I'm Joe Pothead - Ignore the plumber & suck up to me.

[babylonsister]

So the title of this 'hooked' me...

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/18005


I'm Joe Pothead - Ignore the plumber & suck up to me.
by xxdr_zombiexx | October 17, 2008


It's just embarrassing to be an American right about now: this country goes apeshit over the stupidest stuff imaginable.

Right now this staged "Joe the Freakin' Rightwing Plumber"schtick is all the rage, actually taking some heat off that useless and embarrassing Sarah Palin.

I got news for you: Forget Joe the Plumber.

I know a demographic that Obama is ignoring. McCain is ignoring it too, but that's part of his party's ideology.

I have no idea how many plumbers are in America and I think it's off-base to even try to figure it out.

I calculate approximately 35 million Americans of voting age smoke cannabis - pot, weed, mar-ju-wanna, reefer: whatever you call it - a minimum of 1 time per year or more.

That demographic is systematically demonized by the GOP as part of their reefer mad ideology. This is important to them.

I do not believe it is important to Democrats. I think they are a mix of spinelessness and wussifed fear such that they don't generally broach the topic.

Why should a pot smoker vote Republican?

That's like a black person voting for the KKK. No damned difference.

Democrats - especially those ultra-histrionic sorts that thrive on self-righteous finger-wagging about "complacency" anytime somebody notes Obama gains 1 point is some poll from Podunk Idaho - need to be reaching out and sucking up to US.

snip//

Pot smokers are your basic massive untapped demographic: even if you don't personally like us, stop your self-righteous finger-wagging at least long enough to encourage them to vote Democratic.

That IS what all the finger-wagging is about, isn't it?

Well, what are you waiting for? Get busy.

[rcrush]

1. Agreed

Although in 2004 Obama did say he would be in support of decriminalization of pot. But he's kind of backed away from that since then.

[NorthCarolina]

2. I think Barney Frank picked up on it though

and introduced a bill to the House.

Congressman Seeks to Decriminalize Pot at Federal Level

Monday, August 04, 2008
By Michael Gryboski, Correspondent


Marijuana (AP Photo)
(CNSNews.com) – Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, formally unveiled a bill last week that would, if enacted, remove federal criminal penalties for personal possession of small amounts of marijuana.

H.R.5843, the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008, would exempt possession of up to 100 grams of marijuana from federal prosecution.

Frank made the announcement flanked by members of the marijuana-legalization groups the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and the Drug Policy Alliance.

“At NORML we have always taken the position that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the responsible use of marijuana by adults, and this proposal incorporates that principle into federal law,” Keith Stroup, legal counsel for NORML, told CNSNews.com.

Stroup acknowledged that the “pot” legalization lobby hopes the bill will eventually lead to the legalization of marijuana in the United States, in any quantity.


Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.)
“Once we recognize that the criminal justice approach is not helpful or useful for drug abusers, we will develop good programs to help these people who need help, but to leave alone those millions of citizens who live law-abiding lives but who enjoy smoking a joint when they relax in the evening, just as millions of other Americans enjoy a glass of wine or a cocktail in the evening,” Stroup said.

Dan Bernath, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, told CNSNews.com that even if the bill should become law, marijuana would still be illegal – both at the federal level and on the state level, in most states.

“ would simply remove the threat of arrest and the host of consequences that can come with an arrest at the federal level, including the possible loss of student financial aid, housing assistance, food stamps, voting rights, and in some cases, prison for simple possession or nonprofit transfer of small amounts of marijuana,” Bernath said.

“What the bill would do is limit big government's role in marijuana policy and put that responsibility more in the hands of the states,” said Bernath.

Opponents of marijuana legalization, meanwhile, say there’s plenty of reason to keep criminal penalties on pot.

“The FDA has concluded that no sound scientific studies support the medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States, and that no data exist to support the safety or efficacy of marijuana for general medical use,” Kevin A. Searcy, spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, told CNSNews.com.

“There are alternative FDA-approved medications in existence for treatment of many of the proposed uses of smoked marijuana,” he said.

Searcy also said that illegal drugs are illegal because they are harmful, and there is “mounting scientific evidence” that links marijuana to serious health issues.

“The levels of THC in marijuana have reached the highest recorded amounts ever since scientific analysis of the drug began in the late 1970s,” he said. “The increased potency of marijuana is a contributing factor to the substantial increase in the number of American teenagers in treatment for marijuana dependence.

“This increase in potency has also been linked to increased risks for mental health disorders, including psychosis and schizophrenia,” Searcy added.

Marijuana use has also been linked to heart attacks, he said.

Practically no one is expecting the bill to become law.

“Even Congressman Frank has stated publicly that the chances of this legislation passing are not ‘high,’” Searcy said.

H.R. 5843 is currently at the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

[sallyseven]

3. Love Barney

If Obama isn't declared the winner and they steal it from him I will need Pot just to exist here in the US. I may try Costa Rica.

[immoderate]

8. It's funny. Opponents say there are no studies to show the efficacy of medical marijuana, but...

Supposedly, it's been "linked" to heart attacks and mental disorders. Where are the studies for that? :shrug:

--IMM

[Prophet 451]

12. The mental disorders...

...are from a study the BMJ did but this shows the danger of people without medical training using soundbites from a medical journal. What the study actually found was that if you have a history of mental illness, pot could act as a trigger. That's probably true. So could lots of other things, including booze and a fair number of prescription drugs. Essentially, if you have a history of mental illness, taking anything which alters your perceptions is probably not a good idea.

EDIT: However, in a follow-up study, the BMJ also found that several of the compounds in cannabis fought the growth of various cancers (cancelled out here in Britain because we tend to roll out pot with tobacco), may have preventative effects on cancers and there's the already proven effects in treating conditions from insomnia to MS and a pain relief record stretching back to the dawn of civilisation. I don't generally believe in miracle cures but the more research is done on the medical properties of pot, the more it really does look like a wonder drug.

And I haven't smoked the stuff in over a decade.

[ejbr]

4. Encourage to vote Democratic?

How about have them vote at all!! {Disclaimer: as a former pothead, I can stand by this assertion) :smoke:

[Fly by night]

5. Obama maintains strong support for medical marijuana

Barack Obama has been very clear about his position toward medical cannabis: “I think the basic concept that using medical marijuana in the same way, with the same controls, as other drugs prescribed by doctors, I think that's entirely appropriate.”

[Kurovski]

6. People DESPISE the "Joetheplumber" bull.

it's campaigning from 100 years ago.

When the debate was monitored with those twisty-knob meters, and when "Joe" was mentioned, the lines on the graph dropped.

People don't give a shit about some bald-headed fuck with a crap-load of canned complaints.

People want to hear some concrete news about how in the fuck we're going to be able to eat in the upcoming years, not some beef-brained tax-dodger's pipe dream.

I swear, that dimwit would make a great second husband for Gov. Palin.

[Demeter]

7. I Wouldn't Wish Sarah on Any Man

but I'm known to be too tender-hearted.

[ixion]

9. k'd and r'd

I resemble that remark. :smoke: :hippie:

[bertman]

10. An excellent point, you raise, but my experience is that lots of Repukes smoke the weed.

[Prophet 451]

11. Been saying this for over a year now

Post from my DU blog to prove it: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2040696

Been saying for a year now that someone needs to court the pot smoker vote. I actually made the number of regular or semi-regular smokers at 18.5 million, still more than enough to make a huge difference in an election.

[woofless]

13. I'm a Godless, Liberal, Elitist Stoner

and I approve this message.

Woof