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President Obama needs young people to turn out to vote for him if he is going to win this November. He also must know by now, since it dominated every online forum geared to younger voters, that one issue young people really care about is reforming our destructive marijuana laws. Yet instead of actually using his powers as President to improve the situation to appeal to these voters, he instead just made a web video with Harold and Kumar. The video heavily implied that the famous duo had recently been smoking pot.
The video might be funny if it was not so appallingly cynical. Despite the “being cool” image Obama is trying to sell with this video, when it comes to marijuana policy, he is the worst recent president; Obama is worse than Clinton or Bush on medical marijuana.
The Obama administration has waged an aggressive multi-agency war on medical marijuana. Under Obama agencies including DEA, IRS, ATF and DOJ have harassed patients, raided dispensaries and even openly threatened public employees to impede their state’s medical marijuana program.
If Obama actually wants to appeal to voters who care about marijuana, instead of appearing in a stupid video, maybe he should try simply being less horrible on the issue. For example Obama could take up the petition several governors have signed to have marijuana rescheduled. At a bare minimum Obama could publicly endorse the idea of medical marijuana. This would be a real symbolic move that should carry zero political risk, since 81 percent of Americans already support medical marijuana.
It would be remarkably easy for Obama to take actions that would prove he would at least be less awful than Mitt Romney on the issue of marijuana, but so far his administration’s behavior has been so bad Obama has failed to even clear that low bar.
35 Comments
1) I concur.
2) I have shared the message.
He must be banking on the stereotype of the stoner too wasted to actually make it to the polls.
Let’s be honest here: you could write this same headline about anything.
“Despite Terrible Record on Civil Liberties, Obama Cynically Tries to Appeal to Civil Liberties Proponents”
“Despite Terrible Record on Middle Class Income, Obama Cynically Tries to Appeal to Middle Class”
“Despite Terrible Record on War, Obama Cynically Tries to Appeal to Peace Advocates”
(no pun intended with “headline”)
Every four years O pretends to be a Democrat. He is a lying war criminal. He is a terrorist with his robotic drone attacks on Pakistanis. He shreds out Constitution and he assassinates American citizens without any trial or any due process. His Cabinet is filled with Wall Street bankers and their supporters. And he will accept his renomination in the Bank of America Stadium…
Is this a great advanced country or what ? We’ll gamble with our water table for a nonrenewable fracked energy source when hemp would provide more energy , year after year with no mess to clean up because of the scaredy cat theocrats.
Thanks for you o for your great leadership for the 1%ers you serve. You coulda been a game changer.
Promises, promises …
What about pardoning Don Siegelman (non-partisan petition), Obama?
Meanwhile …
what do carter, clinton and obama have in common? they all came out of nowhere to capture the presidential nomination. to instantly achieve this they had to supported by the truely rich and powerful whose approval was needed long before you ever heard of them. all three were sellouts. as long as dems support candidates who come out of nowhere with no track records we will continue to get sellouts………
I’ll go with the “or what” as my answer. Just how “O”blivious is this poseur to the damage his policies have inflicted on the 99%? Unfuckingbelievable!
It’s almost as if there’s a secret laboratory where the oligarchs assemble these corporatist candidates.
Kai Penn worked as the Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement in an administration that routinely blows up young South Asians males for being “up to no good.” So this advertisement really shouldn’t be too surprising.
X2!
I am encouraged to see so many who see through Barack Obama and the current version of the Democratic Party ( thanks ever so much DLC). But witty repartee and factual critique is not enough to save our democracy.
We need to find a way to combat the corporatist politician and restore progressive politics to its rightful place in our process.
“Just how “O”blivious is this poseur to the damage his policies have inflicted on the 99%? ”
You assume he cares about the 99%. You wouldn’t say to a mugger “don’t you care about the people you stick up?” I bet.
IMO, he’s waiting-giving time to FDA and already extremely wealthy drug companies–who want to become way more wealthy–to corner the market on THC. MJ or THC should never be the patent or property of any private drug company. Hundreds of thousands of people die each year from FDA approved drugs and/or their interactions. Haven’t heard of any or many deaths from MJ overdoses. MJ could help millions of people get through or tolerate hundreds of medical conditions. Has Obamam been selling out to big pharma? Drug cartels don’t seem to really hate him either.
IMO, forget medical MJ, and agree with millions of others–there would be so many fewer inmates in the US private corporate jail system if MJ in general was legal. The US private corporate jail system might have to rent out jail cells as storage units for peoples’ stuff rather than for human beings. So, there’s people involved with MJ offenses in jail and NO ONE in jail for the US financial theft and big fall?
Obama needs to trade bankers for pot smokers inside prisons. Then I might listen to his BS.
How many people are killed each year to DWI? Too many. Not heard of many killed by DWH. No war on booze. How many people killed each year by legal drugs and legal drug interactions? Too many–and how many prosecutions for drug makers? Need to make medical Rx drug commercials illegal–and talk about the law of attraction! Not heard of even a fraction killed by MJ.
Yesterday the very last of 150+ dispensaries in San Diego city and county closed. This very last one had been successfully operating a first-class venture, under written agreements with, and close monitoring by the Sheriff’s dept.
It only took Obama’s Justice Dept. 18 months to close every outlet in a 60-mile by 40-mile county, successfully shifting the entire marijuana trade back to the cartels.
The incarceration industry is right up there with the other biggies-defense, banking, pharmaceuticals. One of the larger ticks sucking on The Treasury right now.
There are shiny new prisons to be filled. Without stoner hippies and illegals, who shall fill up these noble halls? Maybe he “has their support” (wink nudge)
Maybe Harold and Kumar were too stoned to recognize they’d been making propaganda with a neoliberal drug warrior.
There is. Occidental College appears to be one of the assembly plants.
They won’t be too stoned after they get thrown under the bus. There’s no weed there, because it’s too crowded, all the good stuff has gone.
The big “O” is no friend of natural medicine in any form – he is owned by the corps. Vote third party!!!!
Can this be used as an opportunity to throw Guantanamo back in his face? After all, Harold and Kumar are escaped fugitives from there… :)
Agree. Pretty disappointing that they’d be involved in this…
I can only surmise he is pandering to big pharma.
Vote Jill Stein.
Every revolution has to start somewhere.
Wrong. I, for one recognized Obama as a corporate POS prior to the 2008 election and refused to support his power grab. I never assumed he gave a shit about the 99%. Those who voted for him failed to realize that he was a neoliberal tool, an advocate of Milton Friedman’s Chicago School disaster capitalism, and a supporter of the Banksters and the MIC.
I don’t assume, I pay attention and analyze.
I, uh, give him credit, in a back handed way. He is the smoothest most seamless political liar I have ever heard. I think there have been people who’ve done yeoman’s work at lying but somewhere inside them was the remains of a conscience or feelings of guilt. O has none of that. Don’t think that entity is human.
I guess I’ve never seen a liar like him, come to think of it, in any setting or walk of life whatsoever. It is his great gift.
He also resigned from that post early in the administration.
Don’t you know any lawyers or preachers?
Sorry to note that Kal Penn (Kumar) quit his role on TV ( House) to work in the Obama administration.
This is a good summary. Thanks Jon.
What difference a day makes. I spent hours yesterday trying to convince tbogg’s readers of pretty much all of your above comments re obama and his bullshit.
It is refreshing to see that there are still some people with a toe in the real world.
Has any speaker at the convention mentioned comfortable walking shoes yet?
My hat’s off to you for seeing it so soon.
Medical marijuana is a no brainer. Many of the people using it are unable to find relief with a pharmaceutical and are under a doctor’s care. Why anyone would believe he is looking at decriminalizing when he won’t even decriminalize it for people under a doctor’s care is beyond me?
Thanks, but in spite of trying to educate people to the real Obama, my warnings were disregarded.
LOL! Some of each but they ain’t nearly as good.