May 24, 2012

"This is Obama chortling with Jimmy Fallon about lower-class people."

"Do we believe, even for a second... that if Obama had been busted for marijuana, under the laws that he condones, would his life have been better? If Obama had been caught with the marijuana that he says he uses, and maybe a little blow — blow, cocaine, blow — this casual attitude toward drugs — a casual attitude toward drugs — that makes him really cool on Jimmy Fallon, makes him the hip President. I'm the cool President! I'm the happenin'est President! I say "weed." I say "blow." It's all a big deal. Ha ha ha. Huge laugh from the college students. And if he had been busted, under his laws, he would have done hard, fucking time, and if he had done time in prison, time in federal prison, time for his weed and a little blow, he would not be President of the United States of America, and he would not have gone to his fancy-ass college, he would not have sold books that sold millions and millions of copies and made millions and millions of dollars, he would not have a beautiful, smart wife, he would not have a great job. He would have been in prison. And it's not a goddamn joke."



Says Penn Jillette, who has never used any drugs (or had any alcohol) and doesn't generally have a problem with hypocrisy.

ADDED: The last sentence of this post isn't sarcasm. Penn states at the beginning of the video that he  doesn't generally have a problem with hypocrisy. He's not a stickler about mere hypocrisy. It's this particular hypocrisy by Obama that bothers him deeply. He states at the end of the video that he himself has never used any substances, which is useful to know: He's not speaking from a position of self-interest.

96 comments:

cubanbob said...

Nailed it on the head. Obama has been lucky but being luck isn't being smart. Had he been busted in his youth, he would probably be another brother with multiple convictions since who wants to hire a convicted criminal?

chickelit said...

Questions:

Did Obama deal?

Are casual users doing hard jail time?

Scott M said...

Says Penn Jillette, who has never used any drugs (or had any alcohol) and doesn't generally have a problem with hypocrisy.

I'm usually satire-sensitive, but the reasoning behind this quip is escaping me at the moment. Is the whole statement supposed to be such a falsehood that it is funny by it's ridiculousness visa vi the actual truth about Jillette?

tim maguire said...

We live in an age where most drug warriors (police and politicians alike) are hypocrites, destroying people's lives for behavior they themselves once engaged in.

Michael Haz said...

Scott, Gillette has never used alchohol or recreational drugs.

Fernandinande said...

Says Penn Jillette, who has never used any drugs (or had any alcohol) and doesn't generally have a problem with hypocrisy.

??

Is there supposed to be something hypocritical about opposing the WOD but not using drugs?

Obama, of course, is the one who 'doesn't generally have a problem with hypocrisy'.

Michael Haz said...

Jillette, Gillette, whatevs.

mpw said...

I took 5 rolls of film for my college at a Penn and Teller show and they drained a pint of Jim Beam during the show. So I am not so sure about the never had a drink line. This was in 83-84 so maybe his age is catching up with him.

TWM said...

"Are casual users doing hard jail time?"

Depends on how much they are caught with. Trafficing weight is not that much really.

I really like Penn. He's a smart, informed,decent man.

caseym54 said...

chickelit:

Even an arrest for cocaine possession would have blown it for Barack Obama.

Anonymous said...

When I was 20 years old we used to assume that someday, when our generation came to power, we would have better sense than to tell people what to do with their own bodies. We would value freedom above power. We would treat the craving for power as the truly lethal addiction that it is and restrain not personal freedom but the hop-heads cranked up on the power of government.

The people who would surely do this, we thought, the people who could not possibly be prevented from doing it - someday - were those who had felt the boot of the police state on their necks and heard the self serving, purulent turpitude from the mouths of the ruling class used to justify it.

Boy, were we wrong.

A special level of contempt is reserved in my heart for the Obamas, Bushs and Clintons of the world who break the backs of a nation of long suffering innocents and all their apologists who congratulate them and one another for being so fucking cool that ice wouldn't melt in their mouths.

Penn Jillette is exactly correct and for exactly the right reason.

He was on Hannity yesterday making this same point. No doubt Hannity featured him mainly to take the opportunity to make Obama look bad, so screw him too. I believe Jillette will be on the air with Fallon as well in coming days and, if so, Fallon gets some credit back for airing a view so righteously indignant and so deservedly critical of his self. He's still a boot lick.

Jillette speaks a home truth here. This is not a fucking joke.

Anonymous said...

The question is would our lives be better if he had gotten arrested and ultimately did not become president?

Richard Dolan said...

Drug crimes have become a surrogate for lots of others, mostly because drug crimes are so easy to prove. And it's certainly true that Obama (and Fallon) are doing a disservice by treating this as a joke. Where this rant goes a bit off the tracks is the idea that drug laws are applied evenly across demographic groups. Not even close to true.

College students are rarely charged with these crimes; the targeted demographic is elsewhere. Even where such college kids are picked up for a drug offense, it is treated differently by prosecutors and almost always pled down to a no-jail offense. Had Obama been picked up for a little weed or blow while at one of his 'fancy colleges', it's quite unlikely that he would have done any time at all, let alone hard time. The treatment of those in the tarfeted demographic, of course, the result is usually very differnt.

Bill Stuntz explored these issues in great depth in his last book, the Collapse of American Criminal Justice. Even for those who would normally be skeptical of anything written by a Harvard Law prof, his book is well worth your time.

Anonymous said...

Boy, were we wrong.

No worries. My generation will get it right! We definitely won't be like every other generation in history.

Ann Althouse said...

"I'm usually satire-sensitive, but the reasoning behind this quip is escaping me at the moment."

That makes me realize it does sound sarcastic, but I'm seriously reporting facts as he states them in the video. No sarcasm intended.

Astro said...

"Amen" to that.

(That's known as ironic humor. 'Cause, see, he's an atheist, and... oh, never mind.)

Scott M said...

Scott, Gillette has never used alchohol or recreational drugs.

I realize that and have been a fan for quite some time. What doesn't make sense is the obvious disconnect between the first part of the sentence, about the supposedly truth that he doesn't partake, with the obvious incorrectness of the second part about his opinion of hypocrisy.

purplepenquin said...

Are casual users doing hard jail time?

More than a few "casual users" have been killed by the police. Is that considered "hard time"?

This is one of the reasons I urge people...especially pot smokers (casual or otherwise)...not to vote for Obama. Our current President has increased the War on Drugs to unprecedented levels, both in scope of mission and budget amount spent, and a toker voting for him is like a chicken voting for Col. Sanders.

If ya are truly interested in seeing positive changes in our drug policy, then more people need to vote either Libertarian or Green Party for President. (Depending which way you lean)

Nothing will change until folks stop voting for the same ol' same ol'...and on this particular issue, both of the TwoMajorParties are pretty much in agreement.

Scott M said...

That makes me realize it does sound sarcastic, but I'm seriously reporting facts as he states them in the video. No sarcasm intended.

No biggie, AA. His cable show was called "Bullshit" and he routinely exposed hypocrisy. What he says about hypocrisy in the clip is HIM being. That was my take on it, anyway.

chickelit said...

In Obama's defence, I don't believe that POTUS is the head of law enforcement in the U.S., despite what Cheney says.

Second, POTUS doesn't make the laws.

I fail to see a crime of hypocrisy...it looks more like "hipocracy"--rule of the cool.

Scott M said...

...him being sarcastic.

D'oh

Astro said...

I see it as satirizing the notion that Obama is 'cool'. Obama wants to be cool but at the same time he's the head of a government that incarcerates people guilty of victimless crimes -- crimes which the president admitted he himself did. Thus, we are presented with the idea that Obama is cool -- but those people in prison? They're losers.

So Jillette says fine, Obama, be a hypocrite -- but don't try to pretend you are 'cool' at the same time. Because if you were really cool, you'd stop this insane war on drugs.

chickelit said...

Why are there even laws on the books when hypocrisy is elevated to the highest thought crime?

I know that's a strawman argument but come on, people.

Dave D said...

I've stated this elsewhere, but I have a DIFFICULT time morally and pragmatically juxtaposing a free society where drug use (and the resulting demons) is legal with a society that gives each and every citizen unlimited healthcare and rehab for such bad decisions, and then pays the unemployable addicts to be "disabled". Back off on the nanny state, and I'm all for legaliztion. Now....not so much.

chickelit said...

Elevating hypocrisy to a thought crime in this instance is actually a decent argument for replacing Obama with Mitt Romney--it would cure the hypocrisy! Unless of course somebody finds a photo of Mitt smoking or drinking coffee.

David said...

Obama's droll message to todays youth 's: "Hey, I got lucky and this did not fuck up my life. Your results may vary but I don't give a shit about your results."

That's the outrage to me and I think it's what outrages Jillette. Drugs can and do ruin lives, through addiction, medical or legal consequence. A presidential role model who (presumably) dodged these bullets isn't what a lot of young people need.

Blue@9 said...

In Obama's defence, I don't believe that POTUS is the head of law enforcement in the U.S., despite what Cheney says.

Really? Obama doesn't have command authority over the DoJ and the DEA? You think Obama has no control over the massive increase in DEA raids against state-authorized medical marijuana dispensaries? WTF are you smoking?

Second, POTUS doesn't make the laws.

No, but he has the power to use discretion when enforcing federal drug laws against entities that are legal under state law.

Obama the candidate said that his DEA would stop such raids. But this is just like everything else in his campaign platform that turned out to be a lie.

David said...

Did Obama deal?

Well, no one reveals everything in their autobiographies, do they?

chickelit said...

Really? Obama doesn't have command authority over the DoJ and the DEA? You think Obama has no control over the massive increase in DEA raids against state-authorized medical marijuana dispensaries? WTF are you smoking?

Back-off elevating POTUS to supreme ruler would you?

Blue@9 said...

Elevating hypocrisy to a thought crime in this instance is actually a decent argument for replacing Obama with Mitt Romney--it would cure the hypocrisy!

Hypocrisy is not a crime. But it's a good reason not to vote for him. That and his lying.


Unless of course somebody finds a photo of Mitt smoking or drinking coffee.

Has Mitt talked about banning smoking or coffee? I don't recall that. But I do recall Obama saying that he'd back off on the WoD.

Blue@9 said...


Back-off elevating POTUS to supreme ruler would you?


Is this your actual response? Obama is the President and controls the entire executive branch, including the DoJ and DEA. No "supreme ruler" required here.

purplepenquin said...

Has Mitt talked about banning smoking or coffee?

Yup, about as much as Walker talked about banning Collective Bargaining...

chickelit said...

Dense much Blue@9?

Scott M said...

Yup, about as much as Walker talked about banning Collective Bargaining...

He didn't ban it. I notice quite a few firefighters and cops still have it.

chickelit said...

Hey, butt out of my argument PP.

BTW, I posted a killer version "Fairies Wear Boots"

Blue@9 said...

Dense much Blue@9?

Lame. Trying to be cool in a comment thread doesn't really work. You either make sense or you don't.

chickelit said...

Blue@9: You were supposed to understand that of course Romney wouldn't be a hypocrite for doing coke or smoking pot, and then being POTUS; but wouldn't it be NTY-worthy to find him doing something which goes against his religion?

chickelit said...

Did that make sense, blue@9?

Original Mike said...

"In Obama's defence, I don't believe that POTUS is the head of law enforcement in the U.S., despite what Cheney says.

Second, POTUS doesn't make the laws."


Until Obama evolves on this issue, I say your defense of him is lame.

chickelit said...

Et tu, Original Mike? Why do you cede Obama so much power? Google the issue...that's where I got the Cheney reference from.

Blue@9 said...

chickelit:

Maybe for the NYT, sure.

I don't really give a crap about someone straying from his own private morality. It's quite a different matter when such beliefs are pushed into the public policy realm. Mitt doesn't go around saying that tobacco and caffeine use should be stopped, so meh.

Original Mike said...

Because Obama isn't out there saying these laws need to be repealed, chickelit. If he were trying and failing, I'd buy your argument. But he's not, so I don't.

Blue@9 said...

Why do you cede Obama so much power?

I just can't tell anymore if you're being sarcastic. (you should realize that sarcastic buffoonery is virtually indistinguishable from straight-faced comments by actual buffoons)

purplepenquin said...

He didn't ban it. I notice quite a few firefighters and cops still have it

Some folks also claim that marijuana ain't "banned" 'cause the Feds mail pre-rolled joints to a couple people who need it for medical reasons.

*shrug*

While it is true that Act 10 banned collective bargaining for some workers, it didn't do so for all workers. I'm srry if my earlier statement lead you to think otherwise.

The Unknown Pundit said...

The WOD is tyranny. There really is no other word for it.

edutcher said...

As far as doing time, any time, never forget Zero has always been very well-connected, going back to the grandmother he eventually threw under the bus.

For every user who does hard time, there's one who's kept out of the slammer by Mommy and Daddy's bucks and who they know.

I Callahan said...

While it is true that Act 10 banned collective bargaining for some workers, it didn't do so for all workers. I'm srry if my earlier statement lead you to think otherwise.

I thought CB was outlawed only for benefits? Is CB outlawed completely for non cops and firefighters?

Rocketeer said...

We live in an age where most drug warriors (police and politicians alike) are hypocrites, destroying people's lives for behavior they themselves once engaged in.

I suppose you will say I'm picking at nits - I'm not, actually - but: It's only hypocrisy if they are still engaging in it.

Cincinnatus said...

chickelit, you seem not to realize that all Federal law enforcement reports to, and serves at the pleasure of, the President. He is the chief law enforcement officer just as much as he is commander in chief of the armed forces.

purplepenquin said...

I thought CB was outlawed only for benefits? Is CB outlawed completely for non cops and firefighters?

A summary of Act 10 can be found here.

Basically...as far as collective bargaining is concerned: it is banned for some workers, allowed for others, and heavily restricted for most.

By "heavily restricted" I mean that nothing-at-all is allowed to be negotiated between the workers and the employee except for a cost-of-living increase, and even that is directly tied to the Consumer Price Index.

And by "nothing at all", they mean not just benefits but also safety rules, work hours, workplace conditions, and anything else.

Robert G. said...

If you heard the whole podcast, he explains his attitude towards hypocrisy by saying something along the lines of, "I don't mind if you are a hypocrite, because it doubles the chance that I will agree with you."

Howard said...

Penn is right on target here up to the "don't have a problem with hypocrisy generally". This is the biggest problem with people in power in general. "Do as I say, not as I do" only works (sometimes) when you're speaking to children.

Thorley Winston said...

The question is would our lives be better if he had gotten arrested and ultimately did not become president?

Good point, I’ve managed to get this far in life without doing them and would be just fine if the prevailing attitude in our country was that if you used illegal drugs or cheated on your spouse, you couldn’t get elected dog catcher. The idea that we have to tolerate moral reprobates at the highest levels because they have some unique and useful qualities that make them better leaders is frankly a load of BS.

Robert Cook said...

"I took 5 rolls of film for my college at a Penn and Teller show and they drained a pint of Jim Beam during the show. So I am not so sure about the never had a drink line. This was in 83-84 so maybe his age is catching up with him."

Or perhaps what you saw wasn't actually what happened...perhaps they didn't actually consume a pint of Jim Beam...perhaps you were taken in by an illusion...you know, "magic."

Howard said...

Thanks, Robert G. I should probably WTHFV. That's a kinda funny throwaway line.

Smilin' Jack said...

Do we believe, even for a second... that if Obama had been busted for marijuana, under the laws that he condones, would his life have been better?

No, but maybe ours would be.

Robert Cook said...

"The idea that we have to tolerate moral reprobates at the highest levels because they have some unique and useful qualities that make them better leaders is frankly a load of BS."

True. It's time to stop apologizing for the crimes of those who run the major banks and financial houses; it's time to prosecute them and replace them with persons of moral probity.

And while we're at it, we need to prosecute Bush/Cheney, et al., for their crimes. The example of their having gotten away with their crimes will only encourage further depradations by succeeding moral reprobates who already have and who will follow them in office.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

@chickenlit I'd be with you except for two things. First, Obama campaigned on NOT raiding marijuana dispensaries "where they are legal under state laws" and at least the people who believed this statement and voted based on this sensible approach would consider this hypocritical (and it belies your take that he isn't the top law enforcement executive because Obama ran as if he would be that); and secondly because Obama has proven himself a hopeless micro-manager and therefore ANY policy the DOJ follows flows from the top. This is true for any administration, the president sets the policy goals and has his appointees (like the AG) implement them. Even if you were to take the position that Obama is lassaiz faire when it comes to the DOJ, the responsibility for the implementation of policy falls on POTUS. He is to blame for what his admin does.

roesch/voltaire said...

What a far fetched stretch to do a bit of Obama bashing by claiming that an admission one smoked some marijuana or did some blow is about class warfare, and not an honest revelation of one who liven in his time, and who was lucky not to be busted. Even more BS propaganda to claim they know the subtext of the amount of blow used. One could claim it is hypocrisy on Obama's part because he does not press for legalization, but then that ignores the huge legal network of police and private jails that make money on the arrests-- mainly of black folks. They run a powerful lobby and manage to intimidate many--

Alex said...

Penn Jillette, who has never used any drugs

So what, he's committed the sin of gluttony which is far worse IMHO.

Alex said...

rv - I know many policeman. We all agree there is no such thing as institutional racism and that liberals like you are fucking crazy.

harrogate said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Alex said...

Right, he used the power of his office to specifically target occupations populated by those who disagree with him politically.

That is a supposition not borne out by any concrete facts.

harrogate said...

"[Walker] didn't ban [collective bargaining]. I notice quite a few firefighters and cops still have it."

Right, he used the power of his office to specifically target occupations populated by those who disagree with him politically.

Statesmanship. Rockstardom.

Also, this

"I know many policeman. We all agree there is no such thing as institutional racism"

is fun stuff.

harrogate said...

Dear Alex,

You write: "That is a supposition not borne out by any concrete facts."

I stand corrected. it is all very stunningly coincidental. Cue that charming Walker shrug.

Matt Sablan said...

Are they his political opponents, so he proposed these policies -- or are they his political opponents because he proposed these policies?

MikeR said...

Boy, is Jillette right. What a terrible thing to put people in jail for this.

Sigh. The war on drugs has already killed the progress of the black community in America (see the chapter in Freakonomics). Because it's illegal and therefore lucrative, dealing drugs became the career of choice for the average inner-city black boy.

It just isn't worth it.

Rliyen said...

I disagree with Penn on a lot of things. But this one, I wholeheartedly stand behind him on.

Shanna said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
chickelit said...

Robin said...
chickelit, you seem not to realize that all Federal law enforcement reports to, and serves at the pleasure of, the President. He is the chief law enforcement officer just as much as he is commander in chief of the armed forces.

I'm glad you put that word "Federal" in there and didn't take a monolithic view of "law enforcement" and especially drug laws.

Michael Haz said...

Sigh. The war on drugs has already killed the progress of the black community in America (see the chapter in Freakonomics). Because it's illegal and therefore lucrative, dealing drugs became the career of choice for the average inner-city black boy.

It's a career choice freely made, isn't it? Libertarian in that aspect. A choice made knowing the consequences include arrest, imprisonment and possibly death.

LCB said...

"I took 5 rolls of film for my college at a Penn and Teller show and they drained a pint of Jim Beam during the show. So I am not so sure about the never had a drink line. This was in 83-84 so maybe his age is catching up with him."

Was it Jim Beam...or tea? Did all of those old cowboys in the movies really drink rotgut for the camera? Does Ron White really drink Scotch when doing stand up???

"Show buisness, it's show business..."

Darrell said...

...perhaps they didn't actually consume a pint of Jim Beam...

Or perhaps they just drank iced tea with lemon (and some food coloring)--like the bottles the Rat Pack consumed onstage were filled with. When people like Dean Martin drank real alcohol, it was between sets.

Blue@9 said...

And while we're at it, we need to prosecute Bush/Cheney, et al., for their crimes.

What "crimes"? What laws did they break?

roesch/voltaire said...

Alex writes:rv - I know many policeman. We all agree there is no such thing as institutional racism and that liberals like you are fucking crazy.

Yep I am crazy for noticing these facts from- race & prison - "imprisonment for marijuana offenses) "Compared to Non-blacks, California’s African-American population are 4 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana, 12 times more likely to be imprisoned for a marijuana felony arrest, and 3 times more likely to be imprisoned per marijuana possession arrest. Overall, as Figure 3 illustrates, these disparities accumulate to 10 times’ greater odds of an African-American being imprisoned for marijuana than other racial/ethnic groups."
Alex, you and your so-called police friends are, and here I will indulge in the kind of name-calling you often resort to- a bunch of twerps who sling shit.

Shanna said...

Overall, as Figure 3 illustrates, these disparities accumulate to 10 times’ greater odds of an African-American being imprisoned for marijuana than other racial/ethnic groups."

Lord knows I don't think we should put anybody in jail for smoking marijuana, but is it possible the they are more likely to be imprisoned because they are more likely to be dealers? That's what gets you real time generally, in my understanding.

Robert Cook said...

"What 'crimes'? What laws did they break?"

Laws against warrantless wiretapping, laws against torture, laws against waging aggressive, (i.e., non-defensive) war.

Synova said...

I haven't used any drugs either, and seldom drink alcohol.

Drugs are *stupid*. They are even destructive and *bad*.

That doesn't mean they ought to be illegal, or that we ought to assume that it's the rightful place of government to prohibit anything unwise, nor coerce anything virtuous.

sakredkow said...

Why does this particular hypocrisy bug him if mere hypocrisy doesn't?

Legalize it.

Synova said...

That doesn't mean that I don't think it's not a legitimate issue of character, or that, being legal, the military academies should have to condone it or any business should have to condone drug use.

Losing your job, though, or getting expelled from school or separated from the military or *not* elected to office, are not the same things as being made a criminal.

Scott M said...

Why does this particular hypocrisy bug him if mere hypocrisy doesn't?

Mayhap I'm completely wrong about this; as you can see upthread I was a bit confused. My take on P & T has always been a huge disdain for hypocrisy of any kind.

bagoh20 said...

I think his point about hypocrisy is that he has no big problem with it if it's just someone spouting off, but when you put people in jail and ruin lives with it, that's immoral, not to mention making jokes about it.

It's all part of the coolness exemption VDH describes.

chickelit said...

It's all part of the coolness exemption VDH describes.

Expand on that please or link to it.

I know that drug use has a long history of wanting to be hip and cool, and portraying itself as hip and cool.

Synova said...

I think that the video is pretty clear that he's not upset about the hypocrisy of it so much as about the fact that, he says, one in six people in prison are there for marijuana and that this is *not a joke*.

A couple election cycles ago the Dem candidate made a similar joke... ha ha... well, you know, ha ha... when we were in college... Her opponent was Heather Wilson who attended the Air Force Academy.

I *try* to understand that some people seem to find it difficult to say no, but I have too much trouble with the notion that I'm a great paragon of steel-willed virtue to get very far with it. The notion is absurd.

It's not hard to say no, people just don't want to. Can't they own it without either making a joke or acting like "everyone did it" is relevant?

(Oh, Sarah Palin smoked weed once, I think she said. But it was legal in Alaska at the time.)

Anonymous said...

Agree with him. It's insane the amount of people in prison for drug offenses who just go downhill from there.

Where did it start? Was it hippie/draft dodger loathing? Fear of black people/inner city? Both? Police that profit from drug proceeds? What started it? It's insane.

chickelit said...

@Synova wrote:

That doesn't mean they ought to be illegal, or that we ought to assume that it's the rightful place of government to prohibit anything unwise, nor coerce anything virtuous.

If we legalized heroin tomorrow and made it freely available, we'd see deleterious effects on individuals and eventually on society. Some people are just that weak. If people can't control themselves, the government will.

Please listen to what Lemmy, a veteran drug user says: Sometimes the straight people are right…and they’re right in the fact that one drug will lead to another ‘cause you meet more people who are doing drugs, you know?

link.

Then back it up and watch the whole clip--it's pretty funny. :)

chickelit said...

@Synova: Sorry, wrong link up there. Try this one: link

Thorley Winston said...

Here you go. VDH wasn’t talking about people avoiding going to jail because drugs were perceived as cool but rather talking about how individuals who had the “right” (that is to say “left” or “progressive” politics) were tacitly exempt from being criticized for being part of the ”One Percent.”

Blue@9 said...

Please listen to what Lemmy, a veteran drug user says: Sometimes the straight people are right…and they’re right in the fact that one drug will lead to another ‘cause you meet more people who are doing drugs, you know?

It's pretty much bound to happen when marijuana commerce is limited to the black market. Some astounding percentage of Americans have tried pot, and we've made it so that the only way to buy some is to go talk to the shady guy on the corner. If we renewed Prohibition, liquor would be called a gateway drug because the same guy who sell you whiskey out of his trunk would likely be selling harder stuff too.

chickelit said...

Blue@9: That's not what I hear Lemmy saying in that clip. He's saying you hang around with people who do drugs and the mix changes and one day one of them says well this cool but have you tried...?

That's all he's saying. It's a mechanism. It works for other things.

And be honest...you're not just talking about pot here either.

sakredkow said...

I didn't see Jimmy Fallon and Obama so I guess I'll just have to pass on Penn's characterization of Obama's attitude.

I don't think just because Obama smoked weed in his youth that means he can't sincerely believe that it should be illegal today. I think probably you'd find a lot of people who fit that profile and it doesn't really make them hypocritical, does it?

I repeat: Legalize it.

William said...

I recently read the Jenkins biography of Churchill. I was shocked to discover that Churchill exaggerated his indulgence in brandy. He was a tippler but was never seen drunk or even tipsy.....I think Obama probably exaggerated his drug use for the same reason that Churchill exaggerated his liquor consumption. It made him seem more human and less calculating....Obama's drug use is more sleight of hand than hypocrisy. He draws attention to a vice that he doesn't truly have in order to draw your attention away from his real vices. He was never in danger of becoming an addict or getting arrested. That's not the concern of a dilletante user. He didnt't take drugs to get high, but to become hip. Pretension not indulgence is Obama's vice.... I think Bush consumed his liquor with far more sincerity than Obama indulged his drugs.

el polacko said...

from the marijuana policy project:

A conviction for a marijuana offense results in two different categories of punishment:(1) the punishment directly imposed by the judge, and (2) a range of collateral sanctions that are triggered by the conviction.

•The collateral sanctions associated with a marijuana conviction are significant, and in many cases far exceed (in both severity and duration) the direct punishment.

• In most cases, a marijuana conviction triggers the same collateral sanctions as those triggered by a conviction for murder, rape, or kidnapping. In many cases, the collateral sanctions for a marijuana-related conviction actually exceed those for a violent crime.

• Collateral sanctions triggered by a marijuana conviction can include: revocation or suspension of professional licenses, barriers to employment or promotion, loss of educational aid, driver’s license suspension, and bars on adoption, voting and jury service. In most states, these sanctions continue for life.

so hardy-har-har, mr. president. kick back with a nice spliff...and heck, maybe even a little 'blow' while your federal goons, at your behest, ruin the lives of american citizens.

Horses AgainstObama said...

Great rant but he left out Obama specifically promised to allow medical marijuana in states that legalize it, and once he became President (after getting those votes) he did the exact opposite -- increasing prosecution threefold. That used to be called lying. http://wydkao.tumblr.com/post/20685750386/obama-bogarts-your-joint.

Horses AgainstObama said...

What you don't know about Obama = WYDKAO
Obama Bogarts Your Joint

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Have we considered the possibility that the President never used drugs at all? That he's lying about past drug use to seem cool?