Barack Obama and The Hypocrisy of Choom.

Alternative title: Obama’s Betrayal Of The Choomers.

Let me just lay this out for you.

Look, if you want to be a drug warrior, be a drug warrior.  Pot can do a lot more damage to people than its boosters admit; calling it a drug that’s no worse than alcohol (which I largely consider it to be) is not exactly a compliment.  And if you think that medical marijuana laws are a back door to de facto pot legalization… well.  Yes, they are.  I note all of this to establish that I’m not an enthusiast about legalizing pot; I just don’t see that we’re getting a good return on our investment when it comes to suppressing it.  In short, I can easily concede that the people who really don’t like marijuana may have a point.

The problem here is that President Obama only pretends to be one of those people – and that is offensive.  You see, I don’t actually think that the President cares about pot use any more than I do.  He’s letting people get arrested for this stuff – many of them, for doing the things that Barack Obama enthusiastically did when he was a teenager – because it’s easier than actually doing any of those wonderful-sounding things about education and treatment that politicians like to trot out when the subject comes up.  No.  No, Barack Obama had his Choom Time, he got away with it – something that gets pointed out several times in this Hot Air link round-up – and now the President’s supremely indifferent about whether somebody less lucky than Obama was gets his or her life ruined by getting caught.

I want to make sure that this is clear: I’m not complaining that the President is hardcore on the War on Some Drugs.  Many people are hardcore.  Many people think that they have excellent reason to be.  I don’t really agree with them, but I may end up being wrong.  What I am complaining that the President is being a fake about being hardcore.

It’s just not decent.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*Basic human politeness forces me to note the H/T to firedoglake’s Just Say Now blog. Well, character is what you show when nobody’s looking.

8 thoughts on “Barack Obama and The Hypocrisy of Choom.”

  1. It’s also important because the MSM thinks its vitally, vitally important for for us to know what Mitt Romney did in high school, but is so far in the tank for Obama that it has long refused do even those most basic examination of his past, including chronic, persistent lawbreaking on Obama’s part. All this is coming out now because the MSM went out of their way not to investigate anything Obama might have done four years ago that might have tarnished his halo for undecided voters. That’s why the story is important.

  2. I’m about where you are, Moe, regarding legalize-it-or-don’t; I’ve never used the stuff and probably never will, legal or not. But here in Colorado I’ve actually seen sign-spinners hawking “medical” marijuana. They openly advertise price and quality, with probably FEWER restrictions than alcohol–a beer company once got an FCC fine for accidentally showing in a commercial the part of the can that showed the alcohol content, because they’re not allowed to tout that as a selling point. I think the open, winking _lawlessness_ of pot (with or without the medical subterfuge) does more harm to society than the actual drug.
    SEEMS like legalization should fix that, but damn if I like giving any ground to the people who are on The Other Side on damn near every other issue.

  3. SEEMS like legalization should fix that, but damn if I like giving any ground to the people who are on The Other Side on damn near every other issue.

    I hear ya, but … the trouble with that attitude is that if the Other Guys take the sensible side first, that pretty much forces you to take the stupid and evil side. And once the Other Side has the high ground on an issue, they’re likely to screw it up with their supposed solutions — see “Jim Crow laws” and “affirmative action” …

    The current rationale for our laws against marijuana seems to be: “We have to make it illegal, because pot can ruin your life!” And the way in which it ruins peoples’ lives — mostly — is by giving them an arrest record or a prison sentence if they get caught using it, and by inducing would-be users to consort with lawbreakers who push harder drugs. Yeah, that makes sense.

  4. Well, Prayerborne, all I can do is shrug. Sign-spinners or no, marijuana is freely available to anyone who wants it. Once in a while, in a random occurrence similar to lightning strikes &ct., there are blue-and-red flashing lights and somebody goes to jail — except it isn’t quite random: young black men are disproportionately affected if they are present in the population, precisely as the original framers of the laws intended. (Don’t protest. I’m old enough to remember the Fifties debates about “juke joints”.) In the meantime, the DEA alone spends $2 billion a year finding new and more-intrusive ways of abrogating anything resembling civil liberties, and serves as the template and cadre for the upcoming Health Care Enforcement Squad and the rest of the nanny-state goons.

    The video does answer some questions, though. It’s been mooted that Obama is a narcissist, or has some other personality problem. That isn’t it. He’s just somebody who did enough weed at an early age — those of us who know others in that category rather suspected it, but it’s nice to have it confirmed.

  5. I suggest you start following White House reporter Keith Koffler’s blog, White House Dossier. One of the things you will notice over time is how often Obama is egregiously late. Keith does not draw any conclusions, however I do. I very much doubt Obama ever stopped smoking dope and using cocaine. I think he’s been late to press conferences and speeches because he had to come down from getting high before he could present himself in public. Keith reported yesterday that Obama ditched the press after his golf game so there was an extended time where they didn’t know where he was. I suspect he was high, or drunk. If his poll numbers continue to tank, I think he’s going to get more and more obvious in his abuse of drugs and/or alcohol. We need to be watching for that.

  6. Jeez! Offended?!? Indecent?!? Moe did you just fall off the boat or are you posturing because you’re so “above it all”? The first serious national politician to push for the legalization of pot will be crucified by their opponents. It will create a media circus. If you can find it within your deep sensibility to get past how “offended” you are I’m sure you’d see that.

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