"end this war on drugs", the US don’t torture, and more trickle-up economics...

"shame on my party, the democratic party, because they don't have the courage of their private thoughts, because we don't want to appear weak on this topic." those are the words of the mayor of san francisco, one of the few that apparently has a brain when it comes to crime and drug abuse. in calling for us to end this ridiculous "war on drugs" gavin newsom became one of the few major party politicians to have the stones to speak the truth on the subject, recognizing that the "war on drugs is an abject failure."

he continued on to point out that which is obvious to anyone paying attention that doesn't have a stake in keeping the millenial evangelical sheep in an uproar..."it's laughable that anyone could look at themselves with a straight face and say 'oh,we're really succeeding.' I mean it's comedy." and he is absolutely right. our jails are slammed with people that don't need to be there, they need help overcoming addiction. they aren't violent, they aren't a threat to anyone but themselves. and we are spending obscene amounts of your tax dollars to put them away and turn them into career criminals...and remember that next time you pour a drink when you get home from work...are you really that different? or do you just choose a different chemical?

even the sheriff in san francisco has come to see the light. "the war on drugs is not working. the war on drugs is not working because we are relying on law enforcement instead of on treatment." sheriff hennessey, who has run the jail for decades, recognized that three to four out of every five prisoners at the county jail is there for substance abuse issues. what the fuck are we doing? as a society we should be offering our help to these people to clean themselves up and turn their lives around, give them an outlet that does not require self-medication. instead, we throw them away and ensure that their lives will be destroyed even further, necessitating more drug abuse...and more money on police, jails, and courts. a penny on treatment could save us millions more on punishment.

the boy king seems to have mixed up his job description again...as he now claims his job is to find actionable intelligence (silly me, I always thought the executive's job was to faithfully execute the laws of the United States...but then I didn't actually swear on that, so what do I know). in the process, he wants us to remember that the united states does not torture - just please ignore the alberto gonzales behind the curtain with his how to torture memorandums circulating around the justice department and white house (all while your representatives were banning the practice...how's that for faithful execution?).

remember when the republicans were up in arms over bill clinton (who, for those of you that don't know my feelings as of yet, is one of the biggest disasters of a president in history...and a complete asshole to boot) skirting the law by altering the definition of "is?" seems pretty damn insignificant now that the boy king is skirting the law by effectively claiming "it depends on what your definition of 'torture' is." well boy king...here's the funny thing, the united states code defines torture for you...and those things in your little buddies memorandum...well, they pretty much fit that definition to a T.

18 USC 2340(1) - "torture" means an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon another person within his custody or physical control;
(2) "severe mental pain or suffering" means the prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from (A) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe phyiscal pain or suffering (B) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality [*cough* sleep deprivation, stress positions, that damn music] (C) the threat of imminent death [*cough* water-boarding]; or (D) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality.

so there you have it...the united states does not torture...except by its own legal definition of torture...but then the boy king never seemed to be adequately versed in the laws he swore to uphold. yet another showing of why presidents should be required to be under oath whenever they talk to the press - perjury is impeachable, apparently authorizing torture is not (which, by the way, is punishable by death pursuant to 18 USC 2340A).

emminent domain strikes again as the latest example of monied interests having bought your government and turned it against you. years ago in san diego, a family took an old gun store and turned it into a successful boxing gym. now, the city is going to take it so million dollar condos can be built. and it is happening all over the country, hundreds of emminent domain projects are targeting the poor, and the un-cracker in favor of Big Money in the pocket of Big Whitey. for god's sake, even clarence thomas (who never writes if he doesn't have to) wrote against giving this power to local leaders in a dissent recently. emminent domain is in place for projects that should be building more gyms like the barragan's in san diego, should be putting up schools and affordable housing. instead, it is doing the opposite, destroying communities in favor of big developers that don't give two shits about community - although by their definition "community" means houses crammed together behind a gate to keep brown folk out.

your government has turned against you. and let's be serious...the democrats aren't the answer to the republicans...they were, and are, just as in on it as those assholes parading around as elephants. kick them all out...you pick how.

I sat and stared, but only the river stared back...