"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass," "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." The same might be said of Supreme Court justices. Take, for example, Gonzales vs. Raich, the Supreme Court's medicinal marijuana case. The commerce clause in Article One of the Constitution could hardly be more clear in limiting federal power to commerce among the several states, not within a state. But in Gonzales vs. Raich, a 6-to-3 majority has stretched commerce to mean just what they choose it to mean - far enough to let the faraway feds, not the close-to-the-people state governments, decide whether their ailing residents should be allowed to grow their own medicine under a doctor's care. [continues 515 words]
WASHINGTON - "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." The same might be said of Supreme Court justices. Take, for example, Gonzales vs. Raich, the Supreme Court's medicinal marijuana case. The commerce clause in Article One of the Constitution could hardly be more clear in limiting federal power to commerce "among the several States," not within a state. [continues 753 words]
The commerce clause in Article One of the Constitution could hardly be more clear in limiting federal power to commerce "among the several States," not within a state. But in Gonzales vs. Raich, the Supreme Court's medicinal marijuana case, a 6-to-3 majority has stretched "commerce" to mean just what they choose it to mean -- far enough to let the faraway feds, not the close-to-the-people state governments, decide whether their ailing residents should be allowed to grow their own medicine under a doctor's care. [continues 577 words]
WASHINGTON -- "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass," "it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less.'" The same might be said by U.S. Supreme Court justices. Take, for example, Gonzales vs. Raich, the high court's medicinal marijuana case. The commerce clause in Article 1 of the Constitution could hardly be more clear in limiting federal power to commerce "among the several states," not within a state. [continues 736 words]
WASHINGTON -- Jon Stewart's satirical "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central likes to call itself "No. 1 in fake news." Team Bush seems determined to challenge the show for the title--with our tax dollars. In memos sent last week to federal agency heads, the Bush White House rejected a Government Accountability Office ruling that it is illegal for federal agencies to feed TV stations prepackaged "news stories" that do not disclose the government's role in producing them. Fake-news stories, called "video news releases" in the public relations industry, are a huge business. The PR trade produces thousands a year, mostly for corporate clients. Designed to resemble independently reported news stories, these video news releases can be broadcast without editing and, to their everlasting shame, some TV stations have chosen to run them without identifying their government source. [continues 593 words]
I was surprised, but hardly shocked, to hear that President Bush all but admitted to illicit drug use in a secretly taped conversation. I'm only disappointed by the sleazy way the disclosure was disclosed and by the president's reluctance to set the record straight. Like many of the rest of us parents, he says he doesn't want to talk about any of his alleged past drug use because he doesn't want other youngsters to try it. Unfortunately, experience shows, silence is a self-defeating way to discourage kids from drug use. [continues 721 words]
Just as every woman has a little Aretha Franklin in her, as I once heard someone say, I believe that every journalist has a little bit of Hunter S. Thompson inside, raging to be heard. Now he lives only within us, his readers. Thompson was found dead on Feb. 20 at age 67 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his famously "fortified compound" in Woody Creek, Colo. Thompson made journalism look like fun because he was so much fun to read - too much fun for us to ruin it by worrying whether his facts were actually factual, or whether the dark shadows of personal danger that lurked shark-like beneath the dazzling waves of his rants, revelations and screeds might someday drag him under. [continues 568 words]
I was surprised, but hardly shocked, to hear that President Bush all but admitted to illicit drug use during a conversation that was secretly taped. I am only disappointed by the sleazy way the disclosure was disclosed and by the president's reluctance to set the record straight. Like many of the rest of us parents, he says in the tape that he doesn't want to talk about any of his alleged past drug indiscretions because he doesn't want youngsters to do the same. [continues 746 words]
My conservative pundit friend Armstrong Williams just had the weekend from hell, answering phones and juggling interviews like a multitasking press agent for Paris Hilton. "Have you seen the coverage?" he exclaimed over the phone. "I had no idea I was this important!" Well, sorry, my friend, but it's not just about you. There's also the matter of $240,000 in taxpayers' money. That's how much the U.S. Department of Education paid Williams, 45, to promote the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind education reform policy in his dual roles as public relations CEO and a multimedia news and public affairs pundit. [continues 703 words]
WASHINGTON -- My conservative pundit friend Armstrong Williams just had the weekend from hell, answering phones and juggling interviews like a multitasking press agent for Paris Hilton. "Have you seen the coverage?" he exclaimed over the phone. "I had no idea I was this important!" Well, sorry, my friend, but it's not just about you. There's also the matter of $240,000 in taxpayer money. That's how much the Education Department paid Mr. Williams to promote the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind education reform policy in his dual roles as chief executive officer of a public relations firm and a multimedia news and public affairs pundit. [continues 715 words]
WASHINGTON -- My conservative pundit friend Armstrong Williams just had the weekend from hell, answering phones and juggling interviews like a multitasking press agent for Paris Hilton. "Have you seen the coverage?" he exclaimed over the phone. "I had no idea I was this important!" Well, sorry, my friend, but it's not just about you. There's also the matter of $240,000 in taxpayer money. That's how much the U.S. Department of Education paid Williams, 45, to promote the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind education-reform policy in his dual roles as chief executive officer of his public relations firm and a multimedia news and public-affairs pundit. [continues 698 words]
Rush Limbaugh is back on the air after five weeks of drug rehabilitation, although experts say it could be weeks before Ol' Rushbo recovers his full sense of self-importance. His return sermon bombarded listeners with fusillades of what sounded a lot like humility, evidence that his rehabilitative treatment had broken down his defenses, cracked through his sense of denial and gotten him in touch with his feelings, as well as his audience. It took at least a half hour before his voice could de-mellow enough to take a New Age-sounding shot at "lib-brools'': [continues 750 words]
It was a small step for the Supreme Court, but one giant leap toward a sane drug policy. I'm talking about the high court's refusal Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a lower court ruling allowing doctors to recommend the medicinal use of marijuana to their patients. Had the Supreme Court decided to hear the case, it would have had a golden opportunity to rip the innards out of laws various states have already passed to legalize or decriminalize the medicinal use of marijuana. [continues 692 words]
WASHINGTON - It was a small step for the Supreme Court, but one giant leap toward a sane drug policy. I'm talking about the high court's refusal Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a lower court ruling allowing doctors to recommend the medicinal use of marijuana to their patients. Had the Supreme Court decided to hear the case, it would have had a golden opportunity to rip the innards out of laws various states have already passed to legalize or decriminalize the medicinal use of marijuana. [continues 679 words]
So Long To A Misguided Gag Rule On The Medicinal Use Of Marijuana WASHINGTON -- It was a small step for the U.S. Supreme Court, but one giant leap toward a sane drug policy. I'm talking about the high court's refusal Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a lower court ruling allowing doctors to recommend the medicinal use of marijuana to their patients. Had the Supreme Court decided to hear the case, it would have had a golden opportunity to rip the innards out of laws passed by various states to legalize or decriminalize the medicinal use of marijuana. [continues 519 words]
It was a small step for the Supreme Court, but one giant leap toward a sane drug policy. I'm talking about the high court's refusal Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a lower court ruling allowing doctors to recommend the medicinal use of marijuana to their patients. Had the Supreme Court decided to hear the case, it would have had a golden opportunity to rip the innards out of laws various states have already passed to legalize or decriminalize the medicinal use of marijuana. Instead, this conservative Supreme Court wisely decided to reject the Bush administration's appeal of a ruling that came from the most reputedly liberal appeals court, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. [continues 543 words]
WASHINGTON - It was a small step for the Supreme Court, but one giant leap toward a sane drug policy. I'm talking about the high court's refusal Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a lower court ruling allowing doctors to recommend the medicinal use of marijuana to their patients. Had the Supreme Court decided to hear the case, it would have had a golden opportunity to rip the innards out of laws various states have already passed to legalize or decriminalize the medicinal use of marijuana. [continues 697 words]
WASHINGTON -- It was a small step for the U.S. Supreme Court, but one giant leap toward a sane drug policy. I'm talking about the high court's refusal Tuesday to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a dangerous federal gag rule to keep the medicinal use of marijuana illegal, even when states want to legalize the drug. The rule prevented doctors from recommending marijuana to their ill patients or even talking about the medicinal benefits of the weed. [continues 682 words]
Memo to Rush Limbaugh: Hey, Rush, we're counting on you, pal. Now that you might be feeling the hot breath of drug prosecutors on your neck, perhaps you might speak out for more enlightened treatment of non-violent drug offenders. News reports say that Limbaugh is facing an investigation by the Palm Beach County state attorney's office in Florida for allegedly buying thousands of tablets of the powerful painkiller OxyContin and other highly addictive prescription drugs from an illegal ring in Florida between 1998 and 2002. Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the state attorney's office, told The Associated Press last week that his office could neither confirm nor deny that an investigation was under way. [continues 724 words]
Memo to Rush Limbaugh: Hey, Rush. Were counting on you, pal. Now that you feel the hot breath of drug prosecutors on your neck, perhaps you might speak out now for enlightened treatment of nonviolent drug offenders. News reports say you face an investigation for allegedly buying thousands of tablets of the powerful painkiller OxyContin and other highly addictive prescription drugs from an illegal ring in Florida between 1998 and 2002. You issued a three sentence statement on your Web site saying that you were "unaware of any investigation by any authorities involving me" and you promised to cooperate fully "if my assistance is required in the future." [continues 704 words]
