Pubdate: Sat, 01 Jan 2005
Source: Free Press, The (Houston, TX)
Copyright: 2005 The Free Press, Houston
Contact:  http://www.mapinc.org/media/3222
Note: This newspaper does not have a website.
Author: Dean Becker
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)

ONE BIG PARTY

So how was your New Years? Did you scarf down half a turkey and pass out on 
Christmas day? "L-Tryptophan", what a nice, natural downer it is.  Did you 
attend any big parties; did you align yourself with your buds?

The Republicans are having a party; an eternal party and we're all 
invited.  I've decided that despite my lack of "rightful" leanings and my 
proclivity to forgo anything that smacks of partisanship I'm going to 
become a Republican, with a capital R.  To me it seems the Democrats say 
they get it, and then act like Republicans if elected. The Libs, Greens and 
others get it and though I am for 3rd, 4th and even a 20th political party 
having success in the US, I think it will be easier to simply awaken, 
embolden and redirect the party of Lincoln.

If Daniel faced down the lions in the Bible and lived to fight another day, 
surely this can be done.  These Republican leaders expect blind obedience 
and ignorant acceptance whilst they fleece the nation and the world in the 
name of "liberty".  I will be the conscience they could never afford.

I begin with a reach to my Republican brothers in government administration 
with this letter:

I seek a new agenda for our nation:

I want the US to stop funding Osama bin Laden's terrorists.  We must reduce 
crime in the US by 50% next year.  Let us eliminate the reason for which 
most violent street gangs exist. We must be brave and immediately destroy 
the drug cartels.  I seek the end of accidental drug overdose deaths.  May 
we please redirect hundreds of billions of our precious tax dollars away 
from persecuting non-violent Americans to more worthwhile endeavors, like 
arresting the criminals and terrorists that mean us harm.

Milton Friedman, the Nobel Laureate, in a letter to William Bennett, (the 
one time drug czar), perhaps said it best:

"In Oliver Cromwell's eloquent words, "I beseech you, in the bowels of 
Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken" about the course you and 
President Bush urge us to adopt to fight drugs. The path you propose of 
more police, of more jails, use of the military in foreign countries, harsh 
penalties for drug users, and a whole panoply of repressive measures can 
only make a bad situation worse. The drug war cannot be won by those 
tactics without undermining the human liberty and individual freedom that 
you and I cherish."

December 17th, 2004 marked 90 years of drug war; 90 years since the signing 
of the Harrison Narcotics Act.  A trillion US tax dollars have been poured 
into the whirlpool of drug prohibition.  What else have we wrought? Tens of 
millions of our fellow citizens arrested, they and their families rejected, 
thwarted from progress by government mandate, their future progress made 
dependent on perfection.  1.6 million Americans are arrested each year for 
controlled substances, for non-violent offenses yet drugs are cheaper, 
purer and more available than ever before.  A majority now sees this drug 
war for what it truly is: "The largest fraud ever perpetrated on the people 
of earth."

Some government hero's face may someday be sculpted on Mt. Rushmore, 
recognized as the one who exposed the fraud of drug prohibition. There is a 
new "silent majority" growing each day, which sees drug prohibition as a 
real threat to our nation.  For an example of how "To fool some of the 
people all of the time.", one need look no further than the government 
officials who so willingly serve the needs of drug traffickers.

Former CIA Director William Colby "died in a canoeing accident" a few 
months after he stated: "The Latin American drug cartels have stretched 
their tentacles much deeper into our lives than most people believe. It's 
possible they are calling the shots at all levels of government."

Thus, having had my say and given Republican officials a wonderful agenda 
that a vast majority of Americans would also endorse, I will feel better as 
I set about exposing, all those in power, who continue to play their part 
in supporting "insanity, criminality and death." - (Harry J. Anslinger, our 
first drug czar).

I urge you to take the ideas of this column, prepare a one paragraph 
letter, read it to your congressional and senate staffers when you call: 
TOLL FREE: 1-800-839-5276.  Find fax #, mailing or email addresses on the 
net: www.senate.gov or www.house.gov.

Please listen to Cultural Baggage and 4:20 Drug War News on KPFT Radio, 
90.1 FM, Houston, www.kpft.org.  Visit www.DrugTruth.Net (20 Broadcast 
Affiliates in the US and Canada.)
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake