Seasoned politicians will affirm that no one lacking a cast iron stomach should witness the making of sausage or law. Either can be traumatic. It is bad enough if these products are created in a butcher shop or legislative chambers. But law (or sausage) made in the street will twist the entrails of the most durable citizen. I have tasted a bit of each of these practices. In addition: I have been bitten on the great toe by an ant as big as a young mouse, sat through every syllable of a 90-minute speech at a Head Start graduation and lived on yellow vegetables for 18 days. [continues 628 words]
A growing legion of cops and ex-cops has declared war, not on drugs, but on the war on drugs. They call themselves LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) and they claim a membership of 10,000 ex-or current cops. One of their number, a retired Denver policeman, brought LEAP's message to Billings last week. LEAP's pitch is simple and direct: "As long as marijuana is worth more than gold and heroin more than uranium, we will continue to have people willing to kill each other to control the market, willing to kill police charged with fighting these useless wars, willing to kill children caught in cross fires." [continues 611 words]
The bad news is: The War in Iraq has gone south along with U.S. credibility worldwide. The worse news is: The president seems intent on staying the course. The worst news is: The War in Iraq is going whiz-bang marvelous compared to a much older conflict here at home - The War on Drugs. Seven presidents have stayed the course in this campaign. As a result, more than 2.5 million inmates in U.S. jails and prisons are eating our lunch, not to mention our education budget, funds desperately needed to upgrade highways and bridges, and money that could be used in the search for cancer cures or a vaccine for AIDs. [continues 460 words]
