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November 01, 2009
Damn
Came across this nasty little piece of work the other day. I'm struck by how desperate it is. I mean, what other word applies? It's intellectually dishonest, relies exclusively on lazy stereotypes, and is about as obvious a last-ditch smear effort as I could imagine. Hell, it's kinda racist, too. As Radley Balko noted: "Drug warriors wave white flag. I mean, that's what this is, right? Giving up?"
It also just feels old. Indeed, as a useful counterpoint, check out Jacob Weisberg in Slate yesterday, arguing that pot, gay marriage, and travel to Cuba will be legal in 10 years - "not because politics has changed but because society has." Weisberg writes:
The chief reason these prohibitions are falling away is the evolving definition of the pursuit of happiness. What's driving the legalization of gay marriage is not so much the moral argument but the pressures from couples who want to sanctify their relationships, obtain legal benefits, and raise children in a stable environment. What's advancing the decriminalization of marijuana is not just the demand for pot as medicine but the number of adults - more than 23 million in the past year, according to the most recent government survey - who use it and don't believe they should face legal jeopardy. What's bringing the change on Cuba is not just the epic failure of the 48-year-old U.S. embargo, but the demand on the part of Americans who want to go there - whether to visit their relatives, prospect for post-Castro business opportunities, or sip rum drinks at the beach.
And in the course of making this argument, Weisberg makes what I think is an interesting argument about expectations of personal freedom and the internet:
For similar reasons, there is not likely to be any retreat on the basic legal status - as opposed to tinkering around the margins - of the right to have an abortion or own a gun. Conservatives would be wise to give up on the one, liberals on the other. In each of these cases, popular demand for an individual right is simply too powerful to overcome. The Internet has been a crucial amplifier of all such claims. With pornography, and gambling, the Web itself became an irrepressible distribution tool for indulgences that were once perforce local. When it comes to gay marriage, the Web has accelerated the recognition of a new civil right by serving as an organizing tool and information clearinghouse. More broadly, the freest communications medium the world has ever known has raised expectations of personal liberty. In a world where everyone has his own printing press, restrictions on private behavior become increasingly untenable.
I also agree with him on his point about the growing futility of the fights on each side against access to abortion and Second Amendment rights.
Anyways, this is what I'm getting into with my extra hour of wakefulness - with an important Bills game beckoning, and still smarting from last night's Sabres loss, I'm drinking coffee and getting ready for the next ten years. Let's go.
Posted by caps at November 1, 2009 10:42 AM