No County for Stoned Men

(subtitle: The Audacity of Dope)
On January 31 of this year, a spokesman for Barack Obama stated that the Illinois senator supported the idea of decriminalizing marijuana. And the pot heads rejoiced. Here, after lo these many years of waiting was a viable presidential candidate who would finally contest the antiquated and oppressive anti-marijuana laws that had led to the unnecessary incarceration of millions of non-violent Americans over the past several decades. Clearly, this was a man worthy of being made to look like Obama of Nazareth (not to be confused with the equally corny Omaha, Nebraska) on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Unfortunately, on February 1, the Obama campaign abruptly recanted the previous day’s statement and pledged their candidate’s support for the current system of punishing marijuana users. They claimed the mix-up was the result of Obama misunderstanding the word “decriminalization.” An Ivy League-educated senator didn’t know what the hell everyone was talking about when they said decriminalization? Dude must’ve been fucking BAKED! Of course Obama’s cowardly waffling on this issue was not widely reported and didn’t affect his standings in the polls at all, because reforming marijuana laws hasn’t been a matter of serious debate in mainstream politics since well…ever.

But isn’t that exactly why we’re supposed to believe in this guy, because he’s an outsider, a voice for change? Isn’t that why Jann Wenner and company saw fit to portray him as a fucking Jedi (really, they couldn’t do better than “A New Hope”? Why don’t they just call Hillary the phantom menace?). This is the guy who, in 2006, admitted to smoking weed and inhaling “several times” because, “that was the point.” It was a ballsy statement that highlighted what a dumbass Billary the First was for claiming that he never inhaled (and yet he also claimed he “did not enjoy it.” How did he know if he didn’t inhale? Fortunately for him, the blow job giving interns of America are more open to trying new things. That’s right I went there. Zing!). Naturally, neither McCain nor Billary II has made any promises to the Guy on the Couch demographic, but they also haven’t made “change” the mantra of their campaigns, and they don’t purport to be the voice of the young voter.

A lot of people have come to expect more from Obama, especially in light of the recent report that more than one percent of adult Americans are currently in prison, giving the good ol’ U.S. of A the highest incarceration rate in the world. Of that, number almost 44 % are African-American and the US spends an estimated $1 billion a year jailing more than 150,000 citizens who are in prison for simple possession of marijuana. Since drug users and black men are clearly amongst those most affected by this country’s draconian anti-drug laws, one would think that Obama would be a bit more vocal on the subject. After all, he did at one time, fall into both categories.

Unfortunately, even though African-American Democrats nationwide are overwhelmingly in favor of legalizing pot, and everyone in their right fucking mind is in favor of reducing the number of Americans behind bars, Obama can’t be expected to publicly take the same stance, lest he end up in the Krazy Kucinich Kamp for Hippies Who Don’t Have a Shot in Hell At Getting Elected. Electablility is the new integrity and centrists are the new mavericks. Don’t get me wrong, I’d prefer if Obama didn’t fuck up his shot at getting elected. I just think maybe everyone’s being a bit premature dubbing him this county’s great black hope when he can’t stick to one position on a fairly black and white (no pun intended) issue that he already took a stance on, particularly one that affects so many members of his base so strongly.

Maybe I’m just being too hard on the guy, he’s still a politician. Sigh. Pass that shit, I’m coming down.