Pubdate: Sat, 23 Jan 2016 Source: Trentonian, The (NJ) Copyright: 2016 The Trentonian Contact: http://www.trentonian.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1006 Author: Ed Forchion, NJWeedman.com, For The Trentonian BERNIE SANDERS IS NOW ON MY POT-DAR The politics of pot has struck the Democratic Party big time, and Bernie Sanders has taken the "HIGH" road. I admit, I wasn't trying to be suckered into voting for a politician simply because he says something positive about marijuana - as I did with Senator Obama in 2008. Back then, when Obama was questioned about whether he "ever inhaled," he responded, "that was the point." This question is asked of all serious politicians, because in 1992 President Clinton claimed that he did try smoking marijuana but he did not inhale, which made the question famous. Most Americans didn't believe his answer, potheads voted for him knowing he had to lie - most of us were in the cannabis closet too. Likewise, when Americans found out Senator Obama proudly admitted that he inhaled frequently, and had even been referred to as THE CHOOM GANG leader as a youth in Hawaii ("choom" is a slang term for cannabis), we (potheads) voted for him in droves. On Sunday the Democratic Party held another debate. Why on Sunday - there's been much consternation about that. Some say it was held on Sunday by the Democratic National Committee in hopes of low viewership, which supposedly favors Sanders. I'm not sure about that logic, but I watched it hoping to get a clue as to who would be going up against THE TRUMP SHOW this year for president. The Trump Show has taken over the Republican Party, much to my delight LOL! I believe he is destroying the GOP as a nationally viable presidential party, and I'm loving it. Puff, Puff - go Trump. While I fancy myself an Independent, when I look at the two big parties - the Democrats and Republicans, I see them as one and the same. Sometimes I refer to them as the DemoPukicans; i.e., the Government. I look at the Republican Party as the worse of the two evils, the party of hate, racism, and hypocrisy. I'm glad to see Donald Trump rampaging through the Republican Party, exposing and highlighting the racist, sexist, and dumb members of the GOP. Trump truly is openly appealing to them, while also trying to sound patriotic and righteous. Between bowl hits, I agree with more of what Democrats say than Republicans. At the debate this is what Bernie Sanders said when questioned: ( https : // www.youtube .com/ watch?v=Q9aEEG0Km00) COMMENTATOR: Sen. Sanders, right here in Nevada, there will be a measure to legalize recreational marijuana on the 2016 ballot. You've said you smoked marijuana twice; it didn't quite work for you. If you were a Nevada resident, how would you vote? SANDERS: I suspect I would vote yes. And I would vote yes because I am seeing in this country too many lives being destroyed for nonviolent offenses. We have a criminal justice system that lets CEOs on Wall Street walk away, and yet we are imprisoning or giving jail sentences to young people who are smoking marijuana. I think we have to think through this war on drugs. Like most Americans we thought Hillary was going to get the Democratic nomination, and now like "'08 deja vu" another senator has swooped in and stolen her thunder. Sen. Sanders has said many pro marijuana legalization statements. I don't have a doubt he will be on the side of legalization, and from the sound of his constant 420-friendly statements, he is serious about it. Whenever he is asked about using marijuana he claims he did twice and doesn't see why people are imprisoned for it and boldly states he will legalize it. When Hillary was given a chance to respond, she blabbered something about agreeing with medical marijuana and then flubbed on total legalization and went over the cliff talking about more research. As much as Mrs. Clinton seems to really want to be the historical first women president, she is losing the marijuana war to Bernie Sanders. Last year 24,000 New Jerseyans and 800,000 Americans were arrested for cannabis and more than 30 million have been arrested for it since 1970 when the Controlled Substance Act was signed into law by then President Nixon. To these millions of Americans, myself included, that was her chance to be The President, and she blew it with gibberish. No matter how trivial the mainstream politicians and law enforcement types think marijuana is, to the affected Americans marijuana legalization is one of the most important issues of our lives. For instance, I'm far more terrorized by American cops looking for my bong than by an ISIL member with a bomb. Ending the war on pot is far more important to me than starting another Middle Eastern war. As a black American, I consider the marijuana laws part of a new age concrete plantation system - Jim Crowism at its vilest. It's a fact that I'm 3 times more likely to get arrested for marijuana than my white pothead friends. Marijuana legalization is very important to me. I'd probably vote for Christie if he flip-flop on marijuana. Psyche - I'm not that high, but I don't even have to worry about that scenario: CHRISTIE is stuck on a 1940s reefer madness mentality. Donald Trump scored a huge coup this week when he captured the endorsement of Sarah Palin. He'd probably steal Democrats if he announced plans to legalize marijuana. While I haven't given my official endorsement to anyone, Bernie Sanders is now clearly on my pot-dar. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom