Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Pot, Poker and Prohibitionism: Do Republicans Want To Be the Party of Unprincipled Killjoys?
Townhall.com ^ | April 16, 2014 | Jacob Sullum

Posted on 04/16/2014 8:57:26 AM PDT by Kaslin

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-63 next last

1 posted on 04/16/2014 8:57:26 AM PDT by Kaslin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

All law making is a moral activity. All laws are an expression of some underlying moral imperative.


2 posted on 04/16/2014 9:01:06 AM PDT by ckilmer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

What next? Legalized prostitution?


3 posted on 04/16/2014 9:02:22 AM PDT by eclectic (Liberalism is a mental disorder)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Short answer: yes.


4 posted on 04/16/2014 9:02:27 AM PDT by Wolfie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
"So why on earth is Lee co-sponsoring a bill introduced last month that would ban online gambling throughout the country, instead of letting each state decide whether to allow Internet-assisted poker?"

Because Lee - like 99% of people - only believes in states' rights when it benefits issues he likes (assuming he truly believes in the concept at all).

5 posted on 04/16/2014 9:03:45 AM PDT by gdani (Every day, your Govt surveils you more than the day before)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

I can’t decide if this article is an attack against Republicans or Tea Partiers.

Probably both since it has a libertarian smell to it.

This is crap.


6 posted on 04/16/2014 9:04:49 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

the unprincibled are the ones asking


7 posted on 04/16/2014 9:08:16 AM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

I think marijuana decriminalization is a smart compromise vs legalization. It wouldn’t really change anything much because few people if any go to jail for possession anyway but lots of taxpayer dollars are wasted prosecuting it.

Decriminalization vs legalization won’t lead to growth of government because a small fine for getting caught is better than paying a tax every time.


8 posted on 04/16/2014 9:08:19 AM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eclectic

It is legal in Nevada.


9 posted on 04/16/2014 9:08:34 AM PDT by bigdaddy45
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

I think potheads are pathetic, but that’s a completely different matter than whether or not I think they should be crushed by the federal government. Justice Thomas made the right call in Gonzales v. Raich.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzales_v._Raich#Dissenting_opinions

In a federalist system, we permit other states and people to decide how they want to live even if we disagree with them. For one thing, that means we can live together peacefully as one nation. For another, it means the states are free to experiment and maybe prove or disprove the value of a given policy, like the legalization of marijuana.


10 posted on 04/16/2014 9:09:20 AM PDT by CitizenUSA (Sodomy and abortion: the only constitutional "rights" cherished by Democrats.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
Do-gooders exist in both parties and they would reform and control society to their own liking.

They are certainly not federalists. One could argue they also do not value the Constitution...which is, ultimately, a federal documents which leaves such decisions to the states, and the People, respectively.

11 posted on 04/16/2014 9:09:53 AM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin
The Republican Party can never serve as a credible opponent to the limitless expansion of government by statists - because they are statists, too.

Two generations of Americans will need to eventually relearn the old lesson that state power kills people who get in its way. Only then will a credible opposition emerge - but they won't have neat haircuts and expensive suits and polite manners.

12 posted on 04/16/2014 9:09:58 AM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ([CTRL-GALT-DELETE])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eclectic

On the federal level prostitution is legal; it’s just banned by most states.


13 posted on 04/16/2014 9:11:41 AM PDT by eclecticEel ("The petty man forsakes what lies within his power and longs for what lies with Heaven." - Xunzi)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: eclecticEel
"On the federal level prostitution is legal"

Correct. We better get the the do-gooders to fix that right away! Hell, even WHISKEY is legal in all 50 states! They need to fix that too.

14 posted on 04/16/2014 9:14:10 AM PDT by Mariner (War Criminal #18)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Go back to being for smaller government and a stronger economy, and most people won’t care about the social issues.


15 posted on 04/16/2014 9:14:50 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: eclectic

How about letting the states decide matters of criminal law, whether it’s about pot, prostitution or poker? It worked pretty well back in the 19th century.


16 posted on 04/16/2014 9:15:07 AM PDT by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

“...and that view is especially common among young voters.”

Gee, the same group that favors anal sex, abortion, and taxing the rich at 100%.


17 posted on 04/16/2014 9:20:15 AM PDT by Beagle8U (Unions are an Affirmative Action program for Slackers! .)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mariner
“On the federal level prostitution is legal”
Correct. We better get the the do-gooders to fix that right away! Hell, even WHISKEY is legal in all 50 states!


Just ask Barney Frank and Ted Kennedy respectively.
18 posted on 04/16/2014 9:26:24 AM PDT by Idaho_Cowboy (Ride for the Brand. Joshua 24:15)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: ckilmer

True. What’s that have to do with adults smoking pot?


19 posted on 04/16/2014 9:48:47 AM PDT by DManA
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: ckilmer

This is the part that makes me reject libertarianism as a thoughtful philosophy. I believe in individual liberty, but don’t we have enough proof that permissive laws or legalization of what had once been immoral didn’t improve human life?

Prostitution legalization didn’t end the white slave trade or alter the mentality of pimps and prostitutes. Legal or illegal it still draws the same lost souls.


20 posted on 04/16/2014 9:55:09 AM PDT by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-63 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson