Pubdate: Mon, 11 Jun 2001
Source: Rock River Times (IL)
Copyright: The Rock River Times 2001
Contact:  http://www.rockrivertimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/539
Author: Myron Von Hollingsworth

FOURTH AMENDMENT

Truth to tell, the drug warrior politicians, officials, media and civilians 
(*secretly*) don't list victory as an objective in their expensive and 
oppressive trillion-dollar war. When they do spout their "zero 
tolerance/total victory" rhetoric, how many of your readers actually 
believe them? How many actually believe that this year's 
multi-billion-dollar drug war budget will be the one that will achieve 
total victory after decades of billion-dollar budgets that have totally failed?

Just remember that the drug czars' jobs depend on the perpetual prosecution 
of, but NEVER a victory in, the drug war. Also, remember that the 
politicians depend on the drug war and its rhetoric to scare up votes (by 
scaring voters). The politicians also rely on the drug war to sustain their 
constituent industries that depend on the economics of prohibition in order 
to make generous profits and campaign contributions that keep the drug 
warrior politicians in power and, therefore, keep themselves in business.

Remember what H.L. Mencken said: "The whole aim of practical politics is to 
keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by 
menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."

Maybe the corrupt politicians and media are required to adhere to the party 
line of prohibition because law enforcement, customs, the prison and 
military industrial complex, the drug testing industry, the "drug 
treatment" industry, the INS, the CIA, the FBI, the DEA, the politicians 
themselves, et al., can't live without the budget justification, not to 
mention the invisible profits, bribery, corruption and forfeiture benefits 
that prohibition affords them. The drug war also promotes, justifies and 
perpetuates racist enforcement policies and is diminishing many freedoms 
and liberties that are supposed to be inalienable according to the 
Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Myron Von Hollingsworth
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MAP posted-by: Beth