Dear President Obama,
I am not trying to be an asshole when I say this, but “GROW A SACK OF NUTS” already.
I thought, when I heard your administration was not going to fight for Susan Rice and her honor, that would have been the least courageous thing I heard from you guys yesterday. But I was wrong.
While it is very sad that you could not find the courage to allow Ms. Rice the opportunity to “serve at the highest possible level” and go to battle with the idiots who oppose her nomination, it is indicative of how you have operated as President to date. You continue to cave to the demands of the far right Republicans, in hopes of earning some favor with those assholes. How has that worked out? I mean besides them calling you a Kenyan socialist and accusing you of running the economy into the ground? Have they come around yet?
I pulled for your re-election. I believed that in a second term that you may grow that sack of nuts and hopefully find your voice, and I still believe that. I know you have not been inaugurated yet, but so far, I am not feeling encouraged. Why? Sure…you have had some tough talk with John Boehner that sounds great in sound bites; but I would bet the final fiscal cliff deal includes you caving on Medicare still. Then there is Susan Rice, which is an epic fail in courage.
BUT…now you go on an interview with Barbara Walters and when confronted with the reality that two states passed weed legalization measures, and your response is some double speak about, “It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it’s legal.”
Look here, Barry. We are not talking about some guy walking down the street with his joint. It is ALREADY not a top priority for your precious Drug Enforcement Agency. No one ever even remotely mentioned it was. You are talking in circles…again. Break down your comment for a minute…
“It would not make sense…” – doublespeak for “I have no idea what the DEA will do”
“for us to see a top priority…”– doublespeak for “I never said it wasn’t a priority, at all. Just not a top one.”
“as going after recreational users…”- doublespeak for “I still might arrest sellers, growers, and producers.”
“in states that have determined that it’s legal.”– doublespeak for “I got my ass kicked by weed in the election.”
But all hope is not lost. We just need to look back to May to see that Obama does have the courage to change his mind publicly on social change issues like he did on gay marriage. Here is a quote from an interview he did with ABC in May discussing his shift in opinion, and in policy:
“I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or Marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” he said.
“It’s interesting, some of this is also generational,” the president said. “You know when I go to college campuses, sometimes I talk to college Republicans who think that I have terrible policies on the economy, on foreign policy, but are very clear that when it comes to same sex equality or, you know, believe in equality. They are much more comfortable with it. You know, Malia and Sasha, they have friends whose parents are same-sex couples. There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we’re talking about their friends and their parents and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn’t dawn on them that somehow their friends’ parents would be treated differently. It doesn’t make sense to them and frankly, that’s the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective.”
That is right. Obama was against gay marriage when he took office in 2009, and did an about face on the issue when he had the political coverage to do so. Maybe some od Sasha and Malia’s friends parents also smoke weed and do not deserve to be treated like criminals either. You ever think of that? So it is not unheard of that Obama can transform his public positions when he needs to. That is encouraging.
What is not encouraging is the other stupid remarks he said about weed to Barbara Walters in his first statements about weed legalization. He went on to say:
“”This is a tough problem, because Congress has not yet changed the law,” Obama said. “I head up the executive branch; we’re supposed to be carrying out laws. And so what we’re going to need to have is a conversation about, How do you reconcile a federal law that still says marijuana is a federal offense and state laws that say that it’s legal?”
But this is where he lacks serious courage, and is kind of full of shit. He kicks the can over to Congress, as if he is powerless over the law, as it stands. Yes, Obama…you head up the Executive Branch. You head up the US Department of Justice. You are the Commander in Chief. If you tell your army of drug warriors to stand down on weed, they will listen. Just like they listened when you told them to stand down on immigration for dreamers, and to not enforce the Defense of Marriage Act.
Even further are the powers relegated to the Executive Branch regarding the Controlled Substances Act. Your Attorney General and Secretary of Health and Human Services can remove cannabis from the list of scheduled drugs…if you wanted to. So spare me the “it’s Congress’ fault” rhetoric for a minute, and grow a sack of nuts. The only one continuing to take mostly poor people to jail for growing and sellin g weed is YOU.
You are better than this. You do not have to play the “I hate weed” game. You go on to respond to accusations of your admitted weed use in your youth, as if you are ashamed, when in every account of the situation it would seem you had a great time as leader of the Choom Gang. You stated this:
“There are a bunch of things I did that I regret when I was a kid,” Obama told Walters. “My attitude is, substance abuse generally is not good for our kids, not good for our society.”
You know what is REALLY bad for our society? Taking poor people to jail for weed.
You said, “substance abuse generally is not good for our kids, not good for our society.” That is not even what we are talking about, player. We are talking about responsible adults using a substance far safer than the many legal substances that we allow adults to use responsibly every day. I think we all agree that substance abuse is bad. You will not get an argument there. Nobody is saying that kids should have weed in their school lunch. You are ducking the issue.
The issue is that adults should be able to use weed without being treated as a criminal, or losing their standing in our society. I got kids too. I am not encouraging them to smoke weed. But I am more worried about the fact that if they do decide when they are old enough to try weed that your goon squads will not use their paramilitary force to haul him off to prison. Do you get that?
Furthermore, I know for a fact that weed will be far easier for my kids to get in its current non-regulated market where distribution is left to folks who do not have any problem selling to underage kids. At least if pot is sold in a regulated and controlled environment the kid will have to find some asshole of age to buy his weed for him, just like they do booze now. It is way harder for kids to get booze than weed right now, so your “protect the kids” theory does not hold water.
But if you want to keep giving people the impression that you are not soft on drugs, so that you can spend that political capitol on other issues, then so be it. I think it is cowardly.
This is an issue that tears at the fabric of our society. We are the world’s leading jailer by far because of these disastrous policies, and you do not have the courage to stand up and say, “Enough?” Why? What is stopping you? Weed beat you in Colorado by 50,000 votes. Not really a back burner issue any more, eh? The fact that you choose to ignore the reality and face this issue head on makes me sad. We are at a point in history where it is time to change course. We can no longer afford, financially or socially, to take people to jail for a safe, enjoyable, and helpful plant. It is just not working.
The one encouraging quip that you interjected into your conversation on weed with Barbara WaWa was this…you used the phrase, “”at this point,” you do not support legalization. To me, that sounds like you may be finding your sack of nuts and may get back to us soon with a different position at a different point. At least that is what I am hoping.
I did not expect you to run right out with your Grateful Dead tie-dye shirt and a fatty; but I did expect for you to make more educated and understanding responses. I think you will eventually do the right thing on this issue…the question is how much blood and treasure do we have to lose between now and then? How many more otherwise good kids who got caught up in the “illegal” weed game have to lose their freedom before you say enough?
The time is now. You can end this thing. So walk back into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and begin to grow that sack of nuts that you will need to stand up to decades of prohibition and the monsters that choose to keep these evil policies in place. The next time you get the “What are you gonna do about weed in CO and WA?” question, hopefully you will have a more courageous and responsible answer.
The “I do not think kids should smoke weed” response is neither relevant, nor adequate. If you really care about the kids, grow a sack of nuts and quit taking them to jail. Anything less than ending this thing is once and for all is unacceptable. We are better than this as a society, and as our leader, you have got to find your voice for cannabis freedom…and soon.
Yours Truly…The Weed Activist
