ianwelsh.net/the-primary-obama-movement-begins-today/
The good news is that our country will collapse when the Obama Republicans start a new war, so we should probably start working on a constitution for the sane portion of america…and prepare for the invasion from Dumbf**kistan.
Really?
I saw a couple of guys who should start running for president, today.
Imagine what a ticket that would make. I’d be behind it 100%. Thay can start out as Democrats and primary Obama, and then go Third party and win.
“The Obama administration has been clear in its opposition to marijuana legalization because research shows that marijuana use is associated with voluntary treatment admissions for addiction, fatal drugged driving accidents, mental illness and emergency room admissions.”
Oh. My. God. Are you kidding me? Marijuana use is associated with mental illness? Jesus.
Yup, sounds like something straight out of “Reefer Madness”. Plus ça change.
Stand by once again for a Republican Congress and a Republican White House once again folks. That’s where we’re headed post 2012.
Interesting that this was about the only thing he commented on last night. I guess he didn’t want Ewic to have to work too hard.
I did hear that lots of Mexican and private prison money poured into that. MJ is about the last export from Mexico after we ruined their farmers with NAFTA.
IMO this is the trial run of Citizens Untied, complete with thugs at the polls and voting machines broken, long lines, etc.
Biggest rout since WWII
And rigged from top to bottom.
Oh! there’s the media darling , Palin on TEEVEE. they sure made her what she is today, didn’t they?
The alcohol industry, the tobacco industry and the for profit prison industry has got him in their pockets. AND every one of them will support his Republican opponent in 2012.
The dirt bag Emperor Clarence Thomas Obama is a Fascist pig. I’m surprised he has ANY of your respect.
And forever more…it’s 4th Reich and this time they’ll make it stick and not gas the wrong people.
I fully expect to lose my Medicaid and SSI in the near future, because as Beck sez, We’re BROKE
I’ll also be watching for Comcast’s takeover of the internet
Do you really think they’re opponents?
I prefer the word “Beard” at this point.
that’s what our Democratic GUBernatorial candidate was, IMO….just stage dressing
Sigh. Oh course I don’t. I should have put the word in quotes.
“Beard?”
Mr. President,
The voters who enthusiastically put you in office in 2008 have now said that they are unhappy with your ability to do enough to reform our health care system or to stimulate our economy. Do a better job of fighting for the things you said you believe in, or expect to be out of office come Jan 2013.
You can start by calling for Harry Reid to step down as Senate Majority Leader. Clearly, your base in very unhappy with the job he’s done. If you want us to work for your reelection and to bother voting for you in 2012, you should make sure such failures are moved aside.
Thank you.
Actually, that is where we are NOW! Hence the frustration and sense of utter hopelessness felt among the masses (on both sides by the way)
Welcome to the ANTI-democracy called America. Its a two party system so decide which hurts less because youll never get to vote for a candidate that you really want. In the ANTI-democracy called America you can’t vote FOR anything, only AGAINST IT!
That is why we fail, we think that by toggling back and forth, somehow “change” is gonna shake loose.
It wont!
It’s an old term used for someone who takes a womon to an event because she doesn’t have an escort.
I like it
Yep. We’ve had two years of bills passing in the House to languish in the Senate and now we’ll have two years of bills passing in the House only to languish in the Senate PLUS the added attraction of unending impeachment hearings and subpoenas for birth certificates.
Instead of us “toggling back and forth” between parties, I’ve always pictured it more as the “leaders” walking the populace–left, right, left, right–wherever they want to go.
Looks like it was the wrong state to start in.
The various marijuana and single-payer ballot questions in Massachusetts appear to have won pretty overwhelmingly in reported precincts so far.
Obama is just as bad as Bill Clinton with his narrowcasting to suburban soccer moms. It’s only a matter of time before he spouts off about curfews, school uniforms, and censoring violent video games. And when he does, the dying Democratic Party can forget about getting support from young voters.
for fuck’s sake…
one can only imagine the abysmal state of their electoral prospects two years hence – Lilly Ledbetter and Student Loan Reform aren’t even going to be a faded memory to millions of young people without decent jobs and no hope to get in school
Hamsher, Greenwald, and the Just Say Now campaign gave the Dem Establishment a gift – here, organize and mobilize around Legalization
and they just fuckin’ stand there
Not what the corporations wanted………
oh and btw,
that is just fucking scary
how is that any different than saying Dems will enact Sharia Law ?!?
Being in Michigan, which has gone decidedly Republican/stupid, looking at these little trickles of sanity 800 miles away is small consolation.
You betcha.
Often really promising political leaders who come out in favor of pot, or other progressive issues, are targeted with sophisticated programs to make all their friends and family think they are mentally ill. It happened to me so I can tell you all about it.
I believe the APA is in on this culture war conspiracy, and it has a LOT to do with our government using torture as a political technique and our media, police and medical providers covering it up. But that is just the voice of experience talking, lots of people will tell you I am nuts.
hey Princeton !
bleary eyed as I am, Jane said something late in the week end that had my spidey’s tinglin’ – I believe the Prop 19 Campaign may have been a victim of it’s own success in that they didn’t appear to be ready for what they had wrought on Election Day – eg – their website crashed and it was the JSN folks stepping in to help that got it back up and running
further, there appear to have been some major tactical mistakes late in the campaign. Soros’ million $$$ went to ads instead of GOTV efforts – not something you should do in a close race when 50% of the votes are already in
thinking out loud – I hope JSN will post a post mortem
Prop 19 passes, MJ smokers violate Fed law.
Prop 19 fails, MJ smokers violate Fed AND State law.
What’s the difference?
Hey this one is quite simple, really. Obama’s in the payola of BigPharma, as we all know. And BigPharma doesn’t want maryjane legalized because it’ll take away some of their stupid profits. That’s ALL this is about…. the usual: Obama in the payola of the corporations.
Fucking hypocrites. If MJ prohibition works so goddamn well, BAN ALCOHOL AND TOBACCO AS SCHEDULE I SUBSTANCES!!1! I say again, fucking hypocrites. Go get drunk, you sons of bitches! Me and my phattie will be dancing on your graves!
Drug prohibition helps more than the pharma companies. It also ensures full employment for DEA agents, prison guards, drug counselors, and ad agencies; and provides authoritarians in both parties with an excuse to abridge civil liberties.
They are gassing us all with uranium gas as we speak. Their goal is to make the planet too toxic for life. And at this rate, I doubt we will last more than another two or three generations.
“Cui bono?”
Who benefits from keeping drugs illegal? Well, drug lords do. The people fighting drug lords do.
But take a look at the waves of drugs that have hit the US.
Remember the French Connection? The Guerini Gang in Marseilles were behind that. In the late forties early fifties they worked with the CIA to crush the Communist influence on the docks in Marseilles. During the fifties and early sixties that was the pipeline for heroin into the US.
In the 60s during the Vietnam War there was the CIA’s Air America (the profitable one) that flew weapons into the Indochinese highlands and flew opium, then heroin, out. When Nixon created the DEA he staffed it with people recommended by E. Howard Hunt.
With Iran-contra the CIA’s Southern Air Transport flew weapons into Latin America and cocaine back. On the other end Monzer al-Kassar, who flew weapons to Iran for that off-the-books operation, was also the top heroin smuggler to the US, moving it through the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon to the West. One of his couriers was on Pan Am 103. So were the McKee Team, a group of CIA operatives returning from Beruit to the US.
Clinton was governor of Arkansas when cocaine was dropped into Mena. Less known is that Asa Hutchinson was the federal prosecutor when all this was happening. Dubya named him the head of the DEA.
The Venice, FLA airport where Mo Atta allegedly learned to fly airplanes into buildings has also been the center of a drug smuggling operation. Wally Hilliard, who owned the flight school, also owned a plane that was seized at Orlando International (while Atta was studying flying) with 43 pounds of heroin. No one was prosecuted for that. Think about that for a moment. You own a plane that had 43 pounds of heroin in it AND you trained the ringleader of 9/11. You would think lots of the media would be interested in that story.
But everyone knows not to go there. Even most of us.
Very well said tammany. It’s not 1 simple answer, it’s a convoluted mess which is why it’s so hard for people to see what’s really going on. The overall story is the same though – rich white assholes using their power to ensure they continue to get richer. It’s a disgusting system.
Prop 19 passes, MJ smokers violate Fed law.
Prop 19 fails, MJ smokers renew their doctor’s recommendations.
What’s the difference?
Money.
I was an ED nurse and I can tell you that there were NO marijuana admissions, but plenty of people with alcohol-induced stupidity accidents.
Us nurses used to ask each other why people had such a problem with marijuana, after all the damage we had seen from alcohol.
Yes, there have been some auto accidents and subsequent deaths from smoking pot, but so many more accidents from irresponsible drinkers, not to mention the long-term health effects i.e. liver damage, pancreatitis, dementia. Plus, marijuana is nowhere near as addictive as alcohol. Nowhere near as many ruined lives as alcohol. But for some strange reason most of the public is okay with that.
What I thought was missing was virtually any sign of visual public support. No outdoor quality yard signs, no free bumper stickers, and no mass sale of T shirts were all big errors, IMO. A free bumper sticker mailed to every registered voter in the state as a post card probably would have done it.
I understand the sentiment, and agree. It is unfortunate that if O is impeached, that stigma will carry to any Dem that runs for President in 2012.
That, plus my feeling that O is going to run, with DNC support, regardless of his “damaged goods” factor.
Did he have to? I’m grieving for Russ Feingold and Alan Grayson and he has to dance on my prostrate weeping bod? I’m pissed.
Of course he is going to run, there is no reason for him not to.
But he is leaving the field wide open to being challenged in the primary by a pro-pot Democrat, the Progressive position.
This issue will split the Democratic Party right in half as it separates the delusional Blue dogs from the Progressives quite nicely.
We just have to keep spreading that message, while combating the Reefer Madness propaganda. The Powers That Be are so entrenched, that getting sensible legislation passed is a matter of generations, not election cycles. Too many people have gotten rich from Reefer Madness government. The legalization of marijuana is nothing less than the defeat of those entrenched people and their money.
More confirmation that Barry plans a party cleansing. He spits in the face of Global Aids protesters. Then there’s Gitmo, 40+ sentences for juveniles who probably didn’t shoot back at special forces, plus financial malarkey, more screwing with civil rights etc. Add it all up.
How about a “soak the rich” campaign next?
Prop 19 Reax I
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/11/proposition-19-reactions-to-defeat.html
I think the most useful thing that happened with this campaign is we all learned a lot about the poor quality of our public news sources. For example, the LA Times is most definitely against us.
We have to be better prepared for that next time.
That’s what I see too. But, with unlimited secret corporate money buying the candidates, and O being so obviously bought, corporate money will go into defeating any challenger. More corporate money will go to the repub than to Obama, but any challenger to Obama will get no corporate money at all, and will be constantly attacked from nearly every side.
The challenger will have to win the primary the old-fashioned way, and the chances of winning an old-fashioned campaign against lock-step repubs, uninformed xbox-inured independents, a split Democratic party, and billions of dollars….the chances don’t look good for 2012. I’m thinking 2020 will be the opportunity for progressives, and it saddens me that we may have to wait that long.
O will soak the rich? Not while he’s trying to make a grab at their donations. O is far more likely to soak them in cash, with tax breaks, corporate subsidies, expanded wars on terror/drugs/topic-du-jour, and the like.
O will soak the poor and the middle class, continuing the pattern we’ve seen from him since he took office.
Lose in the primary, but win in the general as a third party. That is a careful dance to do, but is has an actual chance of winning, in other words, it’s the only way.
We have to plan the whole thing out like we really want to win it.
They have ALL the money and most of the media, all we have is people power.
Our position is that we have been the losers for decades, generations even, and it is only getting worse. Now we are trying to fight back and get organized. They are going to get a lot more vicious if they think we are succeeding.
Don’t forget the drug war is intimately tied to racial and religious intolerance, the police state, DADT, our economy crashing (corrupt banking) and all war. Marijuana prohibition is just a small part of it. We are going to have to take on the whole thing with a plan for WINNING if we are actually going to succeed.
I think it is doable but we are going to have to get organized. We should start by developing a think tank to be working on it. We need full time people like the oligarchs have.
Don’t be silly. Did I say or give any indication whatsoever that I was talking about Barry “soaking the rich.” I mean I did say I thought Barry was doing a party cleansing (against us). I was talking insurgency campaign, primary possibly, *against* Barry.
Right on! And I can get with that.
This is incredibly sensationalized. I don’t disagree, but come on…
What exactly do you think is sensationalized?
I think the writing is on the wall. For a few years, I’ve been banging my head trying to figure out why Barry wants to keep Gitmo open (minus public relations exercises), hold illegal trials for juveniles who probably aren’t terrorists, piss on habeas corpus, jeer at Global Aids prevention, and piss on everything that makes this country worth living in away.
It seems pretty obvious. Barry wants a Dem party that can embrace the likes of Lieberman and Graham openly, w/o shame. Although he should be ashamed.
Here is why I bet pot lost yesterday …
Chart Of The Day
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/11/chart.html
I predict that before the end of the year a massive DEA offensive against California will be launched. This will be a result of the man who doesn’t have the balls to confront Wall Street or the insurance monopolies doing a little hippie bashing to signal that he is shifting rightward. President Obama, please resign before you extinguish any rays of hope you fraudulently campaigned on.
Can you get funding?
I think the answer to that question is super easy to answer, he doesn’t want a CIA bullet to blow off the back half of his head leaving his lovely wife a widow. Duh.
One election, “Two Cultues”, no future?
http://www.openleft.com/diary/20731/one-election-two-cultues-no-future
That’s definitely a good Duh answer. It’s so good I like it as much as “Republican obstruction.” Now look at the facts. Or if you don’t know them, then go read someone who does.
Gil Kerlikowske doesn’t just need to eat crow. He needs it jammed down his throat so hard and so far he can no longer speak and shits black feathers for the rest of his life. I don’t get how people of authority are allowed to spout such crap and not get called on it. People listen to and believe what he has to say?!! How is this guy in charge of anything? Never mind any sort of national policy for a world power.
Me personally? No, I don’t hold the bags, kindGSL. But this sort of thing has been done before. Primary challenge. Third party challenge. Every once in a while there’s success. certainly it made a statement with Joey Lieberman.
I mean really. what’s with the stupid questions and the Duh answers? Is this supposed to make me look “nutty,” and uninformed?
I hope the Lenette Davies, Dragonfly De La Losers, & all the others get raided first… lol After all,they were hand in hand with the DEA. TRAITORS!!! Hang ‘em all!!! (metaphorically speaking)
BTW. There will be a “Hit List” so to speak posted on norml.org ~or~ stash.norml.org.
Before anybody gets too depressed over this, they should consider one major flaw in Yes side tactics. If you open up your California Official Voter Information Guide and read the Yes/No arguments, you’ll notice the No side made their claims right there in print that 19 would legalize stoned school bus drivers and stoned workers. When the Yes side wrote their rebuttal to those outrageous, false claims, they *failed* to say firmly that the claims were outrageous and false! Instead they tried to blow by it with a glib, general answer. As a result, many voters went to the polls wondering if the claims were true, enough to cost us the election! Simple stuff.
Next time we need a much smarter team to handle this. And this old retired guy would be happy to help them draft their Voter’s Guide statements. Until then, relax, this will be back …
Like I wrote in an earlier post, you fought the good fight … the righteous fight … and you should be proud of the headway you made.
You can’t win them all, but you can keep fighting until you win.
Z
he lost my respect before he got elected. he’s on camera in 2004 saying “i am for the legalization of marijuana” and then in 2008 he’s suddenly completely against it. he’s been a typical two-faced politician from the start.
Obama is a Republican.
Feingold/Grayson 2012.
(these two brilliant and courageous progressive leaders need new jobs, and what could be better than the jobs of President and Vice-President?).
Is that a nomination? Duly noted and appreciated. i like that one.
Harris, Not Cooley! Medical Marijuana Advocates Swing California Attorney General Election
REPOST FROM: http://bonniedamantis.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/medical-marijuana-advocates-swing-california-atttorney-general-election/
Americans for Safe Access (ASA) and California medical marijuana advocates statewide went to bed Tuesday night feeling defeated as the Bonnie Dumanis think-a-like, Steve Cooley, held more than a 10% lead over his underdog opponent, Kamala Harris in California’s race for Attorney General.
Waking up Wednesday morning however, was quite another story. As of 2:00am Harris took the lead and as of 6:30am with 96.9% reporting, is holding less than one half percentage point margin over the highly endorsed Cooley.
BLOG UPDATE! As of 12:39pm the Secretary of State reports Harris leads with less than .02% of the vote and 100% of precints reported!
Last week ASA launched the http://www.NotCooley.com website against the favored candidate labeling him anti-medical marijuana, bad for the environment and far right regarding marriage equality. It appears the advocates campaign worked.
ASA is the nation’s largest organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.
And now Cooley knows it!
Cooley and Dumanis beware, ASA is there.
http://www.SafeAccessNow.org
UPDATE: San Diego Chapter of Americans for Safe Access has released the local election results.
http://www.safeaccesssd.org/2010/11/2010-election-results-california-and.html
seriously, who is going into rehab or the emergency room over marijuana? alcohol is responsible for way more driving accidents than marijuana if it is responsible for any at all and mental illness?!!?! it is the same stuff from these clueless federal and local drug agents.
There is nothing wrong with marijuana use. i have used marijuana for several years and i am fine and i will be fine. it does not cause addiction or trips to the er. marijuana is better than alcohol and people who drink act crazy and stupid and emotional people who smoke marijuana act NORMAL and calm. it does not make you just lay there and it does not fry your brain. it IS safer than cigarettes. marijuana does not cause a person to get sick or have hangovers. in general a person can still function normally when under the influence of marijuana. regulating marijuana for people under 21 would be easy. i am 26, when i was in HS it was VERY EASY to get marijuana, it was VERY HARD to get alcohol. getting cigarettes was easy but that IS NOT the same as marijuana. marijuana is a mind altering substance the SAME as alcohol is and adults would not be irresponsibly supplying it to children. every 36 seconds a person is arrested in the US for marijuana use, and it costs 9 billion dollars to combat marijuana use in the US each year. An estimated 35.8 billion is generated by marijuana each year. if the government would legalize marijuana that is a 44.8 billion dollar profit, not to mention the people who would choose marijuana over alcohol and generate even more money. which there is NOTHING wrong with. marijuana needs to be legalized soon. people who oppose it need to stop believing the propaganda and get the real facts. marijuana is a harmless natural substance and the use of it should be as accepted as alcohol if not more so.
legalize marijuana nationwide
Care to lose all your respect for the Obamas? How about a 2 billion dollar vacation?
Obama India Trip: 3,000 Personnel, 150 Journalists, The Obamas, The New American Royalty
Next time you book your flight on CheapTickets.com, shuffle through the security line at the airport, endure the full body scan then board the stuffy, cramped plane after an anxious wait for an on time flight, recall the President and First Lady Michelle on board Air Force One winging their way to India, the first stop on Obama’s upcoming ten day Asia trip. Obama’s entourage, 3,000 personnel including 200 of his own ‘people’. The President’s $200 million a day trip, funded by your taxpayer dime.
Obama’s upcoming ten day trip to Asia is seen in some quarters as a ‘test’ related Obama’s international leadership skills. We see it as another test, a test which, based on news reports, the President failed before he set foot on Air Force One. The test of the President and his administration in the midst of the worse recession since the Great Depression choose to take a grandiose, extravagant trip on the scale of ancient royalty. Whether the Obama’s believe they’ve been elected as the new American royalty?
Within a week of suffering the biggest midterm drubbing in generations, President Barack Obama will depart on a trip to India, Indonesia, Japan and Korea. How the president handles this trip will speak volumes about how he sees his agenda for the next two years and how much of an international president he really is.
Obama’s planned trip is already ‘speaking volumes’ to Americans. The questions raised as to whether there is a Presidential disconnect between the reality of the millions of Americans who’ve lost their jobs, savings, and homes. Americans who have had to curb their budgets. The President, who can’t budget an overseas trip for less than $200 million per day.
Foreign Press:
‘The next test will be how the president handles ten days of hounding from the press about electoral defeats while he is in Asia. And the press will hound — no doubt about it.’
If Obama was worried about ‘ten days of hounding from the press’, then why are up to 150 journalists, according to an India newspaper The Hindu, part of the Obama entourage?
Six thousand Americans needed to help facilitate an Obama four day trip to India? One can only wonder at the number of ‘personnel’ needed to facilitate the six days Obama will visit Korea, Indonesia, and Japan?
More info on Obama’s trip to India from The Hindu:
Mr. Obama will be coming with three Boeing 747 jumbo jets and two others will be coming before him with equipment. An advance team of U.S. officials is set to arrive here on Wednesday. The U.S. is spending about $200 million a day towards Mr. Obama’s visit, the official said on Tuesday.
Forty aircraft – including the Air Force One military plane – and six heavily armoured cars will follow the president around the country.
The huge security operation comes days after a suspected bomb was found on a cargo plane at East Midlands Airport.
The entourage will be the biggest ever in terms of logistics and manpower for any US president.
The president himself will be ferried around in a black Cadillac – dubbed ‘Barack Mobile’ – which has its own built in communications centre – to enable Obama to be in touch with the White House, US vice president and the US strategic command.
As the folks at FactCheck.org state:
But please, don’t let Facts stand in the way of a good smear