..that began and was sold as a racist prohibition during the Jim Crow days. Not much has changed in over 75 years, at least not enough according to the numbers.
It could be that one or a number of Maher's writers or the team producing VICE (?)- which has some excellent programs (Our Rising Oceans)- imo - came up with this idea of pardons for pot. But it's got me intrigued
Maher has been advocating national legalization of marijuana for years so I've no doubt it's his thing, it's just that over the years I've noticed that there is a distinct voice amongst Maher's team that differs from Maher's own improv stylings and themes in his monologues and New Rules themes. A voice that stands out as the liberal brains in the work and is almost always some of the most cogent ideas put into the comedy routine
Either way, when Bill is on (and isn't talking-over/interrupting less aggressive women guests in one of his rants - one of my complaints), he often delivers exactly what is needed in plain language that hits the mark.
link to Friday February 20, 2014 show:https://www.youtube.com/...
transcript:
...And, finally, New Rule: Now that Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz have both admitted to smoking weed as teenagers, I must admit that, as a teen, I once…tried on a pair of khakis.
It was a mistake. I didn’t like the way it made me feel. And I never did it again. Take it from me, kids, khakis are a bad scene, man.
Now, I bring this up because I think it is time to declare that the media ritual of asking presidential candidates if they ever smoked pot can be put to rest. Because the answer is always yes, and nobody cares.
Everyone from Bill Clinton…everyone from Bill Clinton to Newt Gingrich, Al Gore to Rick Santorum, John Kerry to Sarah Palin, they have all ‘fessed up.
Come on, when even Ted Cruz cops to it…That one surprised me, I must admit. I thought, who would get high with Ted Cruz?!
NYE: Well, if you’re drunk enough, maybe.
MAHER: Ted’s spokesman said, “When Senator Cruz was a teenager, he foolishly experimented with marijuana. It was a mistake, and he’s never tried it since.” Oh, please, the mistake was stopping.
Now, of course, I don’t have a problem with any of this, because when I was younger, I also smoked. And when I say “when I was younger,” I mean, just before the show.
No…no, the problem I have is that this is the standard answer we get from all these guys nowadays, some form of “Hey, when I was young and stupid, I was young and stupid; it’s no big deal.” Which is great, except that’s not a defense that’s really available for most of the 700,000 Americans who get arrested every year.
So…so, if we’re going to keep doing that, we should at least be honest with our kids and tell them the truth about drug laws in this country: Kids, if you’re going to experiment, make absolutely certain that, beforehand, your parents are white and well-connected.
NYE: That’s a good safety tip.
REINER: Yeah.
MAHER: When Jeb Bush was at prep school, he was apparently not just a pot-head, but a dealer. But, he dismisses that by saying, “Back then, I was a cynical little turd at a cynical school.”
Okay, but then when you became a governor of the state, you insisted on mandatory sentences for drug crimes and a policy of jail-only-no-treatment for drug users. Except when it was your daughter, when you made an exception.
Wow, that sounds like something a cynical turd would do.
Do, you know that Jeb’s father, the first President Bush, was the last president who didn’t smoke pot? You can see the progression from Clinton copping to it but still needing to say he didn’t inhale, to George W. Bush, not denying it, just saying he wouldn’t answer, to Obama, who said, “Yeah, I smoked weed. I smoked a lot of it, and I looked cool doing it.”
But, don’t all these guys – Clinton, Jeb, W., Obama – don’t they all owe a debt to the 40,000 unlucky Americans currently in jail for the exact same crime?
In David Axelrod’s new book, he confirms that Obama actually was always for gay marriage. He just couldn’t say it for a long time because, well, he was already black, and he didn’t want to give Bill O’Reilly a heart attack.
So, he waited, and then made up some shit about “evolving.” Isn’t it time to do that with pot? Come on, man, you’ve gone down the list, reversing the stupidities of the past: healthcare, torture, gay marriage, immigration, Cuba. It’s pot’s turn.
And…and not just legalization. Obama should acknowledge that putting people in jail for non-violent drug offenses was a giant mistake in the first place. And, then he should use the power of the presidential pardon and free them all.
Come on…come on, you know you want to! You’ve been stingy with those pardons. Here’s a great way to make up for it.
And there’s plenty of precedent.
Lincoln, a Republican, pardoned the Southern rebels after the Civil War.
Ford, a Republican, pardoned Vietnam draft dodgers.
Ronald Reagan signed an amnesty for 2.7 million Mexican "illegals"1.
If Republicans can forgive people for armed insurrection, desertion and speaking Spanish……a Democrat can forgive us for getting high.
(end of transcript)
# # #
Every person who is serving time for a non-violent pot arrest & conviction gets pardoned and released, and how about their record expunged too. Finally end a huge chunk of the segregationist "War on Drugs" going back decades in one fell swoop.
♦ Plus as an election issue benefitting Dems - wow - not to mention a blow to the PIC.
♦ Gutting a huge part of the private prison corpo profiteers sucking billions out of the treasury
♦ So many peoples lives who were wrecked getting a chance to put it behind them (as much as is possible - that is)
♦ undoing the GOP drive to disenfranchise their political enemies - so many people would regain their right to vote
No doubt GOP and various "conservative" heads will be exploding - but f*ck em' - let them wail, pouting and stomping their feet, risking the loss of the so-called libertarian voters while they're at it
This is the kind of change I'd love to see more of going forward. Repairing the damage done by "conservatives". Plus 13 years prison for two joints is way beyond absurd. That is the real crime here - imo
It's about time to turn in - be back later on - thanks for stopping by ♫♪♫
footnote !: using rwnj derogatory terms -> "Illegals" instead of using undocumented - another of my complaints
Note: I am unable to embed an HBO video and this You Tube version may disappear - so here is a link to February 20, 2015 Real Time show & New Rules