Menthol Patch
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Thanks TruthisTreason.
Sign Petition For LP To Remove Bob Barr!
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amy31416
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Link?
amy31416
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Thanks Adam! (I posted a comment on your blog, don't know if it got lost or not.)
rockandrollsouls
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You're not even a PART of the lp! Where do you get off? Barr hasn't done ANYTHING to contradict the party's platform since he joined the party, and that's a FACT.
dannno
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ARealConservative
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Menthol Patch
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Here is my response to Bob Barr's recent commentary about the war on drugs.
Bob Barr's words will be in normal text. Mine will be in red.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-barr/federal-drug-war-rethough_b_125458.html
Federal Drug War Rethought
As both a U.S. Attorney and Member of Congress, I defended drug prohibition.
No, you did not simply defend the drug prohibition. You were perhaps the boldest drug warrior in all of congress. You are responsible for countless innocent people being in prison today! That's right, the laws you helped put into place directly violated the rights of countless citizens.
But it has become increasingly clear to me, after much study, that our current strategy has not worked and will not work. The other candidates for president prefer not to address this issue, but ignoring the failure of existing policy exhibits both a poverty of thought and an absence of political courage. The federal government must turn the decision on drug policy back to the states and the citizens themselves.
So you start off with the fact that current strategy has not worked. That is obviously true. But you are ignoring the most important reason why the war on drugs must end. This is because everyone has the RIGHT to use drugs if they so choose! That's right, everyone has the right to control what they put into their own body. Of course you don't want to talk about people's right to put substances into their own body if they choose to do so. Why? Because then you would have to realize the harm you did as a drug warrior in congress!
My change in perspective might shock some people, but leadership requires a willingness to assess evidence and recognize when a strategy is not working. We are paying far too high a price for today's failed policy to continue it simply because it has always been done that way.
No, the price that's too high is that so many people have had their rights violated. There are thousands of people that have been searched, harassed, arrested, fined, and imprisoned for simply choosing to put a substance into their own body. These innocent individuals who have not violated the rights of anyone else should NOT be punished for exercising their freedoms!
It is obvious that, like Prohibition's effort to eradicate alcohol usage, drug prohibition has not succeeded. Despite enormous law enforcement efforts -- including the dedicated service of many thousands of professional men and women -- the government has not halted drug use. Indeed, the problem is worse today than in 1972, when Richard Nixon first coined the phrase "War on Drugs."
Whether we like it or not, tens of millions of Americans have used and will continue to use drugs. Yet in 2005 we spent more than $12 billion on federal drug enforcement efforts. Another $30 billion went to incarcerate non-violent drug offenders.
Again, you are not focusing on the most important issue. A large portion of those billions of dollars were spent violating the rights of innocent people to put whatever substance they desire into their own bodies. Those dollars are spent committing CRIMES against the citizens of the USA. That's right, when the government searches, arrests, fines, or imprisons someone for using a substance the jack booted thugs involved have committed a criminal act. Some of the criminal acts that occurred were breaking and entering, violation of privacy, assault, kidnapping, torture, and theft.
To be blunt, those billions of dollars were spent ruining the lives, breaking apart the families, and violating the rights of countless US citizens!
These people must live forever with the scarlet letter P for prison. Only luck saved even presidents and candidates for president from bearing the same mark, which would have disqualified them from not only high political office, but also many more commonplace jobs.
That's true.
The federal drug laws affect even those who have never smoked (or inhaled!) a marijuana cigarette. One of the lessons I learned while serving in Congress is how power tends to concentrate in Washington, and how that concentration of power begets more power and threatens individual liberty. The ever-expanding drug war is a perfect illustration of this principle.
We simply must bring our system back into balance. First, the federal government should get out of the "drug war" and allow states to determine their own drug policies. Rather than continuing to arrest and imprison people for offenses that do not directly harm other people, we should focus federal law enforcement on crimes involving serious fraud or violence, with identifiable victims. Even then, only where there is a clear and specific federal interest, should the federal government be involved.
No, the first thing we need to do is NOT bring our system back into balance. We need to respect people's right to control their life and their body. If the government respected that there could be no "drug war" in the first place. Additionally, federal law enforcement should not simply re-focus on crimes that directly harm other people. The government must admit what people put into their own bodies and do with their own lives is none of their business. If someone is using drugs the government must admit it is none of their business.
As president, I would also begin dismantling the vast bureaucracies that have grown up as part of the drug war. My drug "czar" would diminish rather than expand the office. Importantly, the vast power of the federal government would no longer be employed to override the decision of the citizens of the states to reform their drug laws.
Dismantling the vast bureaucracies is a good thing. However, I hope that you would abolish the DEA all together.
I also would review my presidential pardon and commutation powers as a possible means to reduce the number of people in federal prison for non-violent drug offenses. We can no longer afford the human and economic costs of imprisoning so many thousands of people for drug possession. This is the most destructive impact of drug prohibition.
A true Libertarian president would take that a couple steps further. They would promise to pardon every single peaceful drug users in prison (federal or state) who has not committed any other crime and did not violate anyone else's rights. You may believe that you don't have the authority to interfere in this matter, but I claim it is your duty. The blunt truth of the matter is that if a state banned chocolate or ice cream due to it being unhealthy and started throwing thousands of people in prison it would be your duty to pardon them. The same is true with the war on drugs. Non-violent citizens who harm no one else have just as much right to use crack cocaine as they do to eat ice cream or fatty foods!
The war on drugs is a direct and absolute violation of our rights and freedoms. Unless you are willing to allow states to give people life in prison for eating fatty foods then you must pardon every non-violent drug user in Federal or State prison. Congress may try to stop you but it would be your duty to try!
With regard to the medicinal use of marijuana, it appears that politics, rather than true science, led to the government's classification of marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, preventing its medical use, and has blocked attempts to reconsider that classification. As president, I would direct the DEA to initiate, for the first time, a truly open, fair, and objective process to test and evaluate the medical potential of marijuana. Based on the studies that I have consulted, I believe the result would be reclassification of the drug.
There is zero need for the DEA to do a study on medical marijuana.
First of all, the DEA needs to be instantly abolished if you become president.
Secondly, everyone has the right to use marijuana and any other drug they choose if it actually has medical potential or not.
Thirdly, as president you should attempt to pardon every single non-violent drug user including any medical marijuana patients that have been fined, arrested, or imprisoned.
Fourth, I don't want the DEA getting one more of my tax dollars!
We don't need a study on medical marijuana. We need a nation wide end to the war on drugs.
Regardless of federal policy, the federal government should accept the decisions of the citizens of the states if they choose to allow the medical use of marijuana. As president, I would ensure that no executive branch official interfered in a state initiative or referendum campaign. I also would direct the Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Agency to respect state law. Crimes of violence, whether involving drugs or not, must continue to be investigated and prosecuted by the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
Again, your talking about the DEA like it should continue to exist. As president you should seek to abolish it all together! Also, you should direct the Department of Justice to present you a weekly list of all non-violent drug users who are guilty of no other crimes for you to pardon.
None of this means that I believe drug use to be harmless, or appropriate for minors. For that reason I would encourage people and institutions throughout America, from churches to social agencies to sports leagues, to work together to address drug abuse. One of our nation's greatest strengths is the willingness of people to organize outside of government to solve human problems.
I am glad that you are personally against drug usage. I am too. I think it's wrong and a sin to use drugs. As a Christian I think it's violating your temple. However, I wish you also realized that everyone has just as much right to use drugs as they do to eat fatty foods from Kentucky Fried Chicken. There is no difference!
But treating what is, at base, a moral, spiritual, and health problem as a matter of federal criminal law has solved nothing. The next president must put politics aside and take a long, hard look at the failure of the federal war on drugs. We must reestablish the primacy of individual choice and state's rights in deciding these issues. This always has been the greatest strength of America, and should be again.
Once again you ignore the biggest issue here which is FREEDOM. People have the absolute right to put whatever they want into their own body if it's fatty food, ice cream, or crack cocaine. There is nothing to "look at." The War on Drugs must end and it must end immediately. In addition, no state would have the right to put an individual in prison for eating his favorite canned vegetable so no state has the right to imprison any citizen for putting a drug into their body. The next president of the USA must recognize this and take action against states that are committing criminal acts against peaceful citizens.
In conclusion, I must state that you constantly miss the most important reason why the war on drugs must end - FREEDOM!
Bob Barr's words will be in normal text. Mine will be in red.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-barr/federal-drug-war-rethough_b_125458.html
Federal Drug War Rethought
As both a U.S. Attorney and Member of Congress, I defended drug prohibition.
No, you did not simply defend the drug prohibition. You were perhaps the boldest drug warrior in all of congress. You are responsible for countless innocent people being in prison today! That's right, the laws you helped put into place directly violated the rights of countless citizens.
But it has become increasingly clear to me, after much study, that our current strategy has not worked and will not work. The other candidates for president prefer not to address this issue, but ignoring the failure of existing policy exhibits both a poverty of thought and an absence of political courage. The federal government must turn the decision on drug policy back to the states and the citizens themselves.
So you start off with the fact that current strategy has not worked. That is obviously true. But you are ignoring the most important reason why the war on drugs must end. This is because everyone has the RIGHT to use drugs if they so choose! That's right, everyone has the right to control what they put into their own body. Of course you don't want to talk about people's right to put substances into their own body if they choose to do so. Why? Because then you would have to realize the harm you did as a drug warrior in congress!
My change in perspective might shock some people, but leadership requires a willingness to assess evidence and recognize when a strategy is not working. We are paying far too high a price for today's failed policy to continue it simply because it has always been done that way.
No, the price that's too high is that so many people have had their rights violated. There are thousands of people that have been searched, harassed, arrested, fined, and imprisoned for simply choosing to put a substance into their own body. These innocent individuals who have not violated the rights of anyone else should NOT be punished for exercising their freedoms!
It is obvious that, like Prohibition's effort to eradicate alcohol usage, drug prohibition has not succeeded. Despite enormous law enforcement efforts -- including the dedicated service of many thousands of professional men and women -- the government has not halted drug use. Indeed, the problem is worse today than in 1972, when Richard Nixon first coined the phrase "War on Drugs."
Whether we like it or not, tens of millions of Americans have used and will continue to use drugs. Yet in 2005 we spent more than $12 billion on federal drug enforcement efforts. Another $30 billion went to incarcerate non-violent drug offenders.
Again, you are not focusing on the most important issue. A large portion of those billions of dollars were spent violating the rights of innocent people to put whatever substance they desire into their own bodies. Those dollars are spent committing CRIMES against the citizens of the USA. That's right, when the government searches, arrests, fines, or imprisons someone for using a substance the jack booted thugs involved have committed a criminal act. Some of the criminal acts that occurred were breaking and entering, violation of privacy, assault, kidnapping, torture, and theft.
To be blunt, those billions of dollars were spent ruining the lives, breaking apart the families, and violating the rights of countless US citizens!
These people must live forever with the scarlet letter P for prison. Only luck saved even presidents and candidates for president from bearing the same mark, which would have disqualified them from not only high political office, but also many more commonplace jobs.
That's true.
The federal drug laws affect even those who have never smoked (or inhaled!) a marijuana cigarette. One of the lessons I learned while serving in Congress is how power tends to concentrate in Washington, and how that concentration of power begets more power and threatens individual liberty. The ever-expanding drug war is a perfect illustration of this principle.
We simply must bring our system back into balance. First, the federal government should get out of the "drug war" and allow states to determine their own drug policies. Rather than continuing to arrest and imprison people for offenses that do not directly harm other people, we should focus federal law enforcement on crimes involving serious fraud or violence, with identifiable victims. Even then, only where there is a clear and specific federal interest, should the federal government be involved.
No, the first thing we need to do is NOT bring our system back into balance. We need to respect people's right to control their life and their body. If the government respected that there could be no "drug war" in the first place. Additionally, federal law enforcement should not simply re-focus on crimes that directly harm other people. The government must admit what people put into their own bodies and do with their own lives is none of their business. If someone is using drugs the government must admit it is none of their business.
As president, I would also begin dismantling the vast bureaucracies that have grown up as part of the drug war. My drug "czar" would diminish rather than expand the office. Importantly, the vast power of the federal government would no longer be employed to override the decision of the citizens of the states to reform their drug laws.
Dismantling the vast bureaucracies is a good thing. However, I hope that you would abolish the DEA all together.
I also would review my presidential pardon and commutation powers as a possible means to reduce the number of people in federal prison for non-violent drug offenses. We can no longer afford the human and economic costs of imprisoning so many thousands of people for drug possession. This is the most destructive impact of drug prohibition.
A true Libertarian president would take that a couple steps further. They would promise to pardon every single peaceful drug users in prison (federal or state) who has not committed any other crime and did not violate anyone else's rights. You may believe that you don't have the authority to interfere in this matter, but I claim it is your duty. The blunt truth of the matter is that if a state banned chocolate or ice cream due to it being unhealthy and started throwing thousands of people in prison it would be your duty to pardon them. The same is true with the war on drugs. Non-violent citizens who harm no one else have just as much right to use crack cocaine as they do to eat ice cream or fatty foods!
The war on drugs is a direct and absolute violation of our rights and freedoms. Unless you are willing to allow states to give people life in prison for eating fatty foods then you must pardon every non-violent drug user in Federal or State prison. Congress may try to stop you but it would be your duty to try!
With regard to the medicinal use of marijuana, it appears that politics, rather than true science, led to the government's classification of marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, preventing its medical use, and has blocked attempts to reconsider that classification. As president, I would direct the DEA to initiate, for the first time, a truly open, fair, and objective process to test and evaluate the medical potential of marijuana. Based on the studies that I have consulted, I believe the result would be reclassification of the drug.
There is zero need for the DEA to do a study on medical marijuana.
First of all, the DEA needs to be instantly abolished if you become president.
Secondly, everyone has the right to use marijuana and any other drug they choose if it actually has medical potential or not.
Thirdly, as president you should attempt to pardon every single non-violent drug user including any medical marijuana patients that have been fined, arrested, or imprisoned.
Fourth, I don't want the DEA getting one more of my tax dollars!
We don't need a study on medical marijuana. We need a nation wide end to the war on drugs.
Regardless of federal policy, the federal government should accept the decisions of the citizens of the states if they choose to allow the medical use of marijuana. As president, I would ensure that no executive branch official interfered in a state initiative or referendum campaign. I also would direct the Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Agency to respect state law. Crimes of violence, whether involving drugs or not, must continue to be investigated and prosecuted by the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
Again, your talking about the DEA like it should continue to exist. As president you should seek to abolish it all together! Also, you should direct the Department of Justice to present you a weekly list of all non-violent drug users who are guilty of no other crimes for you to pardon.
None of this means that I believe drug use to be harmless, or appropriate for minors. For that reason I would encourage people and institutions throughout America, from churches to social agencies to sports leagues, to work together to address drug abuse. One of our nation's greatest strengths is the willingness of people to organize outside of government to solve human problems.
I am glad that you are personally against drug usage. I am too. I think it's wrong and a sin to use drugs. As a Christian I think it's violating your temple. However, I wish you also realized that everyone has just as much right to use drugs as they do to eat fatty foods from Kentucky Fried Chicken. There is no difference!
But treating what is, at base, a moral, spiritual, and health problem as a matter of federal criminal law has solved nothing. The next president must put politics aside and take a long, hard look at the failure of the federal war on drugs. We must reestablish the primacy of individual choice and state's rights in deciding these issues. This always has been the greatest strength of America, and should be again.
Once again you ignore the biggest issue here which is FREEDOM. People have the absolute right to put whatever they want into their own body if it's fatty food, ice cream, or crack cocaine. There is nothing to "look at." The War on Drugs must end and it must end immediately. In addition, no state would have the right to put an individual in prison for eating his favorite canned vegetable so no state has the right to imprison any citizen for putting a drug into their body. The next president of the USA must recognize this and take action against states that are committing criminal acts against peaceful citizens.
In conclusion, I must state that you constantly miss the most important reason why the war on drugs must end - FREEDOM!
Menthol Patch
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Anyone else willing to sign the petition?
dude, he failed to stand next to Ralph Nader.
This is an outrage!
He had no problem heaping praise upon Al Gore, lending credence to his global warming hysteria and saying that "we have to do something".
Ask him to stand with other candidates in a call to bring the troops home from around the world, or investigate the Fed, and that's just going too far.
Menthol Patch
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He had no problem heaping praise upon Al Gore, lending credence to his global warming hysteria and saying that "we have to do something".
Ask him to stand with other candidates in a call to bring the troops home from around the world, or investigate the Fed, and that's just going too far.
I agree.
rockandrollsouls
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He had no problem heaping praise upon Al Gore, lending credence to his global warming hysteria and saying that "we have to do something".
Ask him to stand with other candidates in a call to bring the troops home from around the world, or investigate the Fed, and that's just going too far.
Too bad you're wrong. He signed that proposal and fully supports it. Now, whether you choose to believe it or stick your fingers in your ears is your decision, but the fact of the matter is he DID sign off on it. I find it interesting how some of you will go so far as to blatantly lie to slander a candidate.
And, for the record, he did not say government should do ANYTHING regarding global warming. He has said time and time again to let the market handle everything.
Menthol Patch
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If he supported it he should have showed up instead of dropping out at the last minute and lying about it.
Bob Barr is the liar.
I didn't lie. I said he refused to stand with other candidates in support of those issues. That is the truth.
As for global warming:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/022058.html
rockandrollsouls
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He IS in support of those issues he SIGNED OFF ON THE 4 POINT PROPOSAL. What don't you understand? Because he didn't stand on a stage means he isn't in support of it? Give me a break. Ignorant, ignorant, ignorant.
And, Barr has clarified his stance on the issue far beyond the vague comment you've posted. You lead the reader to believe that by "role of government" he means a large one. This is false. He's said time and time again to leave it to the states and market.
Now, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop trying to mislead people.
And, Barr has clarified his stance on the issue far beyond the vague comment you've posted. You lead the reader to believe that by "role of government" he means a large one. This is false. He's said time and time again to leave it to the states and market.
Now, I'd appreciate it if you'd stop trying to mislead people.
Menthol Patch
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I suppose the word "collectively" also implies a free market solution? Sorry Bob I don't buy into you and Al Gore's global warming hysteria, especially considering the warmest year on record was a full decade ago.
I'll start believing that Barr supports the 4 Point Proposal when he starts adhering to it on the campaign trail. He refuses to support a timetable in Iraq...how is that bringing the troops home from around the world? As for the second plank, I have never once heard him speak out on the illegal "secret" CIA prisons...probably because he doesn't want to go after his (former?) employer. His proposed 10% cuts in Executive spending will not make a dent in the national debt, especially if he continues his war in Iraq (after all, he believes that the "surge is working"). The final plank calls for the investigation and downsizing of the Federal Reserve; his call to bail out rich Fannie/Freddie Mac investors at the expense of the American people run counter to it.
Menthol Patch
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bump
chiefsmurph
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bump
LibertiORDeth
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Wait so this black chick is the green party candidate? I thought Nader was, now LRC says hes libertarian.
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