Ken

LAST TIME, I pointed out that proposition 19 will not really decriminalize marijuana in California, because federal law will stay the same.

But it's still a very good idea, for the following reasons:

1. The reasoning behind the "war on drugs," including the war on marijuana, is the same reasoning as that behind prohibition.
   
   It goes like this:
   1. X is a bad idea, for whatever reasons.
   2. Therefore, we should have less of X.
   3. Therefore, we should outlaw X.

   The problem with this line of reasoning is that outlawing X, whether X is pot or alcohol or teenage sex, doesn't necessarily cut down on X.

JUST FOR THE RECORD, I have never taken a single puff from a joint in my life—not even without inhaling.

I grew up in the sixties, and went to college from 1967 to 1971.

I remember the sound of the bullhorn at the free speech area echoing off the sides of the buildings and the anxiety produced by the helicopters overhead.

And I remember the scent of weed drifting through the campus air.

But I was a fundamentalist at the time, and a worshiper at the alter of William F. Buckley Jr., as well.

Alas.

Talk about a misspent youth...

I honestly haven't had that many opportunities to smoke pot since those days, and I can't say I feel deprived.

I did smoke a pipe (filled with tobacco) for about two years—but then they decided it was just as dangerous as cigarettes, so I stopped even that.

So if Proposition 19 passes, I wouldn't be rushing to the nearest outlet to buy some, even if it did make that possible—which it probably won't.

ON TUESDAY A FEDERAL judge found that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy put in place as a political compromise during the Clinton administration, is unconstitutional.

As I write this the Justice Department has not announced whether it will appeal the decision.

It should not, for the following reasons:

LET'S BEGIN AGAIN—THIS TIME with the worst possible spiritual predicament.

Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that you knew, or at least had a persistent suspicion, that you were bad.

"Bad" could mean any number of things—selfish, lazy, stupid, addictive, it doesn't really matter how you define it.

The point is, that you believe that you, yourself, are—in some important and basic way—something that you, yourself, disapprove of.

You are, in some sense, fundamentally at odds with yourself.

Imagine how this would incapacitate you, not wanting to want what you want, not wanting to do what you do.

Not approving of yourself.

YESTERDAY I WROTE ABOUT an email, which told a story about an Iraqi sculptor who, out of pure gratitude for the American invasion of his country, created a statue honoring America.

I also listed six of the blatant lies in that email.

As you can easily see from that post, aside from a couple of details...

1. there was a sculpture, and
2. the sculptor was Iraqi

...the entire story is a fabrication.

The intent of the sculpture—a monument to the dead of a specific unit, by the soldiers in that unit—has been changed.

The intent of the sculptor has been changed.

Everything about the meaning of this work of art has been twisted to fit the political agenda of the propagandist.