Replies

But your attempt to paint Amsterdam as some sort of war zone of a hell hole just because marijuana is decriminalized there is disingenuous.

As I said, this was the visceral reaction of someone who very much looked forward to going there. No one was more surprised than me that he despised the place.

And if this were only about marijuana I'd probably agree with you. But those promoting this 'cause' are in league- whether they know it or admit it or not- with a failed agenda that's at least 50 years old in this country.

See my post #354.

As I said, this was the visceral reaction of someone who very much looked forward to going there. No one was more surprised than me that he despised the place.

Nothing personal, but not as you said, as you refined later on. At first you made your statement as if it were your own observation and an absolute given. Your friend's observations could've been derivative of several different things, none of which necessarily had to be the fact that marijuana is decriminalized in Amsterdam. Maybe your friend's poor and couldn't afford to stay in a decent hotel in the city. Maybe your friend really digs the Red Light district and got caught up in the seamier side of the city. Maybe your friend ended up in one of the many beer blast bars behind the Heineken factory and didn’t like the scenery there. Who knows?

Again, nothing personal, but your post #354 represents a simplistic, sanitized version of the Drug War that's highly stylized to fit your political agenda.
At the end of the day, the entire Drug War is nothing but a vile, odious outgrowth of big government liberalism designed to self-perpetuate because it makes particular political constituencies feel good about themselves. When you think about it, it really is the most perfect big government liberal construct there is. Hard-core, flag-waving, hippie-hating conservatives like you can feel good about hauling the trash off to prison, while liberals can jack up our taxes to pay for the whole thing.
We conservatives speaking out against the Drug War on Free Republic have no interest in any form of liberalism, and insinuating that we do because hippies, beatniks, or whatever liberal group of yesteryear liked drugs/free love/whatever is about as intellectually honest as insinuating you're a totalitarian dictator because you share the same opinion on drug control as Stalin, Mao, Ho, Castro, or Hitler. Do you really aspire to be Dane Jr.?