- If you're gonna act like a prick, suffer the consequences:
I'd like to exchange a vowel, Pat...
- KERA featured a riveting American Masters episode tonight on Joan Baez.
- Probably fair to say Joanie and I vote for few of the same candidates, but there is no denying her resilience and tenacity in support of the dignity of the human spirit, in addition to her immense musical talent. The limit of my admiration?: Allowing herself to be used as a public relations tool by the North Vietnamese government, while that same government was torturing U. S. servicemen in their POW camps.
- From Every Stage, her landmark 1975 live album introduced this teenager to the story of Sacco & Vanzetti, Russian dissident poet Natalya Gorbanevskaya, and labor activist Joe Hill. She also performs a powerful Amazing Grace.
- "It is because of people like Natalya Gorbanevskaya, I am convinced, that you and I are still alive and walking around on the face of the earth." - preface to the song 'Natalia'.
- It is because of Joan Baez relating the tenacity of people like Natalya Gorbanevskaya, that I am passionate about people - individuals, not governments - keeping and maintaining the necessary tools to retain personal liberty.
- Over the weekend, it was reported that the cannabis legalization group, NORML, was denied a permit to participate in a Dallas St. Patrick's Day parade.
- Meh - not really my issue.
- But, here's something to munch on, dudes and dudettes: Prior to the 1920's, the ganja was generally available and not yet prohibited in most jurisdictions. And while 'getting mellow and eating copious quantities of Doritos' is not enumerated in the Bill of Rights, it seems a fair 'takeaway' can be established that in the long view, it's easier to preserve a right than to try to win it back once ceded (the example of Prohibition notwithstanding).
- The Donald's Wonderful Elixir - yesterday morning, not really feeling like making, or drinking, and entire, albeit small, pot of coffee, I instead poured a 1/2 tsp Brer Rabbit Blackstrap molasses, an equal amount of lemonjuice, and Dr Pepper (OK, it was really Dr.K - on account of I'm cheap, Wally) into a coffee cup - and nuked it for about 1-1/2 minutes.
- I expect my hair will return to a luxuriant brown within just a few days...
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3 comments:
The Declaration of Independence enshrines 3 basic rights: the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I would contend it is covered under that. Alcohol was never mentioned in the Constitution until the 18th Amendment. In a nutshell, marijuana prohibition is legislating morality and crushes 2 of the 3. That will never work. Alcohol prohibition is the perfect case in point. It creates a black market which creates violent crime and then morality legislators all point to the prohibited substance and say "See? I told you it was bad" when in fact it's their prohibition causing the problem. But then they can wage a war on "fillintheblank" and claim the moral high ground doing so.
You can legislate morality in a dictatorship or police state. Not in a "free" country. It will be interesting to see how the experiment plays out in Colorado and Washington. I predict an outcome like we saw with alcohol, albeit on a slower scale.
As I noted, not my big issue - one direction or the other - we'll see what happens.
I listened to The Kevin McCarthy Show on KLIF many years ago when they were discussing consensual crimes and legislated morality. You can't have either if you follow the DoI. However, the DoI is not the Constitution. There's the rub.
That show really stuck with me and formed most of my opinion on the subject. It's an interesting topic when you dig into it. Wish I had recorded it.
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