My last blog contained Bill Cosby's words of wisdom to the black community whereby he called on blacks "to start holding each other to a higher standard." With his remarks he condemned certain kinds of bad behavior which he blamed on poor or non-existent parenting.
At the time, his remarks were met by a backlash of hateful outrage from a number of black activists. Bill Cosby was villified as an Uncle Tom, as an Oreo (black on the outside, white on the inside), and as a traitor who sold out to the White establishment.
Those purveyors of black victimology would be well-advised to read a recent report written by Paul E. Barton and Richard J. Coley for the Educational Testing Service which vindicates Bill Cosby's remarks. Here are some of the findings in Barton and Coley's study:
The out-of-wedlock birth rate among black women under 30 is 77 percent. That means for every 100 black babies of women under 30, a remarkable 77 of them were born out-of-wedlock.
Only 35 percent of black children live with two parents. That means 65 out of every 100 black children live in a single-parent home. An educated guess would be that the single-parent is not the father.
By age 4, the average child in a professional family hears about 20 million more words than the average child in a working class family, and about 35 million more than the average child in a welfare family. Another educated guess would be that most single-parent black families are on welfare.
Only 24 percent of white eighth-graders watch four or more hours of television on an average weekday; 59 percent of their black peers do. How many bad habits are those black eighth-graders picking up by tuning in television programs which portray hip-hop lifestyles?
In mentioning mothers "who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit," Bill Cosby was talking about what will happen to black "knuckleheads" as they reach adulthood. The disproportionate number of blacks in our jails and prisons are locked up, not because they are victims of a racist society, but because of their behavior and the lack of parenting which Cosby pointed out in his words of wisdom.
When Cosby called attention to poor language skills, bad dress habits, unwed mothers with multiple births by multiple fathers, and the absence of parental supervison, he unleashed an angry "shoot the messenger" response. Those who villified Bill Cosby for expressing his views should shut-up and crawl back under the rock from which they slithered forth.
Blacks would be much better served if they would only heed Cosby's words rather than the words of demagogues who keep blaming Whites for all the problems within the black community.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
BILL COSBY'S WORDS OF WISDOM
A friend sent me the following words of wisdom uttered some time ago by Bill Cosby. My friend wrote, "It's never been about color...It's about behavior," referring to the problems besetting African-Americans. I am including Cosby's words in my blog in the hope that any black readers will take them to heart. Blacks would have a much better chance at a piece of the American pie if they would only accept Cosby's pearls of wisdom instead of the victimiztion ideology crap put forth by Jessee Jackson and Al Sharpton.
"They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk:
Why you ain't,
Where you is,
What he drive,
Where he stay,
Where he work,
Who you be...
And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk.
And then I heard the father talk.
Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.
In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living. People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around.
The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what ? ?
And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.
I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit.
Where were you when he was 2 ? ?
Where were you when he was 12 ? ?
Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol ? ?
And where is the father ? ? Or who is his father ?
People putting their clothes on backward: Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong?
People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something ?
Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up ?
Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?
What part of Africa did this come from??
We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa.
With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail.
Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem.
We have got to take the neighborhood back.
People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' -- or men or whatever you call them now.
We have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us.
We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.
We cannot blame the white people any longer."
Dr. William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr., Ed.D.
"They're standing on the corner and they can't speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk:
Why you ain't,
Where you is,
What he drive,
Where he stay,
Where he work,
Who you be...
And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk.
And then I heard the father talk.
Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.
In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living. People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an education, and now we've got these knuckleheads walking around.
The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal. These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids. $500 sneakers for what ? ?
And they won't spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.
I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit.
Where were you when he was 2 ? ?
Where were you when he was 12 ? ?
Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn't know that he had a pistol ? ?
And where is the father ? ? Or who is his father ?
People putting their clothes on backward: Isn't that a sign of something gone wrong?
People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn't that a sign of something ?
Or are you waiting for Jesus to pull his pants up ?
Isn't it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?
What part of Africa did this come from??
We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don't know a thing about Africa.
With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that crap, and all of them are in jail.
Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person's problem.
We have got to take the neighborhood back.
People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different 'husbands' -- or men or whatever you call them now.
We have millionaire football players who cannot read. We have million-dollar basketball players who can't write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job. Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us.
We have to start holding each other to a higher standard.
We cannot blame the white people any longer."
Dr. William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr., Ed.D.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
DESPERATE FRAULEIN
An article concerning foreign death row groupies by Scott Farwell of the Dallas Morning News reports that every month "dozens" of European women come to Texas for visits with condemned inmates. Pictures accompanying Farwell's article showed that these women were not Dallas Cowboys linebacker look-alikes. From their pictures, these women could easily qualify as beauty contestants.
Amazingly, just like rock stars, condemned inmates attract their own groupies. While rock stars tend to attract girls in their teens and early twenties, death row groupies tend to be in their late twenties and beyond. Many of the European groupies are from Gernany - desperate fraulein they must be.
Some death row groupies end up marrying the condemned, even though there is no chance for them to consummate the marriage. In my blog COME ON, GIVEE HER A BREAK (11-14-07), I referred to Marsha Richards who met and married her husband 15 years after his arrival on death row.
Michael Richards, who had been sentenced to death for the 1986 rape and murder of a 53 year old nurse and mother of seven, was executed on September 25, 2007, becoming the last condemned killer put to death in this country pending a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of death by injection. The "grieving" widow has filed a wrongful death suit against the Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for effectively blocking Richards' last minute appeal by refusing to keep the court clerk's office open past 5 PM.
What in the world would ever possess a sane and intelligent woman, whether attractive or not, to do something so incredibly stupid as to start up any kind of relationship with a cold blooded killer awaiting execution? Farwell lists several reaons given by "experts." Some of the groupies have been victims of violence or sexual abuse. Others are motivated by compassion or a "desire to nurture." Some are attracted to "the baddest of the bad boys."
According to experts, many of these relationships "typically begin when women join anti-death penalty groups like Amnesty International." Other women find condemned soulmates by researching the internet. LostVault.com and other pen-pal groups post free personal ads "based on letters and pictures from death row inmates." Some anti-death penalty groups encourage these relationships and facilitate them by identifying nearby places of lodging which cater to European women wanting to visit with death row inmates.
Many of the condemned inmates are running a scam by romancing "10 to 20 women at a time." One fraulein admitted she knows "that some death row inmates manipulate European women for sport, sexual stimulation and money."
Women who become romantically involved with cold blooded murderers awaiting execution have made a mockery out of women's liberation. They must not be playing with a full deck. What you've got here is two sets of losers - the condemned and the death row groupies - and two losers never add up to a winner.
Amazingly, just like rock stars, condemned inmates attract their own groupies. While rock stars tend to attract girls in their teens and early twenties, death row groupies tend to be in their late twenties and beyond. Many of the European groupies are from Gernany - desperate fraulein they must be.
Some death row groupies end up marrying the condemned, even though there is no chance for them to consummate the marriage. In my blog COME ON, GIVEE HER A BREAK (11-14-07), I referred to Marsha Richards who met and married her husband 15 years after his arrival on death row.
Michael Richards, who had been sentenced to death for the 1986 rape and murder of a 53 year old nurse and mother of seven, was executed on September 25, 2007, becoming the last condemned killer put to death in this country pending a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of death by injection. The "grieving" widow has filed a wrongful death suit against the Presiding Judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for effectively blocking Richards' last minute appeal by refusing to keep the court clerk's office open past 5 PM.
What in the world would ever possess a sane and intelligent woman, whether attractive or not, to do something so incredibly stupid as to start up any kind of relationship with a cold blooded killer awaiting execution? Farwell lists several reaons given by "experts." Some of the groupies have been victims of violence or sexual abuse. Others are motivated by compassion or a "desire to nurture." Some are attracted to "the baddest of the bad boys."
According to experts, many of these relationships "typically begin when women join anti-death penalty groups like Amnesty International." Other women find condemned soulmates by researching the internet. LostVault.com and other pen-pal groups post free personal ads "based on letters and pictures from death row inmates." Some anti-death penalty groups encourage these relationships and facilitate them by identifying nearby places of lodging which cater to European women wanting to visit with death row inmates.
Many of the condemned inmates are running a scam by romancing "10 to 20 women at a time." One fraulein admitted she knows "that some death row inmates manipulate European women for sport, sexual stimulation and money."
Women who become romantically involved with cold blooded murderers awaiting execution have made a mockery out of women's liberation. They must not be playing with a full deck. What you've got here is two sets of losers - the condemned and the death row groupies - and two losers never add up to a winner.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
MUMIA ABU-JAMAL, INTERNATIONAL FOLK HERO
Twenty-six years ago, Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, 25, made a routine traffic stop in the wee hours of the morning. A struggle ensued when he attempted to arrest the driver, William Cook. Mumia Abu-Jamal, Cook's older brother, rushed out of the darkness from a parking lot across the street and shot Faulkner in the back. Faulkner managed to return fire. A wounded Abu-Jamal then stood over the fallen officer while emptying his gun, killing Faulkner with a shot to the face.
Abu-Jamal was tried, convicted and sentenced to death for the cold-bloody cop killing of Daniel Faulkner. After several appeals went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, his latest appeal is awaiting yet another ruling by judges of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mumia Abu-Jamal, born Wesley Cook, has become an international folk hero. Amnesty International has been working steadfastly in his behalf. He has been made an honorary citizen of some 25 cities around the world, including the cities of Paris, Montreal and Palermo. Last year, a Paris suburb honored him by naming a new street "Rue Mumia Abu-Jamal." He has been made an honorary member of far-left organizations in Germany and other European countries.
The Europeans, always eager to shame America, are convinced Abu-Jamal is the innocent victim of a racist police force, a racist judge and a racist jury. A prolific author, he became famous while on death row through the publication of his literary works.
Abu-Jamal was a prominent member in the Philadelphia chapter of the Black Panthers, that racist domestic terrorist organization. The Panthers adhered to Chinese Communitst Chairman Mao Zedong's well-known saying - "All power comes from the barrel of a gun." That would explain why Abu-Jamal was armed with a gun on that fateful night.
Mumia Abu-Jamal does not merit the admiration of a folk hero. He is nothing more than a cold-blooded cop killer who does not deserve any sympathy whatsoever! He is a poster boy for the justification of the death penalty. 25-years on death row is far, far too long. Abu-Jamal deserves no more mercy than the mercy he failed to show Officer Daniel Faulkner.
Abu-Jamal was tried, convicted and sentenced to death for the cold-bloody cop killing of Daniel Faulkner. After several appeals went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, his latest appeal is awaiting yet another ruling by judges of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.
Mumia Abu-Jamal, born Wesley Cook, has become an international folk hero. Amnesty International has been working steadfastly in his behalf. He has been made an honorary citizen of some 25 cities around the world, including the cities of Paris, Montreal and Palermo. Last year, a Paris suburb honored him by naming a new street "Rue Mumia Abu-Jamal." He has been made an honorary member of far-left organizations in Germany and other European countries.
The Europeans, always eager to shame America, are convinced Abu-Jamal is the innocent victim of a racist police force, a racist judge and a racist jury. A prolific author, he became famous while on death row through the publication of his literary works.
Abu-Jamal was a prominent member in the Philadelphia chapter of the Black Panthers, that racist domestic terrorist organization. The Panthers adhered to Chinese Communitst Chairman Mao Zedong's well-known saying - "All power comes from the barrel of a gun." That would explain why Abu-Jamal was armed with a gun on that fateful night.
Mumia Abu-Jamal does not merit the admiration of a folk hero. He is nothing more than a cold-blooded cop killer who does not deserve any sympathy whatsoever! He is a poster boy for the justification of the death penalty. 25-years on death row is far, far too long. Abu-Jamal deserves no more mercy than the mercy he failed to show Officer Daniel Faulkner.
Monday, December 10, 2007
JOHN McCAIN IS MY FAVORITE CANDIDATE
When it comes to politics, I do not vote along party lines. I am an Independent who takes voting very seriously. As I look at the presidential candidates, both Democrat and Republican, there is only one candidate that I can support with any enthusiasm. That candidate is Senator John McCain, a genuine American war hero who continues to stick by his principles even though some of his positions are quite unpopular within his own party.
First, let me tell you how I feel about some of the other candidates, starting with Mitt Romney. This candidate has flip-flopped on almost every issue he supported as governor of Massachusetts. And, when questioned as to why none of his five grown sons had ever served in the military, he had the audacity to claim they were serving their country by campaigning in his behalf. The only way Romney would ever get my vote is if it came down to a choice between him and Hillary Clinton.
Then there is Fred Thompson, the former senator and Hollywood actor. This guy is a pretty good actor, but he is no Ronald Reagan. As a candidate, he has been a big dissapointment. He is not going to get the Republican nomination unless all the other candidates, including Ron Paul, drop dead.
Rudy Giuliani was a great U.S. Attorney. His office successfully prosecuted the bosses of several Mafia families. As mayor of New York, he brought law and order back to a lawless city. His leadership during the 9/11 calamity was inspiring, despite strong criticism by the firefighters union bosses, perennial backers of Democrats. Although Giuliani carries some baggage concerning his personal life and some of his associates, I could vote for him.
Mike Huckabee, a Baptist preacher and former governor of Arkansas, is probably the most likeable of all the canditates. He has a good sense of humor. The fact that he is catering to the Evangelical Christians does not bother me. All the Republican candidates are doing that, including Giuliani with his pro-choice, pro-gay, pro-illegal immigrant and anti-gun positions. Even though, in 10 1/2 years as governor, he granted over 1,000 pardons, including one of a castrated rapist who later murdered a woman, I could still vote for Huckabee. Besides, he's got Walker, Texas Ranger (Chuck Norris) in his corner, and that ought to count for something.
Ron Paul, a Texas congressman and a physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, is a Libertarian running in the Republican primaries who is another likeable candidate. As a Libertarian he would eliminate much of the government bureaucracy, starting with the Internal Revenue Service. He really has no chance of getting the nomination, but if by some miracle he did, I could vote for him.
Barack Obama is the first black American to have a real shot at the Presidency. If elected, the young Illinois Democrat could bring about real change because he has not been in the Senate long enough to become entrenched as a "Washington insider." With Hillary Clinton and most of the other candidates it will be business as usual at the White House.
Obama's inexperience is no big deal since he would almost certainly appoint well-qualified men and women to be his aides and Cabinet members. He has tripped over his tongue on several foreign policy statements. But it's his sucking up to Jessee Jackson and Al Sharpton that has just about eliminated any chance I would vote for him.
John Edwards, running on the far-left, is blaming everyone's problems on the evil power of those big bad greedy corporations. Dennis Kucinich is the "peace candidate." Edwards is not likely to, and Kucinich will not get the Democratic nomination, but if they somehow did, they would not get my vote. Senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd will not get the nomination either and, by now, are really aiming for the vice-presidency.
With his foreign relations experience as ambassador to the United Nations and with his executive experience as governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson appears to be the most qualified of all the cadidates in the race for President of the United States. However, his call for the immediate withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq puts him in the same boat with Kucinich. His holier-than-though declarations against negative campaigning does not impress me and he would not get my vote.
Now to Senator Hillary Clinton, whose real claim to fame is her marriage to former President Bill Clinton. Since Hillary's husband is campaigning so hard in her behalf, you cannot separate one from the other when judging her candidacy. Good old Bill, a Vietnam wartime draft dodger, is a congenital liar. There was his ridiculous "but I did not inhale" statement when he first ran for President. There were all the denials of his extra-marital affairs. And then there is his latest big lie that he opposed President Bush's invasion of Iraq. Bill and Hillary are notorious for playing both ends against the middle.
Hillary has always been uber-politically ambitious. She is a very shrewd cold calculating candidate who, before taking any position, moistens her finger and holds it up to see which way the wind of public opinion is blowing. You cannot put any weight in the sincerity of her statements. Furthermore, she is definitely not likeable, projecting a condescending and self-righteous image. And, Hillary is totally devoid of self-respect because if she had any, she would have thrown Bill out on his ass, her presidential ambitions not withstanding, for cheating on her time and time again. For her lack of self-respect and because she keeps sucking up to Jessee Jackson and Al Sharpton, I could never, ever vote for her.
This brings me back to John McCain. His campaign got off to an awful start. His staff blew most of the money raised by his campaign. He has never been liked by the Evangelicals. His stand on illegal immigration cost him a lot of support. To his credit though, he is a man of principle who, unlike Hillary, does not stick a moistened finger in the air. He often takes unpopular independent positions because he believes them to be right. You've got to love a maverick like that.
John McCain served his country in combat as a naval aviator and, after having been shot down, he endured six years of torture and solitary confinement at the hands of his North Vietnamese captors. With his long and outstanding record of military and public service, he is the most deserving of all the presidential cadidates. In a race between Hillary Clinton and Johm McCain, she's the contrived robotic candidate, he's the real deal. His foreign policy will protect the interests of the United States. His domestic policy will be based on principle and not on partisanship.
I am asking all of you to join me in supporting Senator McCain's bid for the presidency and, if the opportunity arises, to cast your vote for this principled genuine American hero.
First, let me tell you how I feel about some of the other candidates, starting with Mitt Romney. This candidate has flip-flopped on almost every issue he supported as governor of Massachusetts. And, when questioned as to why none of his five grown sons had ever served in the military, he had the audacity to claim they were serving their country by campaigning in his behalf. The only way Romney would ever get my vote is if it came down to a choice between him and Hillary Clinton.
Then there is Fred Thompson, the former senator and Hollywood actor. This guy is a pretty good actor, but he is no Ronald Reagan. As a candidate, he has been a big dissapointment. He is not going to get the Republican nomination unless all the other candidates, including Ron Paul, drop dead.
Rudy Giuliani was a great U.S. Attorney. His office successfully prosecuted the bosses of several Mafia families. As mayor of New York, he brought law and order back to a lawless city. His leadership during the 9/11 calamity was inspiring, despite strong criticism by the firefighters union bosses, perennial backers of Democrats. Although Giuliani carries some baggage concerning his personal life and some of his associates, I could vote for him.
Mike Huckabee, a Baptist preacher and former governor of Arkansas, is probably the most likeable of all the canditates. He has a good sense of humor. The fact that he is catering to the Evangelical Christians does not bother me. All the Republican candidates are doing that, including Giuliani with his pro-choice, pro-gay, pro-illegal immigrant and anti-gun positions. Even though, in 10 1/2 years as governor, he granted over 1,000 pardons, including one of a castrated rapist who later murdered a woman, I could still vote for Huckabee. Besides, he's got Walker, Texas Ranger (Chuck Norris) in his corner, and that ought to count for something.
Ron Paul, a Texas congressman and a physician specializing in obstetrics and gynecology, is a Libertarian running in the Republican primaries who is another likeable candidate. As a Libertarian he would eliminate much of the government bureaucracy, starting with the Internal Revenue Service. He really has no chance of getting the nomination, but if by some miracle he did, I could vote for him.
Barack Obama is the first black American to have a real shot at the Presidency. If elected, the young Illinois Democrat could bring about real change because he has not been in the Senate long enough to become entrenched as a "Washington insider." With Hillary Clinton and most of the other candidates it will be business as usual at the White House.
Obama's inexperience is no big deal since he would almost certainly appoint well-qualified men and women to be his aides and Cabinet members. He has tripped over his tongue on several foreign policy statements. But it's his sucking up to Jessee Jackson and Al Sharpton that has just about eliminated any chance I would vote for him.
John Edwards, running on the far-left, is blaming everyone's problems on the evil power of those big bad greedy corporations. Dennis Kucinich is the "peace candidate." Edwards is not likely to, and Kucinich will not get the Democratic nomination, but if they somehow did, they would not get my vote. Senators Joe Biden and Chris Dodd will not get the nomination either and, by now, are really aiming for the vice-presidency.
With his foreign relations experience as ambassador to the United Nations and with his executive experience as governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson appears to be the most qualified of all the cadidates in the race for President of the United States. However, his call for the immediate withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq puts him in the same boat with Kucinich. His holier-than-though declarations against negative campaigning does not impress me and he would not get my vote.
Now to Senator Hillary Clinton, whose real claim to fame is her marriage to former President Bill Clinton. Since Hillary's husband is campaigning so hard in her behalf, you cannot separate one from the other when judging her candidacy. Good old Bill, a Vietnam wartime draft dodger, is a congenital liar. There was his ridiculous "but I did not inhale" statement when he first ran for President. There were all the denials of his extra-marital affairs. And then there is his latest big lie that he opposed President Bush's invasion of Iraq. Bill and Hillary are notorious for playing both ends against the middle.
Hillary has always been uber-politically ambitious. She is a very shrewd cold calculating candidate who, before taking any position, moistens her finger and holds it up to see which way the wind of public opinion is blowing. You cannot put any weight in the sincerity of her statements. Furthermore, she is definitely not likeable, projecting a condescending and self-righteous image. And, Hillary is totally devoid of self-respect because if she had any, she would have thrown Bill out on his ass, her presidential ambitions not withstanding, for cheating on her time and time again. For her lack of self-respect and because she keeps sucking up to Jessee Jackson and Al Sharpton, I could never, ever vote for her.
This brings me back to John McCain. His campaign got off to an awful start. His staff blew most of the money raised by his campaign. He has never been liked by the Evangelicals. His stand on illegal immigration cost him a lot of support. To his credit though, he is a man of principle who, unlike Hillary, does not stick a moistened finger in the air. He often takes unpopular independent positions because he believes them to be right. You've got to love a maverick like that.
John McCain served his country in combat as a naval aviator and, after having been shot down, he endured six years of torture and solitary confinement at the hands of his North Vietnamese captors. With his long and outstanding record of military and public service, he is the most deserving of all the presidential cadidates. In a race between Hillary Clinton and Johm McCain, she's the contrived robotic candidate, he's the real deal. His foreign policy will protect the interests of the United States. His domestic policy will be based on principle and not on partisanship.
I am asking all of you to join me in supporting Senator McCain's bid for the presidency and, if the opportunity arises, to cast your vote for this principled genuine American hero.
Monday, December 03, 2007
NO PITY FOR THE POTTED IN PRISON
Are you concerned that our prisons are full of "nonviolent" drug offenders? If so, you are not alone. In recent years there have been a spate of newspaper editorials, op-ed pieces and television commentaries calling for the decriminalization of drugs because "over half a million" nonviolent drug offenders are wasting away in Ameerican prisons.
Well-meaning people believe that many lives have been and are being ruined, not through the illegal use of drugs, but because productive or potentially productive Americans are being arrested, proscecuted and convicted for violating our drug laws. And, some of those who feel this way are not necessarily of a liberal persuasion. One of my friends, a conservative law-and-order type who is a successful and respected civic-minded businessman, has disagreed with me on this issue since the beginning of our friendship.
Froma Harrop, a syndicated columnist, recently wrote that since its start in 1970, the "lunatic" War on Drugs has resulted in 38 million arrests for nonviolent drug offenses. She noted that, for those who evaded arrest, drug use has been no bar to high office, listing Al Gore, Newt Gingrich, Clarence Thomas, Bill Clinton, President Bush and Barack Obama as examples. Harrop's op-ed piece referred to the War on Drugs as a one trillion dollar failure which has left nonviolent drug offenders to "rot in jail."
Harrop and others of her ilk do not want nonviolent drug offenders locked up. Hey, why stop there? By keeping all nonviolent criminals (thieves, white-collar crooks, hot-check writers, unarmed burglars, drug offenders) out of jail we would solve the prison overcrowding problem in a hot New York minute. And, what about those numbers (half a million, 38 million, one trillion) Harrop and others are throwing around? I suspect they are rather well inflated.
Make no mistake about it; those who make a conscious decision to ignore or break our drug laws are criminals, any way you cut it. The drug offenders in our prisons do not deserve any pity. No one put a gun to their heads and forced them to smoke pot, pop pills, inject heroin, snort cocaine, smoke crack, or shoot-up crystal meth.
Decriminalization advocates like to compare the use of marijuana by minors to kids sneaking off to smoke a cigarette or to drink a bottle of beer in the years before pot smoking became popular. Marijuana is not the innocuous weed that many would have us believe. It is one of the most dangerous of all drugs because it is the "gateway drug" to the use of more harmful substances. When the habitual smoking of pot becomes prosaic, many of its users will switch to stronger drugs. That is why the penalties for marijuana possession are more severe than those for tobacco or alcohol violations.
I have personally seen the devastation that can result from the use of illicit drugs. I have arrested and also supervised a substantial number of parolees who were doctors, lawyers and other professionls. Their lives and health were ruined long before they were arrested and sent to prison.
Harrop and her fellow decriminalization demagogues would have us believe that all those poor druggies are behind bars only because they had the misfortune of getting caught, and their only sin was smoking pot or crack. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of those nonviolent drug offenders "rotting away" in prison were also thieves, white-collar crooks, hot-check writers or burglars who preyed on innocent victims to support their drug habits.
Whether or not we are winning the War on Drugs is really irrelevant. So long as there are laws against the use, possession or sale of drugs, those who deliberately make bad choices should be prepared to face the consequences. And, if those consequences result in prison time, that's just tough. The "rule of law" must always prevail. That is why imprisoned nonviolent drug offenders do not deserve any pity.
Well-meaning people believe that many lives have been and are being ruined, not through the illegal use of drugs, but because productive or potentially productive Americans are being arrested, proscecuted and convicted for violating our drug laws. And, some of those who feel this way are not necessarily of a liberal persuasion. One of my friends, a conservative law-and-order type who is a successful and respected civic-minded businessman, has disagreed with me on this issue since the beginning of our friendship.
Froma Harrop, a syndicated columnist, recently wrote that since its start in 1970, the "lunatic" War on Drugs has resulted in 38 million arrests for nonviolent drug offenses. She noted that, for those who evaded arrest, drug use has been no bar to high office, listing Al Gore, Newt Gingrich, Clarence Thomas, Bill Clinton, President Bush and Barack Obama as examples. Harrop's op-ed piece referred to the War on Drugs as a one trillion dollar failure which has left nonviolent drug offenders to "rot in jail."
Harrop and others of her ilk do not want nonviolent drug offenders locked up. Hey, why stop there? By keeping all nonviolent criminals (thieves, white-collar crooks, hot-check writers, unarmed burglars, drug offenders) out of jail we would solve the prison overcrowding problem in a hot New York minute. And, what about those numbers (half a million, 38 million, one trillion) Harrop and others are throwing around? I suspect they are rather well inflated.
Make no mistake about it; those who make a conscious decision to ignore or break our drug laws are criminals, any way you cut it. The drug offenders in our prisons do not deserve any pity. No one put a gun to their heads and forced them to smoke pot, pop pills, inject heroin, snort cocaine, smoke crack, or shoot-up crystal meth.
Decriminalization advocates like to compare the use of marijuana by minors to kids sneaking off to smoke a cigarette or to drink a bottle of beer in the years before pot smoking became popular. Marijuana is not the innocuous weed that many would have us believe. It is one of the most dangerous of all drugs because it is the "gateway drug" to the use of more harmful substances. When the habitual smoking of pot becomes prosaic, many of its users will switch to stronger drugs. That is why the penalties for marijuana possession are more severe than those for tobacco or alcohol violations.
I have personally seen the devastation that can result from the use of illicit drugs. I have arrested and also supervised a substantial number of parolees who were doctors, lawyers and other professionls. Their lives and health were ruined long before they were arrested and sent to prison.
Harrop and her fellow decriminalization demagogues would have us believe that all those poor druggies are behind bars only because they had the misfortune of getting caught, and their only sin was smoking pot or crack. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of those nonviolent drug offenders "rotting away" in prison were also thieves, white-collar crooks, hot-check writers or burglars who preyed on innocent victims to support their drug habits.
Whether or not we are winning the War on Drugs is really irrelevant. So long as there are laws against the use, possession or sale of drugs, those who deliberately make bad choices should be prepared to face the consequences. And, if those consequences result in prison time, that's just tough. The "rule of law" must always prevail. That is why imprisoned nonviolent drug offenders do not deserve any pity.
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