Category Archives: Social Issues

Pro-Drug People are So Stoopid

Anyone who knows me knows I’m an idiot.  In fact the win/loss record of debates with my wife is a robust 0 – 84,965.  I know… Why do I even keep score?  But if I think about it, that is why our marriage is successful.  We are both willing to admit when I’m wrong.  Despite my dumbassery, I have listened and thought about the following arguments in favor of drug legalization.

#1  We have lost the Drug War
#2  We spend so much money on drug related crime
#3  Alcohol and cigarettes are just as bad as marijuana
#4  Prohibition failed
#5  Drug use would decrease if it was legal
#6  People should be allowed to do want they want with their own bodies

At first glance all these reasons sound legitimate.   You just have to think about them for a minute to realize they just ain’t.

Marx

#1 We have lost the Drug War:
If you look in the Democratic/Liberal handbook under “War” you will see that the official position is “Surrender.”  If there is too much opposition to surrendering then the backup position is to criticize.  If you define success in the war on drugs as complete and total abstinence, then yes, we have lost it.  Hmmmm… I guess we have lost the war on murder too.  People murder because they want to.  People take drugs because they want to.  There are no laws against things people don’t want to do.  Common sense dictates that laws against drug use have reduced drug use, just like laws against murder or robbing a bank have reduced those crimes.

#2  We spend so much money on drug related crime:
My answer: And?
Whenever a liberal starts acting fiscally responsible one of two things should happen.  Your walls of defense should either shoot up, or you should try really hard to keep from giggling.  We spend a lot of money fighting murder and robbery too.  How is it a bad thing to spend money to keep those who have shown their willingness to break laws off the streets?  I know some argue that the prisons are filled with people because of the petty “possession of marijuana” charge, but those people are big fat liars.  It isn’t true.  According to “Rolling Stone” less than 1% of prisoners are in for possession alone.

#3  Alcohol and cigarettes are just as bad as marijuana:
First, we know marijuana smoke is much worse on the respiratory system.  For fun, let’s say it’s true.  Let’s say marijuana is “just as bad as alcohol and cigarettes.”  Here are some of the fun side effects of alcohol and cigarettes.  They can: create dependency, ruin lives, cause fatigue, depression, a gazillion traffic injuries/fatalities, and are factors in the increase of homicide and suicide.  “Alcohol is the cause of 1 million more arrests annually than are all illegal drugs combined. Indeed, alcohol use leads to $180 billion in costs associated with healthcare, the criminal justice system and lost productivity.”  Wow, if pot is “just as bad” as THAT why are we still debating the issue?  It should be legal in all fifty states.

 

We totally forgot our slogan

# 4 Prohibition failed:
First of all Prohibition was a stupid, progressive idea.  That being said, how do you define “failed”?  Do you mean it didn’t stop alcohol consumption completely?  Guess what, you cute little bugger? Murder has been illegal since the beginning of time and yet somehow people are still killing each other. Prohibition didn’t work because alcohol has been part of the fabric of society for most of recorded history.  Drugs can’t claim that.  Alcohol was never prohibited completely.  There were laws which forbade the sale and distribution, but personal use was never against the law.

#5  Drug use would decrease if it was legal:
That may be the dumbest thing I have ever heard.  The best and most effective way to decrease anything is to make it illegal.  I’ve heard several people say they think it should be legal so the government could tax it.  Anytime you hear a politician say they want to increase taxes on something to encourage people to stop doing it, you should know they are full of crap.  They tax it because they want the money.  That’s it.

# 6  People should be allowed to do want they want with their own bodies:
There is a little piece of me that is just libertarian enough to buy into this.  Until I think about it.  If there was no such thing as the welfare state I could almost buy into this.  Almost.  But the fact of the matter is “No man is an island.”  WE ALL pay for these people’s stupid decisions.  We have to pay for people who freely and knowingly inject drugs into their bodies to the point they can no longer function in society and can’t hold down a job.  We pay for their shelter, clothing and food, and often we end up taking care of their kids.

The problem is that the drug/cannabis culture has been normalized by everyone, that the moral stigma once attached to being a user of pot is gone.   I get that people want to have the liberty to do what they want with their body.  It is ironic that the use and abuse of illegal drugs and other narcotics (and legal drugs) makes it necessary to have a bigger, more oppressive government. Until the day drugs do not create addicts, broken families, poverty, crime (violent and non-violent), homelessness, and general chaos in the lives of those who use their bodies “the way they choose,” they really should remain illegal.  And honestly, they should be socially stigmatized.

I don’t know if any of this made sense.  If it did not it’s because I’m an idiot.  If it did make sense to you…it could be because you’re an idiot.

LIFEZILLA:  5 out of 4 people think I’m a moron.  Screw the other 2!

phoSDto 2(1)

Stupid

Gay Marriage

First and foremost I’m well aware that my personal thoughts and feelings on this matter, although correct, don’t matter.  Not all the numbers are in yet, but early polling shows that no one cares what I think.

As I already BRILLIANTLY stated in past articles, it would be impossible for me to care less who sleeps with whom (Or is it whom sleeps with who? Whom/Whoever it is, I think we can all agree “sleeping” isn’t what the debate is about.)

Over the past several days I have seen a plethora of my friends change their profile pictures on Facebook to “equal” signs in support of legalizing gay marriage.  In my little brain, those equal signs are a clear indication that gay marriage opponents have lost the battle, and consequently the entire war in the process. And, judging on how they have framed the debate, deservingly so.

Gay Marriage

All over the internet I have seen the same theme from the opponents of gay marriage.  It’s either “God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” or “the book of Leviticus says…” or “gay sex is just icky.”

That’s how those people feel.  I don’t want to dismiss their feelings outright.  Feelings are real, I get that.

Let’s look at these arguments one at a time:

“Adam and Steve” – the ONLY reason this works at all is that it rhymes. “If the glove don’t fit you must acquit.”

“Leviticus says…” – The Old Testament also says you can’t eat hot dogs, or shellfish and you should stone people to death for shopping on Sunday.  If you believe that Jesus is the Christ then you also believe he fulfilled the law of Moses.

“Gay sex is just icky” – Off the top of my head I can list a whole slew of heteros who I shudder to think about, or ever envision them doing the horizontal bone dance (ew gross, I just thought of some – auuuuck pass the ‘brain bleach’).

In my little, newly bleached brain I think the best argument in favor of gay marriage is that “Gay Divorce Court” on TV would be HILARIOUS.  But instead, the group in favor of gay marriage framed the argument around it being a civil liberty.

I have a problem with this for two reasons:  The first is, this is a tactic the left always uses.  It honestly drives me crazy about liberals. If they want something, and they don’t want to have to explain why, they hide it behind a civil liberty. As much as they may want it to be, marriage is NOT a civil liberty. Gay people can vote, go to the same store as everyone, go the same school and can drive on the same highway. What they can’t do is marry someone of the same sex. But neither can I, nor a black, nor a Hispanic. The second reason it bothers me is it forever slams the debate shut.  From now until the end of time being opposed to any form of gay marriage, for any reason, is an announcement that you believe in, and fight for inequality. It is synonymous to advocating getting those who are different from you riding in the back of the bus or drinking from a different water fountain.  Anyone who even suggests a little bit of caution in redefining an institution that, more than likely, predates civilization itself is easily dismissed with no intellectual effort. Why would you listen to such people?  They are clearly bigots, haters, homophobes and knuckle draggers. They have no place in the discussions that will shape the brave new world in which we now live.

You know what?  I just realized the antonym for synonym is antonym.  Well played antonym.  Well played.

Modern-Family

Personally I’m for civil unions.  My sister and her life partner have two children. They are wonderful parents.  They have spent tens of thousands of dollars making it so if one of them dies the other gets legal custody. Then there is the stupid business about gay couples not being allowed to visit their partners in the hospital, or not being able to get survivor benefits.  With a civil union all that stuff is done away with, and that to me is a good thing. One piece of paper and you’re done.  I see no reason why gay couples shouldn’t be allowed to do these things.

The big problem is that words mean things.  If you allow society to redefine marriage then eventually marriage will mean everything which will mean it means nothing, and I don’t think that is a good place to go.  “Feelings” and “Love” aren’t a good precedent for a legal discussion.  We are going to have to go through this debate over and over as polygamy and any other variances of marriage rear its head.  Let’s say I’m a 50 year old man who is a widower. My 25 year old daughter and I want to get married. We are both of legal age, and I had never been inappropriate with her growing up.  If “feelings” are what it’s all about, why would you want to stop us? “We love each other.”

I know gays and pedophiles are not the same, but there is a very real push to make pedophilia legal. If it becomes legal what is to stop a 50 year old man from marrying a 12 year old boy? “We love each other.”

What if a man is legally married to a woman, and comes out gay. He loves his wife and his gay lover. Why can’t they all get married? “We love each other.”

If they legalize gay marriage there is going to be a TON of unintended consequences. Again, once “feelings” become precedence it’s going to open up a whole crap load of other issues.  I think an institution that has been around for 6,000 years shouldn’t be pitched on a whim. That’s why, in my little brain, this is an issue for the states to decide. The people of the state, NOT THE JUDGES.  It needs to be put on the ballot.  We would be able to see what the obstacles are and if we decide in the future to make a change we will be doing so informed.

I dunno.  Maybe I’m a knuckle dragger.

 

LIFEZILLA:  I’m not close-minded.  I’m just right.

Selective Outrage

 

Grapes of Wrath