And No it isn't this one. It's this excellent diary by Vinnie Vegas.
S/He wrote a comment in a diary I posted the other day about what I thought was the rank hypocrisy of Gov Jan Brewer and AG Tom Horne using federal court to try and stop a citizen initiated law "The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act". In that comment s/he said s/he would try and put together an analysis of the issues involved with the case.
Well s/he sure enough did and I'm sorry it took me several days to pick up on the diary. But that said, I think it was a good thing that I read the diary after reading this article by Mary K. Reinhart at azcentral.com this morning.
In the article she quotes U.S. Attorney for Arizona Dennis Burke who was out of town when Brewer and Horne had their press conference announcing the suit:
"They're a moving target," Burke said. "I'm not really sure what it's about. I don't know how to add it up."
Also form the article:
Burke said there has been no policy change, and he chided Horne and Brewer for having a news conference earlier this week to announce a lawsuit they hadn't yet filed. He said it's unclear what they are expecting a federal judge to decide, since the laws are in clear conflict.
From this I get the impression the Feds really didn't want this to happen and it caught them off guard. That is why I think Vinnies diary is so on the mark as far as how this might play out.
I don't think the DOJ or Obama wanted to have this can of worms opened really. Not with the election cycle seemingly all ready starting. They know they are on the wrong side of this issue on every level. The science is against them, the Constitution is against them, and just plan old morality in my view is against them. They are practicing medicine with out a license and the patients are needlessly suffering because of willful and deliberate incompetence.
So in the end Brewer and Horne, who I don't think have the intellectual capacity between them to have thought this out and it was just a knee-jerk reaction to try and kill the law before it was fully implemented, may get just the opposite of what they want. Oh and did I mention, read Vinnies diary.