My brother in law is Jewish. He talks about the Israeli lobby all of the time. They hate him because he is a law prof and refuses to front for them.

Re: voice of truth

Have you read this article at the “Smirking Chimp”.  An excerpt:

“Over the last three decades, the Post has evolved into a neoconservative propaganda sheet, especially its opinion section which fronted for George W. Bush’s false Iraq-WMD claims, led the long-term bashing of Iraq War critics, and defends whatever actions the Israeli government takes, including the recent war in Gaza and apparently its desire to preemptively bomb Iran.

To the Post’s editors, however, there apparently is no Israel Lobby; there has been no large-scale organized effort to bend U.S. foreign policy to the interests of Israeli governments over the years. Even the suggestion that such a body exists is a sign of delusion, bigotry and a conspiratorial mindset.”

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/20779

Everyone KNOWS there is an Israeli Lobby, I read John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt’s book.  Whether you agree or not…. there IS an Israeli Lobby.  So why would WaPo attempt to skew that fact or say otherwise?

Re: voice of truth

Could you supply that link? I’d like to check it out.

And now we know courtesy of the Washington Post that the “random” questioners were, in fact, Obama plants!  Another great act, er lecture, um phony crap from the Presenter in Chief.

As an industrial feedstock, it would help address jvs’s point…though it is not the panacea that Herrer aficionados claim it to be.

You care to qualify that statement Jackpine? 

I disagree, I think it would be a lot more than a industrial feedstock.  Hemp can be used for human food.  It can be used to make industrial lubricants, fuel for cars, paper, clothing, boards for building on and on.  It might not prove to be an economically viable substitute in all things it can be used for, but it will be for a lot of them.  Its high yield/acre and adaptability to a wide variety of different growing conditions makes it a potentially great crop just about anywhere in the world.

As a marijuana smoker, I found this to be offensive.  I don’t get why the audience immediately burst into laughter at the question.  I guess its the old cheech and chong, pot smokers are just joke thing.  He didn’t offer a response that made sense but a self-righteous non answer that made it seem like a completely stupid question.  It also happened to be the number one voted on question, not just ranking high, but ranking at the top. 

Its not a joke issue, it stands right now as the US’s largest crop in terms of money, completely untaxed.  That alone makes it highly relevant to the present economic circumstances. Combine that with the huge savings from the decrease in prison and police costs, it could make a real impact. 

Not only that, but with psychoactive cannabis and industrial cannabis legalized, it could provide a revitalization of the US agricultural industry.  Growing hemp would allow us to start taking advantage of this very versatile crop which will almost certainly be an integral part of the environmentally friendly industry we must see emerge.  That also makes it highly relevant to the global climate change issue.  Hemp can provide substitutes for many petroleum products in a much more environmentally sound manner.  Its illegal status also means we have only begun to scratch the surface of its possible applications.

It is a pressing and pertinent issue which at least deserves more than a condescending laugh off.  If you feel it wouldn’t help the economy, at least say why. Obama is just plain wrong on this issue.

What the hell people,

When faced with a long list of problems, it is generally best to solve the easiest ones first.

Take a trip to Arcadia, California sometime…maybe the President should make one his campaign stops, er public relations act, er getting in touch with his constituents, er virtual town hall meeting…whatever he decides to call his stunts and see how an open marijuana trade affects a local economy.

N. California is the brightest spot in the California economy.  Tradespeople have plenty of work installing 200 amp commercial service into houses and building new houses.  But because the trade is necessarily contained, huge amounts of cash just keep washing around a localized area.

And KDelphi is right, the question was about hemp (same plant, different horticulture of it).  As an industrial feedstock, it would help address jvs’s point…though it is not the panacea that Herrer aficionados claim it to be.

But hemp can’t be legalized because it’s the same plant as marijuana.

Re: What the hell people

No… it isn’t about pot.  It’s about the supposed “war on drugs” which has not worked.  You must have noticed that there’s a REAL war intensifing along our border with Mexico.

“That’s why Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s remarks on the Mexican drug war have drawn gasps. She spoke the obvious, hard truth when it comes to Mexico’s bloody conflict, which has left 7,000 dead in the last 15 months.

The United States is both creating and arming the drug gangs, whose deadly work is spreading northward across the border, she suggested. “How could anyone conclude differently?” she said. “I feel very strongly we have co-responsibility.”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/26/ED1816NHVT.DTL

The LEAP site also has a wealth of information.  I would direct you to the promotional video in the right side bar which is billed this way:

“Anyone concerned about the failure of our $69 billion-a-year War on Drugs should watch this 12-minute program. You will meet front line, ranking police officers who give us a devastating report on why it cannot work. It is a must-see for any journalist or public official dealing with this issue.”—Walter Cronkite

http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php

Hillary tells only a portion of the story, and this is true of Obama also.  But they are politicians therefore EVERYTHING they say must be chewed up and spit out like the unfamiliar ritual of a remote tribe who pukes into a bowl and then fortells the future with it.

Re: Paracelsus

Oh…. I thought I was missing the point…. and well…. I kinda WAS I guess. lol Thanks for the clarification.

A wind-up doll could have done as well.  His answers are valuminous infoglut designed to confuse more than illuminate.  This is obscuration not clarity.  Obama is a flip-flopper delux edition.  I’m done with him.

@Outraged

I suppose the link to Moby music video was off-topic, but I can’t help getting the blues from Obama’s hijinks. Please refer to the more pertinent earlier article of mine. It has a link that is most relevant. http://www.tiny9.com/u/James_Jones

jvs—“Outsourcing needs to be stopped by the companies doing it, they must step up to the plate and stop it them self for the good of the USA.”

That should happen any day now!

I see what you are saying about education. I dont know why are kids are so miserable, but they must be…I think it is the old (so-called “Anglo-Saxon protestant” (WASP) “work” ethic…it is based on worknig hard all of your life for the elites, and, waiting for your heavenly reward. That is why the EU is so angry at its leaders for adopting US and UK trade and eocnomic policies. We need to kick WASP ideas to the curb! It is cannibalizing its own empire—always does..

My point about the “pot” question is that the original question was not about “pot” at all, but about growing HEMP legally, which can be used for many other things tahn marijuana, and, in fact, is useless to amoke!

Besides, what the hell is wrong with POT?! It is alot better for you than alochol, and, is a native herb. They wont even let Native Ams grow it anymore. Its silly to single it out.

I’m with Outrage and jackpine about the “war on drugs”—the “war on drugs” is similar to the “war on terror”—a war on the poor. At least, that is what I think. If not, wherefore crack vs powered cocaine, sentencing laws. These “wars ” are racist (both) and classist and,BOTH “wars” should stop.

Re: Paracelsus

What is the point of your link regarding the article or even the discussion….?

Thank you Omniadeo,

It was just tiny blue spark of light that will be gone in an instant like tears in the rain.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3kqi_moby-natural-blues

Obama’a comment, “I don’t know what this says about the online audience” actually tells us a great deal more about Obama than it does about “the online audience”.

I appears a stupid comment/answer by Pres. Obama addressing a badly posed question with the intent to undermine and tame the current outrage over the criminals who have been appointed in the economic capacities of his administration and who are now funneling money out the backdoor of our newly acquired company AND who also want to create a “public-private” corportation to funnel EVEN MORE taxpayer dollars to the same. 

Then again…., maybe Obama was just making a “left-handed” call to action.  Either way, since I prefer to give people as much consideration as is plausible before I totally dismiss them, here’s some stats regarding the issue.

From the LEAP site:
“Equally startling was the lack of attention paid to the report by the news media and the Bush administration. The inference from the committee’s conclusion is that hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars were spent and millions of Americans arrested and incarcerated without any clear notion by the government of the impact.

In my own research, I found it more illustrative to trace the escalation in drug enforcement from 1972, when then - President Richard Nixon declared a “war on drugs.” Total annual federal spending for drug enforcement in 1972 was roughly $100 million in comparison to the now approximately $20 billion in annual federal drug control efforts. By way of comparison, the average monthly social security retirement check in 1972 was $177. If social security benefits had increased at the same rate as federal drug control spending, the average social security compensation today would be in excess of $30,000 a month. Committing to fiscal increases of this magnitude without being able to measure the impact might well be described as irrational, as well as “unconscionable.” But the human costs are even greater, albeit more difficult to quantify.”

http://leap.cc/cms/index.php?name=Content&pid=39

It’s all too gimmicky, not quite as bad as the POTUS going on late night television, but gimmicky.

He seems unconcerned with losing the support of people who voted for him.  I don’t think that anyone would expect him to say, “yes, let’s legalize dope.”  But his condescending tone and making a joke of what a great many people - apparently - feel is important only makes him look like another weasely politician.

Someone needs to remind him that he’s not running for president anymore, and that it’s time to start acting presidential.

But most of all, don’t effin’ patronize me.

I read the advance material with what may be called “extreme skepticism:”

http://therehearsalstudio.blogspot.com/2009/03/democratic-press-conference.html

Having seen some of the excerpts on the BBC, I would say that it was not as bad as I feared;  but it also did not allay any of my fears.  Back when Change.gov was launched, I railed against efforts to turn our representative government into a plebiscitary one.  This was just another brick in the plebiscitary wall.

Paracelsus,

Many thanks for the link. Frigging priceless. I plan to slap it acoss the internet.

President Obama,

Your treatment of the “Marijuana” question is insulting and reveals as much as anything who you work for. Even I, skeptical to the core, have wanted to support you, but you lost me on this, on the bailout and on your National Security appointments.

Sad. I know you know better.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/03/obama-plays-virtual-softball

And this is David Corn, of MoJO, an avid Pres. Obama supporter.

“All in all, this White House session—virtual or not—was much like a campaign event. It was designed to be a platform in which the president would look confident, in command, and smart (admittedly an easy assignment). None of the questions or questioners were challenging. He was not forced to deal with issues he doesn’t usually. This virtual/real meeting did not expand the debate beyond the usual inside-the-Beltway confines. It was still mostly a top-down event. So cynics might be tempted to label it a stunt. The question is whether it will lead to further development of practices that might actually enhance online civic participation in a manner that does empower citizens. Otherwise, such events will be more about the expropriation of technology than empowerment through technology”

The answer to the legalized hemp “question” (which was popular, but, he chose to make a joke of it) was condescendin0—-why even mention it at all? Everyone knows that it is not about “pot”!(so what if it was? too much profit lost the the presciptiotn pharmaceutical industry)

I’ll go further, Corn. It was a stunt, and a very well-choreograhed one.

Hello Obama:

Is it such a wonderful thing that your National Security Advisor proudly claims that he takes his orders every day from Henry Kissinger? Please refer to

http://www.tiny9.com/u/James_Jones

“Thank you for that wonderful tribute to Henry Kissinger yesterday. Congratulations. As the most recent National Security Advisor of the United States, I take my daily orders from Dr. Kissinger, filtered down through Generaal Brent Scowcroft and Sandy Berger, who is also here. We have a chain of command in the National Security Council that exists today.”

Do you really call that change?