Sessions Update
While the MSM has been playing up the Trump-Russia thing for the past week others in the administration have been doing horrible things that have gotten virtually no coverage. Of the political stooges that have riled me this week, Jeff Sessions is at the top of the list. With complete disregard to the principles of Freedom and Liberty, in the past 7 days Sessions has given his blessing for religious zealots to discriminate, affirmed his position on conviction-less asset forfeiture, and doubled down on his anti-weed crusade.
Sessions speaks to hate group
Last Tuesday Sessions was a key speaker at an anti-gay hate group disguised as a religious organization known as the ADF. In his speech, Sessions vowed that new guidelines from the DOJ protecting religious freedom were coming. For those who may not understand – what that means is the the DOJ, the department charged with enforcement of federal laws and protecting American citizens, is working on guidelines that will allow those that wish to discriminate permission to do so so long as they do it because they feel it’s their religious right.
There are 3 sides to the truth and here are two. The first amendment guarantees the freedom of people to practice their religion. However, like the second amendment there are limits. Sensible people understand this and the SCOTUS has affirmed as much.
A basic tenet of freedom is that one person’s rights end where anothers begin. Should religious people be forced to participate in activities that go against their religion? No, they shouldn’t. But where is the line drawn? A Christian baker making a cake, a Muslim cashier ringing up alcohol, a Jewish fry-cook making Sausage McMuffins…? At some point common sense must enter the discussion. Baking a cake is not “participating in” or “condoning” a gay wedding any more than serving alcohol or cooking pork is the equivalent to being forced to consume it. I find it interesting that the “Christians” that scream the loudest about religious freedom are also the first to complain when similar instances mentioned above arise with Jews and Muslims or insist on government money for religious schools so long as they’re Christian, not Muslim or Jewish. Basically what they want is a Christian Theocracy which, by the way, is something the founding fathers were against hence the very first line in the Bill of Rights
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion
As the chief law enforcement officer of the U.S., Sessions should get this and keep his nose out of people’s religious business.
Sessions supports police stealing from innocent Americans
From 2007 to 2016 the DEA seized $3.2 billion from people that were never even charged with a crime let alone convicted and this week AG Sessions said he wants to not only continue the unconstitutional practice, he wants to expand it! Ending conviction-less asset forfeiture has bipartisan support and has even been done away with altogether in some states, much to the hatred of local law enforcement unions and officials who frequently get to keep portions of money/property taken to buy new toys or weapons and pay bonuses with.
So one wonders why Sessions is so in favor of a policy that Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and even conservative’s favorite SCOTUS justice, Thomas, is against. In my opinion it comes down to Sessions’ irrational preoccupation with the evil weed – marijuana. Because no one would be for police stealing money from innocent citizens to line their own pockets, law enforcement and AG Sessions spin asset forfeiture as a vital tool in the ongoing war on drugs. They feel that if a few hundred innocent people suffer and have their constitutional rights violated that it is worth it to get the millions of dollars from actual (convicted) drug dealers.
Sessions doubles down on weed war
It’s no secret that Nixon’s war on drugs was intended to punish blacks and anti-war hippies and it’s no surprise that ideological politicians will never learn from history. As Americans, the free market and Liberty is at the heart of our collective conscious. Passage of the eighteenth amendment prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, or sale of alcohol proved that when there is a market (demand) people will find a way to capitalize on it (supply), regardless of government regulations. Prohibition was as big a failure as the war on drugs. The difference is that we ended the government’s 14 year war on alcohol in 1933 at a cost of $11.3 billion yet continue to fight the impossible-to-win war on other drugs after 46 years. The U.S. has spent over $1 trillion of tax payers money in this “war” and incarcerated over half a million people, most of whom are people of color, just as Nixon intended.
Politicians on both sides of the isle, social scientists, drug experts,and even some forward-thinking law enforcement officials have called for federal legalization of marijuana and 8 U.S. states have already done so. With approximately 60% of Americans in favor, why is Sessions insistent on these prosecutions, even in states where it’s legal? In my opinion it comes down to pride and COMA syndrome.
Like many prideful Americans, Sessions refuses to believe that America could ever lose any war it enters into. Never mind the proverbial wars on poverty, literacy, teen pregnancy, terrorism, or any of the others previous presidents have declared and lost. To Sessions this is his war to finally win, no matter the cost. Maybe even more so is that Sessions (in my non-mental health professional opinion) suffers from crazy old man with attitude syndrome. These old and dying republicans idolize guys like Charlton Heston and Clint Eastwood thinking they can gun-sling and put liberal marijuana snorting hippies in their place well into their 70s; refusing to accept that the world changes and the movies is not real life. It would be different if Sessions wanted to sit alone on a stage and talk to himself like some old actor but he is the AG of the U.S. His crazy old man with attitude rhetoric actually carries weight yet he believes that Reefer Madness is real.
Aside from Sessions’ pride and COMA syndrome, what’s troubling from a different perspective is the blatant hypocrisy he demonstrates on this issue. As a senator Sessions rambled for hours about the importance of state’s rights trumping federal policy with regard to bathrooms, school funding, and marriage yet he appears to have done a complete 180 on state’s rights when it comes to weed legalization. Funny how politicians (all politicians not just Jeff Sessions) find it righteous when something compliments their belief and evil when it doesn’t.
Category: Politics
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