Libertarian ping! To be added or removed freepmail me or post a message here.
Posted on 08/25/2008 11:35:20 AM PDT by jmc813
Among the likely choices for Obama's running mate, Joe Biden was not the person reformers were hoping to see on the democratic ticket. Radley Balko sums up Biden's drug war credentials:
…from a policy perspective, it’s a disaster. Biden has sponsored more damaging drug war legislation than any Democrat in Congress. Hate the way federal prosecutors use RICO laws to take aim at drug offenders? Thank Biden. How about the abomination that is federal asset forfeiture laws? Thank Biden. Think federal prosecutors have too much power in drug cases? Thank Biden. Think the title of a “Drug Czar” is sanctimonious and silly? Thank Biden, who helped create the position (and still considers it an accomplishment worth boasting about). Tired of the ridiculous steroids hearings in Congress? thank Biden, who led the effort to make steroids a Schedule 3 drug, and has been among the blowhardiest of the blowhards when it comes to sports and performance enhancing drugs. Biden voted in favor of using international development aid for drug control (think plan Columbia, plan Afghanistan, and other meddling anti-drug efforts that have only fostered loathing of America, backlash, and unintended consequences). Oh, and he was also the chief sponsor of 2004’s horrendous RAVE Act.
On the other hand, Biden has recently spoken out against the crack/powder sentencing disparity and introduced legislation to address that issue. Pete Guither also notes that Biden's votes on civil liberties issues have consistently improved over the years, which may be a sign that he's evolving in his thinking. But I see no evidence that Biden has ever stepped back in any meaningful sense from his rabid drug warring ways. If he's made any philosophical realignments on drug policy in general, he hasn't said so out loud.
Thus the silver-lining may be that as Vice President, Biden would no longer be serving on the judiciary committee, where he's exerted his influence in the form of the various atrocities outlined above. As VP he'd technically be losing his authority over drug policy issues, except to whatever extent Obama may seek his advice when selecting the drug czar and so forth. It's certainly possible that Obama's more enlightened views would prevail within his administration, or even that Biden's "tough on crime" credentials could provide cover for reform, but Biden would be a strange ingredient in the behind-the-scenes reform agenda that's so often attributed to Obama by liberal reformers. It was bad enough when Obama softened his reform positions to avoid attacks from the right. Will he now begin watching his step around his own running mate?
ping
How ya doing? Long time no talk to, now you have gone and posted something that might make me like Biden. LOL!
Most FReepers have a selective view on Freedom.. they believe in it for themselves, but the thought of granting it to others scares the hell out of them.
History teaches us that so-called 'progressives' love using the power of the state to criminalize possession of mind-altering chemicals: the 18th Amendment, for example, was the result of years of pressure from the unholy alliance of teetotaling bible-thumpers and the 'Progressives' of their day.
Hitler, of course, was a famous teetotaler, and communists like Che Guevara routinely railed against alcohol/drug use because it got in the way of revolutionary fervor.
Very well. Hope you can say the same. Enjoying the hell out of BB10.
Like the doctrinaire Leftist, the doctrinaire Drug Warrior believes that he knows better than the average citizen what's good for you, and won't hesitate to jail you to prove it. See post #3 for a good example of the authoritarian Drug Warrior mindset.
Same here for BB10, although at times I find myself wondering where do they manage to find such crybabies. “You lied to me”, etc. LOL.
But this isn't going to cause the I-like-the-taste-of-bootleather demographic to vote for Obama now, is it?
No, not really, it will however, cost him the liberdopian, demographic.
Real Conservatives like William F. Buckley were on the right side of this issue, and understood entirely that it was a question of basic concepts of Freedom and liberty. Unfortunetly, to gain the majority, the GOP took in all sorts of democrats, who were Christian and Patriotic but otherwise are leftists in that they believe the government exists to tell other people how to live.
I'm betting their ability to hold two contradictory ideals in their head at the same time will be as adroit as the most avid "pro-Constitution" Drug Warriors...
Biden and Feinstein have led the DNC drug jihad.
That' a liberal.
Well I don’t know about that. I agree with you, but the labels have changed. Conservatives used to believe in a wide ranging ideology of freedom and classical liberalism, while liberals were the populists who sought majorities to whip into a frenzy to try to gain more government control, and power over others.
The GOP has, over the last 20 years, become a party NOT where the positions stem from the ideology, but one where the ideology stems from the positions. Now, I happen to agree with most of those positions, but with the cart before the horse, eventually you hit disaster. Such was the case from 2000-2006, where, without ideology as the driving force, the GOP was able to rationalize selling out on a myriad of issues in the belief that by assuring their own perpetual control they could protect some of the few key positions that had become paramount.
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed freepmail me or post a message here.
Nah, just the people that don’t want to live near folks who spend all their time stoned.
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