OpEd writer Kathleen Parker, regularly featured on The Washington Post, pens an opinion piece for The Daily Beast that wonders why such a flippant response to the marijuana question was given by President Obama duing his online town hall meeting.
How hard would it have been to say something like: “Cool idea, brah, but…” OK, maybe not. But why not something reasonable and presidential, such as:
“Look, I’m not ready to legalize marijuana tomorrow, but I do think it’s time to take a fresh look at the effectiveness of some of our criminal justice policies. And I support Sen. James Webb’s current efforts to do just that.
“I also don’t mean to make light of this issue because I know that a lot of kids wind up in jail who shouldn’t. And I know from personal experience that smoking marijuana is not a career-ender. But I do want to study this issue carefully before I suggest any broad changes in policy. Thank you for your question.”
Everyone would have gone home reasonably satisfied, if not quite ready to celebrate. Instead, Obama enjoyed a brief flashback and insulted his merrier minions.
As pot smokers blanket the White House with letters of protest, Obama may want to rethink his position. He not only has ticked off a portion of his grass-roots, so to speak, but, when the Chinese come to collect interest on those trillions, he may find it preferable that more, rather than fewer, Americans be mellow.
via – The Daily Beast “Obama’s Marijuana Buzz Kill“
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You beat me to the punch, fallibilist. The conservative columnist, Kathleen Parker, has opined many times about the ridiculousness of pot prohibition.
It should be mentioned that Kathleen Parker is a conservative columnist.
Righties against marijuana prohibition: they exist!