It's Time

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Wednesday, in Mexico. Clinton admitted that the U.S. is very much complicit in the increasingly explosive problem that is the Mexican drug trade. This is a truism that no one from the former Bush Administration would ever have admitted, lest they be waterboarded by Dick Cheney.

Humans have been altering their states of consciousness since time immemorial. The biological and psychological drive to alter reality is just too strong and history is fraught with futile attempts by arrogant, ignorant power brokers to ban it. The Spanish Conquistadors attempted to ban the Aztecs from using peyote in the 16th century. It didn’t work.

Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia wrote an excellent op-ed piece in the NY Times imploring the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs to remove the outlaw designation from the coca leaf. Morales’ argument makes way too much sense, therefore, it most likely will be ignored by the powers that be at the UN.

The time has come to abandon the ignorance, arrogance, and the joke that is the war on drugs which is nothing more than a war profiteer machine. Natural plants such as marijuana and coca should be legal to grow and possess without designation. Then legalize, regulate, and tax other drugs such as cocaine and heroin to put all of the drug cartels out of business. Maybe it’s time to declare war on failed policies and while we’re at it let’s declare war on declaring war. Then we can take to the streets to protest the wars on failed policies and declaring war.

Send in the Clown

Timothy Egan wrote an excellent editorial, Wednesday, in the NY Times titled Fears of a Clown. It is about the latest drama being played out within the Republican Party regarding Rush Limbaugh as the new de facto leader of the GOP. There is a long list of Republican politicians who have, after deriding Limbaugh, publicly groveled for his forgiveness. The latest butt kissing suck up is Michael Steele, the former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, and present chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC). As Egan points out, “smarter Republicans know he (Limbaugh) is not good for them” and this is much to the delight of the Democrats. Limbaugh could possibly be sticking, albeit unintentionally, a dagger in the heart of the GOP; this got me thinking about Pagliacci, the sad tragic clown.

Pagliacci is an Italian opera about a clown named Pagliacci who murders his wife for being unfaithful. The opera is actually a play within a play, so Pagliacci is played by Canio (a character in the play) who was played, most famously, by Luciano Pavarotti. Pagliacci, as a clown, must continue to make his audience laugh even as he murders his wife and her lover. Limbaugh is that sad, tragic clown who is murdering his once loyal Republican Party which has lost its way, in his eyes. The only difference is that Limbaugh does not even realize the damage he is inflicting. Is it because he is blinded by his quarter of a billion dollar contract or his massive, pompous ego, I don’t know; but one thing I do know is that if the “smart Republicans” want to save their party they better take to the streets. As for the Democrats, they should take to the seats, with popcorn in hand, and enjoy the show.