Police groups get knickers in twist over marijuana… because of course.

Eric Holder (AG, US DOJ) recently sent an open letter saying that the federal government would respect the decision of states like Colorado and Washington (my home state) to legalize marijuana for personal use.

This guy, in spite of appearances, is apparently pretty cool.

This is a good thing, since (not to get sidetracked) the states have often been litmus tests for change on the federal level, especially when that change is deeply controversial. Now, the federal government DOES have the right to enforce federal law in states that don’t recognize it, via their own law enforcement agencies and via punitive measures directed at the out of line legislatures of the offending states. This is (partially) how the civil rights movement got equal rights for citizens of differing nationalities and such in all fifty states.

Including the right to vote and hold public office for guys like him. Huh. Who’d a thunk it? WOOT

However, when there is a populist movement to change or eradicate a law, the states often provide a good way to experiment with that change, and see if the results are more as predicted by the side requesting change, or the side asking for preservation of the status quo. In a nation as large as ours, a state can be the equivalent of an experimental group in a study. So I fully agree with and endorse Mr. Holder’s letter. I think that most people, if they approached the subject in that manner, would do the same. Even those against marijuana legalization might pause for thought when confronted with the fact that if legalization has more negative than positive outcomes in the states that have legalized it, that might very well lead to firmer strictures on drug possession and sales throughout the fifty states.

It’s okay, Washington, we’d be freaked too if our gigantic balls were being cupped by a fed in green gloves.

After all, the war on drugs has engendered massive amounts of pain over the years, not to mention casualties – I’ll give one example.

That example is Isaac Singletary. Isaac, an eighty year old man who was acting as caretaker for his sister and mother, saw undercover police, who were posing as dealers, attempting to make drug deals on his front lawn. Isaac first came out and yelled at them to leave. Of course they didn’t. So he went back inside, and returned with a gun in his hand, telling them to leave again. Without identifying themselves as police or in any way attempting to de-escalate the situation peaceably, one of the police officers opened fire, wounding Isaac.

I’ll say that again: A cop shot an innocent civilian; an eighty year old man who believed he was acting to protect his neighborhood from drug dealers.

Isaac tried to get away into his backyard, but the cops chased him down and shot him – again – this time in the back, killing him.

Five witnesses at the scene testified that the officers never identified themselves.

This is the inevitable result of the enforcement of laws making marijuana illegal. It’s horrific, unjust, and creates a well-deserved image of the policeman as a killer and a bully mad on power.

This is the person the police shot and killed. This is Isaac Singletary. Jesus. (Click for link to source article.)

So the logical, informed people in the USA want to see if maybe legalization might result in less death and mayhem than the current state of affairs. Of course they would. And trial states like Washington and Colorado are perfect to find that out. Not everyone approaches things from a detached, impersonal, and clinical perspective, though. Not everyone is rational. And not everyone stops to think before they open their mouths and insert their collective feet.

And what a list of foot-breathers it is. Read more after the jump.

Fucked Up Judiciary

So I don’t know if you were aware of this, but back in February of last year, a couple of Pennsylvania judges went to jail. Wanna know why?

‘Course ya do.

An’ I’m gonna tell ya, too. Soon as I take a hit of whisky, so I don’t throttle my monitor for showing me this evil!

*Breaks the neck off of a bottle, gulps down half of the contents (including fragments of bottle) and sighs*

Okay. The reason that the damned judges got tossed in jail was for taking bribes to change the length and outcome of court cases. But that’s not all. No.

See, these cases weren’t mob cases. They were juvenile court cases. And the bribes weren’t to see that the little shits got out early, either. The bribes were to make sure that the kids stayed in longer.

That’s right. You heard me. The judges artificially inflated the sentences of kids coming before their court… and not on felony charges, either! We’re talking misdemeanor shit, the kind that a kind judge might give you a verbal warning for.

These judges were handing out long sentences to little kids out of greed!

Guess who was lining their pockets with 30 pieces? It wasn’t a mob boss, that’s for damned sure, oh no.

It was PA Child care, a private juvenile detention facility contractor. Basically, the way the scam worked out was this:

• Judges sentence little kids to longer, harder time
• More kids go to juvie . . . and stay there longer
• More kids wind up in PA Child Care’s (money-grubbing, filthy) clutches
• PA Child Care gets more reimbursement from the state every year
• PA Child Care thus raises Pennsylvania’s taxes and ruins the youth of the nation –  at the same time!

So…. yeah. these people are on my permanent shit list.

Here’s a link to the original reuters article.

Here’s a link to the PA Child care organization’s website.

And here are some things they can’t change as easily, if you feel like giving them a piece of your mind for what they did and may still be doing, for all we know.

Western PA Child Care                             PA Child Care
12 Dakota Drive                                          701 Sathers Drive
Emlenton, PA 16373                                Pittston Township, PA 18640

PHONE NUMBER                                       PHONE NUMBER
724- 867-0321                                           570-883-1803

FAX NUMBER                                             FAX NUMBER
724-867-0108                                           570-883-1479

Ah. . . So THAT’s what Bush Jr. wanted. Child harrassment!

You remember how adamant I was about the security measures that went into place after 9/11? How I said time and time again that they didn’t work, wouldn’t work, and needed to be higher quality instead of higher quantity? Well, of course you don’t, because I hadn’t started this blog back then. I have a Wily Badger to vouch for me though, should anyone seek verification. I said those things.
And here, as if I needed any more vindication than I already have, is this sad story about a family being harrassed because of the policies put into place during Bush’s administration. I’m sure Bush Jr. would approve of how this has all turned out.
Obama’s job now is to save this incredibly broken security system (which, to his credit, he’s already starting to do) and re-evaluate the no-fly and selectee lists, so that ordinary citizens who are above reproach, like eight-year old Cub Scout Mikey Hicks, can get on with their lives.

Mikey Hicks, poster child for improper TSA procedure.

We need to revamp the lists and revise how we look at the security situation, people – if for no other reason than that our government is (in this and up to 25,000 other cases) essentially sanctioning the terrorizing of its own citizens.

Worse yet, while our TSA is frisking young master Hicks, a dozen people with criminal histories get on flights without more than the most cursory of checks. I know, because I know some felons. The felons I know never have problems with security in the united states. (Anecdotal, but true ^^)

And even those felons are upset with that state of affairs. According to one, who wishes to remain anonymous,  “If I can fly through security with my background [which includes weapons charges – ed.], then somebody else could, and what if they’ve had a REALLY bad day?”