The worst circle you could pass a joint to in America. (America's Drug Czars, from HW Bush to Obama, clockwise from left in chronological order - Bennett, Martinez, Brown, McCaffrey, Walters, Kerlikowske - with their ideological progenitor, Harry J. Anslinger, Federal Bureau of Narcotics head from FDR to JFK.)

The LA Times printed an op-ed written by the former and current drug czars of Presidents (pot smoker) Barack Obama, (pot smoker) George W. Bush, (pot smoker) Bill Clinton, and George H.W. Bush. In the case of the current drug czar, Kerlikowske, this is no surprise, because it would be illegal of him not to oppose marijuana legalization:

(Drug WarRant) According to Title VII Office of National Drug Control Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998: H11225:

Responsibilities. –The Director– [...]

(12) shall ensure that no Federal funds appropriated to the Office of National Drug Control Policy shall be expended for any study or contract relating to the legalization (for a medical use or any other use) of a substance listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812) and take such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use of a substance (in any form) that–

1. is listed in schedule I of section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812); and
2. has not been approved for use for medical purposes by the Food and Drug Administration;

Read that again.  Not only must Gil Kerlikowske take actions to oppose legalization, but he also has to ensure that federal money doesn’t go to scientists attempting to prove medical efficacy of cannabis.  Once marijuana was declared to be “bad”, the government is required to spend your tax money to tell you it is “bad”, spend your tax money to rebut the people who say it is “good”, and stifle any research using your tax money that would prove it is “good”.

It costs sixteen times more to keep pot illegal than the social cost of pot smoking. Drinkers cost society eight times more and smokers forty times more than tokers do.

Paul Armentano has already done a fantastic job slamming their thesis, which presents the following premises:

• “the Dutch have dramatically reduced what at one time were thousands of shops to only a few hundred” – OK, but did they decide they should shut them all down and criminalize anyone caught with even a joint?  No, they maintain a system where adults can possess and use personal amounts of cannabis… because it works.
• “legalizing marijuana would lead to more accidents and fatalities involving drivers under its influence” – even though all available studies show marijuana-using drivers to drive more slowly and take less risks.  Meanwhile, drunk drivers caused 11,773 deaths in 2008, yet nobody (but me) ever suggests mandatory breathalyzer valet parking at taverns or prohibiting alcohol altogether.
• Legalization wouldn’t raise tax money because marijuana “is easy and cheap to cultivate… Why would people volunteer to pay high taxes on marijuana if it were legalized?” – you mean like the tomatoes and carrots I pay tax on at the grocery store?  Or the beer I pay tax on that I could easily brew at home?  Drug czars always think it is easy to cultivate marijuana; I’d like to see them deal with a spider mite outbreak.  I’d much rather buy weed at $100 an ounce than deal with spider mites… and so would the majority of tokers.
• “For every dollar society collects in taxes on alcohol, for example, we end up spending eight more in social costs.” - so, then, you’re arguing to repeal the 21st Amendment, I guess?  It is no surprise alcohol and tobacco cost society more than they reap in taxes, because alcohol and tobacco are toxic and addictive; marijuana is not.
• “Law enforcement officers do not currently focus much effort on arresting adults whose only crime is possessing small amounts of marijuana” - so, then, if you guys really put your hearts into it, you’d arrest more than 850,000 adults each year, 89% of them for mere possession of marijuana?

We don't really spend much time busting people who smoke pot... except for the 20 million we've arrested since 1970...

So let’s meet the authors – what else do they have to say about marijuana?

Gil Kerlikowske (Obama) – Was Seattle police chief, a city where his officers had been directed by voter initiative to treat marijuana as “lowest enforcement priority”, leading to an 80% decrease in marijuana arrests with no attendant increase in pot smoking.  He also served while Seattle Hempfest was gathering 200,000 people in a park every year, telling his officers to ignore the open pot smoking, with no serious public safety incidents.  The Seattle Times noted in 2003, “Kerlikowske said the number of cases his department handles has declined, down from 600 cases in 1998 to 418 cases in 2001.” If it is so innocuous you feel no need to arrest people for doing it, why should it remain a crime?

John P. Walters (W Bush) – Famous for saying “The fact is today, people don’t go to jail for the possession of marijuana. Finding somebody in jail or prison for possession of marijuana is like finding a unicorn. It doesn’t exist.” During his tenure, 6.2 million marijuana users were arrested nationwide… most of whom at least saw a holding cell as they were booked and some of whom spent significant time in a jail.  A few, an estimated 40,000 to 50,000, are still serving time.

States currently allowing, or considering to allow, Cheech & Chong to practice medicine.

Barry McCaffrey (Clinton) – McCaffrey, a former general, was infamous for calling medical marijuana “Cheech & Chong medicine”, despite the now 14 states that recognize it and groups like the American Medical Association and the American College of Physicians (you know, doctors, not generals).  Though he did say last year he was “100 percent for” medical marijuana, kinda, and that he’s cool with my outdoor grow (“If you’re 40 years old, and you’re living in Oregon, and you have 12 giant pot plants in the back of your log cabin, knock yourself out.”)

Lee P. Brown (Clinton) – Rebutting the “myths” of legalization, Brown wrote in 1994: “In fact, effective enforcement serves to reduce drug supply, drive up prices, reduce the number of users and decrease the effects of chronic hard-core use.” In 1994, there were 4.83% of the American public using marijuana monthly.  Today, that percentage is 6.09%.  Around the beginning of Brown’s term, DEA estimated nationally about 3,000 metric tons of domestic marijuana production.  In 2006, California alone produced about 3,900 metric tons.  How’s that effective enforcement working out for ya?  (But he was right about that price.  I was buying eighths of an ounce of weed for $25 back in the Nineties – some folks are spending $75 an eighth now.)

"Me So Horny" - nearly as dangerous smoking a joint!

Bob Martinez (HW Bush) – After Martinez’ stint as Florida governor, where he tried to outlaw abortion, tried to execute 90 death row prisoners before their appeals had cleared, and succeeded in arresting rap group 2 Live Crew and arresting record store owners who sold their albums, Martinez became drug czar.  In 1999 he called on Florida mayors to oppose medical marijuana, saying “You can’t allow a foot to get through the door, because the whole body will go through eventually.” The theory here must be that you can’t let the foot of a dying puking elderly Floridian on chemotherapy through the door to smoke a joint so she can eat a meal, because it might lead to the body of some teenager smoking a joint at a 2 Live Crew concert (which he was going to do anyway, whether granny got her medical marijuana or not).

Bill Bennett (Clinton) – This is the guy who thinks you shouldn’t have the right to use medical marijuana in a state where it is legal, but had no problem gambling away $8 million in states where gambling is legal.  That $8 million came from proceeds of books like The Book of Virtues and The Broken Hearth: Reversing the Moral Collapse of the American Family. He defends his gambling addiction by claiming he’s a responsible adult who spent his own discretionary funds to engage in an enjoyable habit serviced by a profit-making business that caused him, his family, and society no harm.  Meanwhile, in 1989 on Larry King Live, he was agreeing with a caller who said we should “behead the damn drug dealers,” replying “I mean what the caller suggests is morally plausible. Legally, it’s difficult. But somebody selling drugs to a kid? Morally, I don’t have any problem with that at all.”

In case you're wondering, white folks are statistically more likely to be marijuana users than blacks and Hispanics.

I guess our drug czars have improved their lying about, er, I mean “actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize” marijuana since the days of the first federal anti-drug preacher, Federal Bureau of Narcotics head Harry J. Anslinger (FD Roosevelt – Kennedy).  None of the recent drug czars says things like:

“Marihuana is a short cut to the insane asylum. Smoke marihuana cigarettes for a month and what was once your brain will be nothing but a storehouse of horrid specters. Hasheesh makes a murderer who kills for the love of killing out of the mildest mannered man who ever laughed at the idea that any habit could ever get him….”

“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others.”

“Two Negros took a girl fourteen years old and kept her for two days under the influence of hemp. Upon recovery she was found to be suffering from syphilis.”

“Colored students at the Univ. of Minn. partying with (white) female students, smoking [marijuana] and getting their sympathy with stories of racial persecution. Result: pregnancy”

Today the ideological heirs of Harry J. Anslinger continue to support the prohibition that makes murderers out of Mexican drug trafficking organizations that have killed 28,000 in three years. The Six Drug Czars support the prohibition that locks up “Negroes” and Hispanics at rates far greater than their use of drugs compared with whites. Bennett, Martinez, Brown, McCaffrey, Walters, and McCaffrey have been peddling the same lies and half-truths for over two decades to support a war over four decades based on a prohibition for seven decades that is, as President (pot smoker) Obama once declared “an utter failure, and I think we need to re-think and decriminalize our marijuana laws.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

First, do no harm...

(Change.org) Last week President Obama quietly announced that he would nominate Michele Leonhart to lead the Drug Enforcement Agency. Ms. Leonhart, who was appointed and promoted by George W. Bush, oversaw the Bush administration’s tactic of raiding the homes of desperately ill individual medical marijuana patients in California.

Ms. Leonhart also has a record of adamantly fighting against allowing scientific research of the potential medicinal value of marijuana. Ignoring the ruling of a federal judge, Ms. Leonhart single-handedly blocked applications from respected university researchers studying medical marijuana.

Tell your Senator not to confirm Ms. Leonhart.

We need a DEA leader who understands the potential value of medical marijuana — not a Bush-era holdover who thought raiding the homes of cancer patients was a good idea.

Surf over to Change.org and sign the petition (click the big medical marijuana caduceus on the left).  We may not be able to stop Leonhart’s appointment, but we don’t have to be silent about it.  You’ll make an even bigger impression if you write, call, or fax your senator, and if you have the means to do so, visit them in person.  (While you’re at it, check out our state and federal Action Alerts at NORML.)

The illegality of marijuana makes our constituency much less powerful politically than our numbers should merit.  There are 4.3 million people in the National Rifle Association (NRA).  There are 1 million people in the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL).  There are a half a million people in the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).  Their political power means Washington never succeeds in restricting gun rights, abortion rights, and free speech rights.

There are 22 million people who will smoke marijuana this year.  That’s about equal to total number of adult African-Americans in America.  12.5 million of us will partake at least once a month.  That’s about equal to the total number of adult Asian-Americans in America.  There are 3.5 million people who will smoke marijuana daily this year.  That’s about equal to the total number of adult Mormons in America.  Can you imagine appointing to the head of a federal law enforcement agency a person who believed we should arrest all black or Asian or Mormon people?

Yet probably only 1 out of 100 daily marijuana smokers belong to a political cannabis reform organization like NORML.  It’s no wonder Washington laughs at us.  You cannot hide in the closet anymore if you expect to no longer be treated as a criminal.  Join NORML Today!

(New Scientist) IF THERE is one thing that politicians can and should do to limit the damage caused by illegal drugs, it is to take careful note of the evidence and develop a rational drug policy. Some politicians find it easier to ignore the evidence, and pander to public prejudice instead.

I can trace the beginning of the end of my role as chairman of the UK’s official advisory body on drugs to the moment I quoted a New Scientist editorial (14 February, p 5). Entitled, fittingly enough, “Drugs drive politicians out of their minds”, the editorial asked the reader to imagine being seated at a table with two bowls, one containing peanuts, the other the illegal drug MDMA (ecstasy). Which is safer to give to a stranger? Why, the ecstasy of course.

I quoted these words in the Eve Saville lecture at King’s College London in July. This example plus other comments I have made – such as horse riding is more harmful than ecstasy – prompted Alan Johnson, the home secretary, to say that I had crossed the line from science to policy. This, he said, is why I had to go.

But simple, accurate and understandable statements of scientific fact are precisely what the advisory council is supposed to provide. Why would any scientist take up some future offer of a government advisory post when their advice can be treated with such disdain?

The results of a government inventing its own reality and acting on it can be seen in the appalling consequences the George W. Bush presidency had for world peace, the environment and human rights. The message for the British government is a simple one: don’t exclude rational argument in order to exploit a visceral public response. Politicians have to win the hearts and minds of their electorate. If your policy is informed by an underlying moral imperative, be open about what that is, and don’t try to disguise it with a veneer of pseudo-science. We ignore scientific evidence at our peril.

David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, was chairman of the UK government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs until he was dismissed last week by the UK home secretary

It’s a message President Obama needs to hear as well.  He promised to return us from the George W. Bush presidency’s disdain for rational thought and scientific evidence.  Obama promised to base our policies on sound science with respect to global climate change and other issues.  But stubbornly, this administration’s drug czar is still out parroting the completely unscientific falsehood that “the raw cannabis plant is certainly not medicine”.  Obama himself is laughing off the notion of marijuana legalization as having any economic benefit to cash-strapped states, despite the rational analysis by many prominent economists.  And despite the evidence of reduced social farms in the Netherlands, Portugal, and other countries that have experimented with drug decriminalization and tolerance, Obama continues to push a federal policy that relies heavily on interdiction and incarceration.

For over a century now, every time hard scientists, social scientists, economists, and policy experts gather to take a rational and scientific look at marijuana policy, they recommend decriminalization and tolerance or they recognize medical usage of cannabis, from the 1894 British East India survey to the 1942 Laguardia Commission to the 1972 Shaffer Commission to the 1999 Institute of Medicine study.  Cannabis can no longer be the exception to the “we believe in science” rule!

Former President George W. Bush

George W. Bush quoted in the Washington Post

APRIL 1, 2009: The DEA and the Border Patrol, acting on anonymous tips from an informant calling himself “Tennessee Tuxedo”, have arrested former president of the United States George W. Bush at the Texas/Mexico border crossing at Juarez for allegedly trafficking large amounts of marijuana.

Border Patrol agents announced the seizure of 420 lbs. (190.5 kg) of high quality indoor hydroponic marijuana from a large Winnebago travel trailer driven by the 43rd president and his wife, Laura, as they attempted to cross the border into Mexico.  According to Border Patrol spokesperson Lt. April Phewls, agents became suspicious when the former president appeared groggy and unresponsive to their attempts to speak with the former world leader.

“Our agents were excited to meet Mr. Bush,” said Lt. Phewls, “and quickly gained permission from attending Secret Service agents to approach the driver’s side window of the Winnebago.  Upon speaking with the president, however, our sharp-eyed agents noticed the tell-tale orange fingertips of a compulsive Cheetos habit.  Mr. Bush’s eyes were glazed and somewhat bloodshot, and he kept inviting agents into his Winnebago to listen to ‘some killer jams from my band’s new demo’.”

Lt. Phewls continued, “Mrs. Bush also seemed out of sorts, giggling uncontrollably once she discovered one of our agents was named Harold Balz.  We asked the former president and first lady to exit the vehicle, which they did, somewhat clumsily.  Upon searching the Winnebago with drug-detecting K-9 units, we found the 420 pounds of contraband hidden in various professionally-manufactured hidden compartments.”

Unlike the typical border seizure of Mexican “brick weed” coming into the United States, DEA noted the rarity of transporting quality American and Canadian marijuana into Mexico.  Sgt. Ray L. Stedenko of DEA commented that “it appears the former president and first lady were headed to Spring Break in Cancun and had brought the quantites of marijuana along in an attempt to curry favor with the young Americans who flock to the Mexican resort destination.  We found hastily scribbled plans on a Cheetos-stained 7-Eleven napkin entitled ‘Operation Cool Ganja Dude’ which detailed the idea of distributing ‘killer green buds’ to all of the ‘dudes and shorties’ attending Spring Break, so that the students would find Mr. Bush ‘gnarly’.”

Federal and Texas state authorities released Mr. & Mrs. Bush on their own recognizance, but gave Mr. Bush an Xbox video game machine and a copy of the online collaboration game “Halo” and asked him to “just chill out in Houston for a bit.”  The DEA and Border Patrol agents then took all 416 pounds of the marijuana and destroyed all 408 pounds of it by fire.  It is not expected that authorities will file any charges against Mr. & Mrs. Bush for trafficking in 402 pounds of high-quality marijuana.

The DEA is trying to identify informant “Tennessee Tuxedo”.  The caller spoke with a southern accent and seemed to sigh often during his call.  One clue that might aid in the search is that everytime DEA said the former president’s name, the caller would blurt out profanities, call him “loser”, and every so often he would mutter, “f***in Scalia!”  Anyone with any information as to “Tennessee Tuxedo””s identity is asked to call the DEA at 1-800-APR-FOOL.

John Walters once said, “The fact is today, people don’t go to jail for the possession of marijuana. Finding somebody in jail or prison for possession of marijuana is like finding a unicorn. It doesn’t exist.”

When the US taxpayers no longer fund your demonizing of the sick, disabled, dying, and sense-threatened people who use medical marijuana, what do you do?  If you’re former drug czar John “Marijuana Unicorns” Walters, you get yourself a cushy job at the Hudson Institute, a think tank founded by Herman Kahn.  Kahn’s work was part of the dogma of cold war ideology, having coined the term “mutually assured destruction” regarding nuclear capabilities of the US and then USSR.  (He also coined the term “megadeath”, meaning “one million deaths”, which since has been appropriated and misspelled by the band Megadeth.)  Kahn is reportedly one of the inspirations for the character of Dr. Strangelove in the 1964 film of the same name.

In recent months, more Americans have learned what those living on the border have known for several years: the Mexican government is in a deadly fight with extremely violent gangs.

The administration should be fighting for full funding of the Merida Program of assistance from the United States. Our vital equipment and training will protect innocent lives in both our countries. But the White House has been unengaged as Congress is on a path to cut $100 million in support beyond the $100 million reduction of the last Congress. At a time when Mexico knows as well as we do that Congress is recklessly stimulating and earmarking billions, slashing funding for our national security is grossly irresponsible.

On the key issue of illegal drugs–the widely recognized source of criminal power in Mexico–the Obama administration is lurching dangerously in reverse. In his first statement on drug policy, Attorney General Eric Holder suggested he may no longer enforce federal law against trafficking marijuana if the traffickers call their marijuana medical. Both U.S. and Mexican officials at all levels know that medical marijuana is an utter fraud used to undermine drug enforcement in the United States. Mexican officials also know (as does the Justice Department) that much of the marijuana sold in the “dispensaries” of California funds the mafias of Mexico.

Marijuana sales are the single largest source of drug profits for these criminals–on top of funds from kidnapping, protection rackets, alien smuggling, and car theft. Not enforcing our marijuana laws makes these terrorists stronger. Pretending to take legalization seriously makes them stronger still. What do we think the brave officers risking their lives in Mexico feel when our attorney general sounds like he is going to do less to help? Is it too much to expect him to make clear that enforcing our marijuana laws reduces addiction here and saves lives in Mexico?

I hope that this will change. The recently released Forbes list of wealthiest people in the world includes one of Mexico’s most dangerous criminal leaders. President Obama should make it his goal to help President Calderon apprehend this man and those like him as soon as possible.

John P. Walters is executive vice president of Hudson Institute and former director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George W. Bush.

via PREVIEW: Up In Smoke.

Walters offers no proof that California dispensary medicine is funding Mexican mafias, but evidence and proof were never his strong suit, anyway.  I find it interesting that a stimulus package intended to reverse the economic damage from eight years of laissez-faire policies of the previous administration – Walters’ administration – is considered “recklessly stimulating”, but throwing another $100M-$200M at the failed Meridia policies is “vital equipment and training”.  I’d say something about pots and kettles, but considering this blog’s subject and the president’s race, that’s too many puns for one day.

But suppose that Walters is right and some Mexican-grown and Mexican-trafficked marijuana makes it onto dispensary shelves.  What’s keeping American farmers from supplying those dispensaries, John, and cutting the Mexicans out of the marketplace?  “Pretending to take legalization seriously” scares the hell out of Mexico’s drug criminals!  Do you suppose Al Capone circulated many petitions in support of the 21st Amendment?

The White House office responsible for fighting illegal drug use has focused for nearly a decade on youths smoking marijuana instead of a broader strategy that would sufficiently target adult drug users, according to a new study.

The nonprofit National Academy of Public Administration says the $1.2 million study, which it planned to release Thursday, found that the Office of National Drug Control Policy under President George W. Bush relied on selected data to show progress in combating illegal drug use by youth.

The office did not highlight less positive results among adults or pursue a comprehensive anti-drug strategy across age and demographic groups, the report found.

via Study criticizes Bush drug office for its focus on youths and marijuana, not adult drug users.

And with that California report I posted about how youth drug use is seriously underestimated by not counting misuse of cough syrup and prescription drugs, the Bush Administration’s focus on youth marijuana use at the expense of other drugs seems particularly wrong-headed.

Here’s one snappy answer to a stupid pot question I might throw down:

“No, actually I was going to write a paper this weekend on how the last five presidential elections have been won by a former pot smoker (Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Bush, Obama), and how in two of the last three elections, both major party candidates were former pot smokers (Bush/Gore, Bush/Kerry), and how the largest state in America and the largest city in America are run by former pot smokers (California’s Schwarzenegger and New York City’s Bloomberg).”

*with apologies to MAD Magazine

LOS ANGELES — Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided at least two Westside marijuana dispensaries Tuesday, and a spokesperson defended their actions, despite President Barack Obama’s opposition to such raids.

One of the raids was at the Marina Caregivers at 730 W. Washington Blvd. about noon, said Sarah Pullen of the DEA.

Marina Caregivers was served with a search warrant, she said, declining to say if  anyone was arrested.

A Los Angeles police spokesperson said the department, which is normally notified of such operations, got no advance warning from DEA.

A medical marijuana activist told City News Service another dispensary called The Nile was raided at 1505 Pacific Ave. in Venice.

Asked about Obama’s comments that he did not want to waste Justice Department resources on raiding medical marijuana shops, Pullen said that “marijuana is still illegal under federal law.

“The law is still that it is illegal to possess, distribute or cultivate marijuana in any way,” she said.

via DEA Raids Westside Marijuana Dispensaries | NBC Los Angeles .

President Obama, a raid two days after you’re inaugurated could be attributable to Bush-era holdovers.  Three raids twelve days after you’re inaugurated is your tacit approval.  If I may quote the Canadian philosopher Gary Lee Weinrib, “If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.”

It does not cost you money in this economic crisis to stop DEA raids; it saves money.

It does not cost you difficulty in solving the health care crisis to stop DEA raids; it helps people get health care.

It does not cost you popularity with the people to stop DEA raids; it fits with the views of 2 out of 3 Americans.

I can only assume that, as a brilliant politician, you calculate that it will cost you political capital to stop DEA raids.  For in the penultimate paragraph of what now seems to be your false promise in Medford, you said,

“I will tell you that – I want to be honest with you – whether I want to use a whole lot of political capital on that [laughs] when we’re trying to get health care passed or end the war in Iraq is, yeah, the likelihood of that being real high on my list is not likely.”

President Obama, I supported you.  I stood among 75,000 in Portland just to see you in person.  I gave money that I really can’t afford to support your campaign.  I proudly displayed bumper stickers and yard signs and an Obama hat on my head for you.  I drove from Portland, Oregon, to Denver, Colorado to attend your nominating convention.  I believed you in Medford, Oregon. I believed you in Nashua, Hew Hampshire. I keynoted for you at a Portland fundraiser.  I supported you openly on my talk radio show.  I voted for you.

But mostly, I voted for CHANGE.  As far as this issue goes, for patients and caregivers, growers and dispensaries, you might as well be George W. Bush.  And to paraphrase the departed “decider”, I think you misunderestimate how many of us there are, how much money we have and contribute to the economy, and how sick and tired we are of being ignored, following vote after vote, poll after poll, study after study that confirms that WE ARE RIGHT!  In addition to being right, we are the majority — actually, a super-majority — and you are not following our will!

You ignore us at your peril, sir.  The perfect storm of marijuana law reform is building.  Michael Phelps just shattered one of the few remaining “reefer madness” myths of amotivation.  Michigan and Massachusetts just proved The People are way ahead of the politicians on marijuana reform.  The economy is in tatters and states are desperate for new tax revenues and jobs and cutting costly programs like eradication and interdiction.  Out of control health care costs have people clamoring for cheap safe effective alternative medicine.  Pineapple Express grossed $87 million.  I’m telling you, Mr. President, if you get on the right side of this issue, not only will you win re-election, you’ll win bigger than 2008.

Stay on the wrong side of this issue and I’m dogging you like a rabid hungry pit bull / wolf hybrid on steroids and meth.  And I want my money back.

The Justice Department announced that Bush has granted clemency to former Texas-based [Border Patrol] agents Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio “Nacho” Ramos. As is usually the case in such executive grants, the announcement included no explanation, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Compean and Ramos were convicted of shooting admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in the buttocks as he fled a van full of marijuana. They argued at trial that they thought Davila was armed and that they shot in self-defense, but the prosecutor said no evidence linked the van to Davila and that the agents didn’t report the shooting and tampered with evidence by picking up several spent shell casings.

They were fired after their convictions, and all charges but obstruction of justice were upheld on appeal.

Bush could have pardoned Compean and Ramos, which essentially would have wiped away their underlying convictions. Instead, he chose to commute their prison terms, which keeps their underlying convictions intact.

Even so, one former Justice Department official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of criticizing the president, decried the commutations today. “These men were totally unrepentant, there was obstruction of justice, they shot a man in the back. I am speechless. These are terrible clemency cases,” he said.

The commutations come on Bush’s last full day in office. 

via Bush commutes former Border Patrol agents’ prison terms – Los Angeles Times.

So let’s see if I’ve got this straight:  If you’re a cop, and you shoot an unarmed fleeing man in the back, and then you don’t report it and try to cover up the crime, you get a “Get Out Of Jail Free” card because the man did run away from a van full of marijuana.  Besides, the man was a Mexican crossing the border, so he deserved to die anyway, right?

But if you’re a citizen and police burst into your house at night, unannounced, in a bad neighborhood, serving a warrant on the wrong address, and you fire in self-defense, killing an armed but unidentified police officer who was coming for you and your infant daughter, it’s life without the possibility of parole for you because the cops were looking for the house next door that was full of marijuana.  Need I mention the citizen is black?

The last day of George W. Bush has proven once again his compassion… for those in power who break the laws that suit his political agenda.  Out a CIA agent in time of war or shoot an unarmed drug smuggler in the back and you get a commutation of sentence.  Spy on Americans without warrants and go to war on faulty intelligence and you get a Medal of Freedom.  Let an entire city drown and you’ve done a “heckuva” job.  By these measures of success, I’m expecting Bush to nominate John Walters for sainthood any minute now.

Click here to view the embedded video.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq rally for Bush shoe attacker
An Iraqi official was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the journalist was being interrogated to determine whether anybody paid him to throw his shoes at President Bush.

He was also being tested for alcohol and drugs, and his shoes were being held as evidence, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Really?  Throwing your shoes (the greatest insult in Arabic culture) at George W. Bush is probable cause for a drug test?  You really think an Iraqi man would have to be bribed, drunk, or high to express anger and disgust at George W. Bush?  If you ask me, it was one of the finest displays of rational and sane action I’ve seen in some time.