Posted on 03/30/2021 4:22:32 PM PDT by george76
Under drug criminalization, elites often get away with the same behavior that earns disadvantaged people harsh punishments..
Honesty is always the best policy. That is, unless you work in a low-level federal job for the Biden administration—in that case, it might get you demoted or fired.
Young White House Staffers ‘Sandbagged’ Over Past Marijuana Use..
Dozens of young White House staffers have been suspended, asked to resign, or placed in a remote work program due to past marijuana use,” the Daily Beast revealed in an exclusive report. “The policy has even affected staffers whose marijuana use was exclusive to one of the 14 states—and the District of Columbia—where cannabis is legal.”
“Sources familiar with the matter also said a number of young staffers were either put on probation or canned because they revealed past marijuana use in an official document they filled out as part of the lengthy background check for a position in the Biden White House,” the report continues. “Would-be staffers in the Biden administration whose dream jobs were derailed by an opaque system now feel their own truthfulness has been used against them.”
Hypocrisy Alert: Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg Won’t Face Any Consequences..
This purge seems seriously hypocritical in light of past statements from top administration officials.
Low-level staffers are getting the axe over honestly answering employment forms, but top administration officials like Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg have publicly bragged about past marijuana usage (which likely happened when it was still illegal) and will face no repercussions.
Harris laughed and admitted in a 2019 interview with the Breakfast Club that she had smoked weed in college—despite having worked to imprison drug users as California attorney general and having opposed marijuana legalization until very recently.
“Half my family's from Jamaica,” she said. “Are you kidding me?"
“And I did inhale," she added with a laugh. "I just broke news."
Similarly, Buttigieg has not shied away from publicly discussing his past drug use. During his 2020 presidential campaign—wherein he did support legalization—Buttigieg admitted that he had used marijuana “a handful of times a long time ago.”
Yet the vice president and a top cabinet official will not lose their jobs, face demotion, or be reassigned as a result of their past drug use. If the Biden administration believes that past marijuana use is disqualifying for low-level positions in the federal government, surely it must be considered disqualifying for high-ranking cabinet members and the woman a heartbeat away from becoming president.
Criminalization Hits the Disadvantaged Hardest and Ignores the Elite..
The Biden administration’s dank marijuana hypocrisy is emblematic of a broader trend that always plagues drug criminalization; wherein elites get away with the same behavior that earns disadvantaged people harsh punishments.
Whenever the government criminalizes widespread victimless private behavior, it’s impossible to consistently and fully enforce its mandates. So, it has to decide which cases to pursue and which to overlook. This discretion in the wielding of vast concentrated power inevitably results in favoritism and corruption—inevitably redounding to the benefit of the well-off and well-connected.
The result?
African Americans and white people smoke marijuana at similar rates, but African Americans are nearly four times more likely to be arrested for it. Low-income Americans have historically been much more likely to get caught up in the War on Drugs as well.
And, now, low-level marijuana users are being purged from the federal government while elites like Vice President Harris at the top get away with doing the same thing and publicly bragging about it. This hypocrisy is what’s truly disqualifying.
Harris was making stuff up that she said happened more than 30 years ago.
She’s a liar.
It’s probably because she’s just more important than regular people.
People who have trouble with other people indulging are much more useless and detrimental to society than mere users. Drug warriors and the dolts that support them, including insurance companies and politicians are just hemorrhoids on the body politic.
Just wait. The Commissar gets replaced...
Obviously the Vice President can’t be fired.
Buttgig on the hand could be.
They would have been OK but on their applications, where they were supposed to write in their name, they wrote,
“I smoke weed”
Yes, they’re hypocrites. And Booty Judge could be demoted or fired, but it’s a bit disingenuous to gripe about Dementia Joe not firing Camel Breath when it’s not actually within his power to do so at this point. She’d have to be removed via impeachment/conviction.
Too much MJ smoke during “business” hours?
It would be really interesting to see what brought this about.
There is something, that we are not being told (as usual) as to why these people were forced to leave/resign.
“...elites often get away with the same behavior that earns disadvantaged people harsh punishments.”
Ya think?
But Dead Ted, the corrupt fat-assed POS Kennedy thanked you all through his multiple assaults on women. Thanks M-ASS-achusetts.
Baloney. Biden is the executive, he knew what his policy would be long ago, he picked someone open & enthusiastic about using, he could have chosen someone else, he could have issued an EO shielding former (!) users.
Unless, of course, he’s not competent nor actually in charge...
Fired for admitting smoking dope in the past? Huh?
The headline needs to be corrected.
It is officially, according to the White House itself, the Biden Harris Administration.
>>African Americans and white people smoke marijuana at similar rates, but African Americans are nearly four times more likely to be arrested for it<<
My guess is white people are smart enough to do their smoking at home, while people who smoke marijuana in public places are more likely to get attention from the police.
I have a theory on why blacks get arrested at a higher rate than white marihuana users. I have a rental in a mixed race neighborhood. While I was outside working on it, a black boy, probably twelve, was riding his half-sized bike on the road. He had stopped, then he saw several whites, two about his age and some late-teens, walking about three hundred feet away. He yelled at them, “Hey! You guys want to buy some pot?” I didn’t hear the response, but his answer is emblematic of the get-arrested problem. At the top of the lungs his response was, “Well, you see me around all the time. Just ask anybody for Lewis.” He had no idea who he was talking to but didn’t flinch from yelling across a huge distance that he was selling drugs. To me, that says he is living in a place where the use is so common that he think’s it’s okay.
Across the street at this place is a former Air Force sergeant. He’s black. He had just acquired yet another early Maverick. A model he rebuilds and sells. A lot of people stop when he’s out. Some are his extended family, some of whom are renting my house now. Others are just asking about the cars. I watched another black stop and talk to him. The guy got out of his car, a nice, late model Caddy. Serge’s body language told me he was very uncomfortable. When the guy left, he seemed friendly enough. I ambled over and asked Serge what “that” was about. He practically spit the words out. “That (insert N word) stopped to sell me drugs.” I asked if he knew the guy. He said, “I see his car a lot. I think he lives in the meth house down that way,” pointing.
Okay, think back to the white people you knew who sold or used pot. How many of them would act like this? My impression is, they won’t deal with you if they don’t know you. I suspect that 90 percent of the different arrest rates comes down to “culture.”
She is the elected Vice President. She can only be removed by impeachment and conviction.
Well, that’s debatable.
The rump ranger wasn’t elected and he gets away with it too. It just gives them a reason to pick and choose or hold over their heads for special favors.
The real irony here is that these fired staffers are all voting Democrat the next time they go to the polls.
When the stupid people outnumber the smart people, the smart people are in deep guano. That’s not mud up to your knees, folks.
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.