Saturday, September 24, 2011

The Dope on the Primary Challenge

The people have spoken. The winner and undisputed champion on the White House's new citizen petition webpage is the legalization of marijuana.  And not only are the activist stoners demanding their weed, they're insisting on being told the rationale for the O Administration's disdain for it, and them.  In other words, give us the science, dudes!  Where do you get off throwing people in jail for this?   We don't buy into your DEA propaganda!

In order for any petition to merit a glance from a White House minion, it must have garnered at least 5,000 signatures in 30 days. The plea for pot got 20,000 signatures in less than two. So, whoever said pot users are nothing but apolitical, apathetic slackers who retreat into their own hazy worlds has smoke coming out of an orifice where the sun don't shine.

Anyway. Speaking of signatures --  a consortium of people who may or may not have also signed the pot petition are looking for not one -- but six primary challengers to President Obama!  Nothing like covering more than all the bases just to be on the safe side. The effort is being led by Dr. Cornel "Obama is Wall Street's Black Mascot" West and Ralph Nader, who is not running, just asking.

The slate of dream candidates, who would theoretically run against Obama as a bloc, would represent areas where the president has broken a campaign promise, or veered to the corporate, right-wing dark side.  (why only six?)  They would include labor leaders, academicians, members of the NGO community, experts in poverty, consumer protection, human rights and health care. (Since Obama also broke his campaign promise to stop the useless War on Drugs, I hope they are including the person who started the Legalize Pot petition too).

 "We need to put strong democratic pressure on President Obama in the name of poor and working people” said West. “His administration has tilted too much toward Wall Street, we need policies that empower Main Street.”

The letter, according to the website Common Dreams, "points to numerous decisions that have drawn criticism from Obama’s own Democratic Party, including his decision to bail out Wall Street’s most profitable firms while failing to push for effective prosecution of the criminal behavior that triggered the recession, escalating the wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan while simultaneously engaging in a unilateral war in Libya, his decision to extend the Bush era tax cuts, and his acquiescence to Republican extortion during the recent debt ceiling negotiations."

The letter and its signatories can be found here. The identities of the actual recipients are being withheld to protect their privacy.  I wonder if they include anybody from the Sunlight Foundation or other groups advocating for transparency? (another Obama Fail).  I guess we'll never know.

But back to the White House "We the People" petition drive.  I just checked, and the pot petition is now up to 26,819! (and counting).  Here are some other hot button issues, along with recent vote counts, important to the peeps:

* Ban non-therapeutic routine infant circumcision (165).

* Immediately disclose the government's knowledge of and communication with extraterrestrial beings (972).

* Support a ban on horse slaughter (292).

* Try Casey Anthony in federal court for lying to FBI investigators (1,719).

* Repeal the Patriot Act (4,042).

* Stop the Patriot Act (4.334).

* Ban Redundant Petitions (1). 

* Provide medical marijuana to angry space aliens posing as Republicans. (0). 





15 comments:

  1. Went to the site, signed some stuff. Thanks Karen. I shall now return to my Saturday martini. Speaking of sites, may I recommend Khanacademy.com for those mathematically inclined and seeking refuge from the current national insanity. It is also a great site for those in trouble with math of any kind, from grade to graduate school. It's free, courtesy of Salman Kahn and, lately, the munificence of Bill Gates.

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  2. Six primary challengers to President Obama! Led by Cornell West and Ralph Nader!

    And we will all get pie in the sky when we die.

    A more plausible scenario comes from Yves Smith, reviewing Obama’s Bridge to Work Program, who quotes Richard Kline:

    “To me, the best possible outcome of the present market trauma would be for a spectacular implosion between now and November, 2011 turning Barack Obama into a certifiable carbon shadow on a blast wall such that the Democratic Party has to abandon him on the lip of the primary season, leading to a wild scramble for the Democratic candidacy.”

    http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/09/obamas-work-for-almost-free-maybe-you-get-hired-program.html

    I would also throw in the White House "We the People" petition drive as further proof of why Obama deserves to be turned into "a certifiable carbon shadow on a blast wall."

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  3. Karen,
    The Cornel West letter, signed by so many others (I note Lewis Lapham's signature), is like rain in the desert. Much needed.
    Finally, action is being taken at a higher level than our various grassroots efforts. Very exciting. Reminds me of accounts I've read of the '67 march on the Pentagon.
    Thank you for letting us know about it. It's critical.
    Camp Obama, H.E.

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  4. Thanks for a totally enjoyable, sardonic take on the topic.

    Why is pot still a legal issue? because people can grow it themselves in their back yards. Believe me, if the government could find a way to stop that, it would "privatise" the growing and selling of pot – giving those licenses to its favourite corporate or pharmaceutical donors and tax the heck out of it.

    And three cheers for Cornel West and Ralph Nader for suggesting someone OTHER than TLOTE have the honour of representing the REAL Democrats in this country.

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  5. I started a petition to ask Obama NOT TO SEEK A SECOND TERM. To sign, please go to
    https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/not-seek-second-term/LYhvwZr3

    I am not on Facebook or Twitter and don't wish to be, so this petition item is at a bit of a disadvantage unless someone else wants to spread it around.

    That's my audacity of hope.

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  6. On my way to sign it now, Anne! And thanks everyone for the links.

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  7. Karen, thanx!! You brought back some great memories going back to 1969 when we lived near the Univ of Miami. 3 students were renting the house next door and it turned out they were subsidizing their tuition out of proceeds from the pot trade. Once a month they flew down to Jamaica (on PanAm, as I recall, first class frequent travelers). In those good old pre-War on Drugs times, they would each bring back a golfbag stuffed with 5 lbs or so of good herb, plus the latest Bob Marley/Peter Tosh LPs in backpacks. Walked right thru Customs, no questions asked. They then sold the stuff for $5/oz, $50/lb. Later, In the 80s we moved to the Keys where bales of pot used to wash ashore fairly frequently. Fisherman called 'em "square grouper". BTW, I of course did marry Juana....

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  8. @Anne
    I was third to sign the petition. We're on a roll. Only 4,997 more to go.

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  9. @Anne

    I was fourth to sign the petition. Also put it on my Facebook page, and website.

    Neil Gillespie
    The Justice Network
    http://yousue.org/new-american-revolution/

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  10. Thanks to those signing the petition. If it doesn't get pulled off the site or simply ignored, it could at least get 'We the People' on the same page, strengthening our collective will and voice for another option in the Primary.

    When I just checked, it is not yet listed on the Open Petitions section, only through my direct link. One less day to get to 5000. I'll just be happy if it appears!

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  11. Just signed anti-O petition. #4. Tried to post from my Google account and it said I am not authorized to view this page!!!!!!?????

    Roger McCorkle
    http://roger-mccorkle.blogspot.com/

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  12. @Denis

    What a great quote! Thank you. Yes, wouldn't it be wonderful if there was an implosion within the Democratic Party to shake it out of its lethargy!

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  13. @Roger

    Great website! Well Done!

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  14. @Jay – Ottawa, re: Yellow Dogs

    Your guest post belongs on the front page of the New York Times, each and every word, just as written. Your reference to Bush v. Gore is well taken. Democrats should have been in the streets. But today this is the sad reality: "America is trapped in a two-party system subverting democracy." You said it all Jay, anything else by me would be superfluous. Thank you Jay - - Ottawa. (and KG). Love the dog photo too.

    Neil Gillespie
    The Justice Network
    http://yousue.org/new-american-revolution/

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  15. ALERT: Petition 'Not to Seek a Second Term'

    Apparently, only after I jump through some hoops to get 150 signatures ON MY OWN will my petition even be publicly posted. In the meantime, it is ONLY accessible, they say, through this link: http://wh.gov/4iB I didn't know that when I copied and pasted the URL at the petition site in my comment.

    That sounds PHISHY to me because they recommend I send emails to everyone in my address book, or use Twitter or Facebook and even give a sample letter, but everyone has to use the above address instead of the one I posted. I just deciphered their email today.

    Judging by the fact that people get sent to a different web address, I suspect this is some kind of phishing expedition. Just more tricks from the Obama Camp, as if we haven't seen enough already.

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