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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDavid Brooks smoked weed when he was young, now he regrets it, thinks no one else should
I've never smoked weed, ever, I don't regret not ever smoking, but I don't think that people should be prohibited from doing so.
We're both 52, two months difference, so it's not like it's that big of one. He went to school in Canada and now he's some right wing demagogue. I went to school in Michigan and spent most of my adult life in the military, where it was part of my job to process the separations of troops who were caught smoking weed and yet, I came out about as a pretty lefty guy as one could be.
What the fuck has Brooks done to slather his hands with the blood of weed smokers? Has he ever looked into their eyes as he was part of the process that ruined their lives? I don't think so.
I don't regret that at all either, I didn't think that weed smoking had its place for people who were in uniform.
He's white and I'm black, but it's been my observation that white guys can pretty much smoke weed at will, without any fear of being hassled by the cops. Black guys tend to get targeted by the cops as suspected weed smokers, even when a lot of them have not smoked or possessed weed at all.
In that, we're living in two different worlds.
Brooks couldn't be bothered to acknowledge that fact.
By the way, the way that Brooks is acting, with his dope smoking past and all, his "regrets" seem awfully hypocritical, as he could still be smoking it today (secretly), and being the white, middle class, right wing demagogue that he is, no one would even care.
Me, I have to live in this world of weed prohibition, where my rights and the rights of others could be violated at the drop of a hat on mere suspicion. Where poor people are suspected of smoking dope merely because they use the social safety net. Where jails are filled with their black and brown bodies merely because they're too poor to afford bail.
Brooks wants that all to stay the same
Hell, he's already had his unpunished thrills. I want it to change because it's unjust and unfair. Yet, he's all for ruining the lives of people for weed and would stay detached from the process as much as possible.
I've never smoked weed and chances are that I never will
But unlike Brooks, my own position isn't one of hypocrisy and isn't either self-serving or dripping with demagoguery.
It's about making world that has more freedom and fairness and less prejudice and fear.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)Discharging folks for pot while selling alcohol on base and not punishing boozers is hypocrisy. If you yourself drink alcohol, it is a self serving hypocrisy on your part. 'they have no place in uniform, but some lush can be General'.
MrScorpio
(73,630 posts)So it's not the case that they didn't punish drinkers. I processed that paperwork too from time to time.
I wasn't much of a drinker anyway, and because of that, I usually volunteered to be the designated driver when we went out.
I was in the USAF and no, where I served wasn't alcohol free. But unlike weed, alcohol was a legal substance that troops could have while off duty.
By the way, it was never my call to kick out weed smokers. I still don't think that it has its place in uniform. People should be free to smoke all they want once they get out.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)Or had a say on the matter one way or another? Seems to me he was given a job to do and he did it. How is whether or not he drinks alcohol hypocrisy?
I think your criticism is misdirected.
tazkcmo
(7,300 posts)I'm a pot smoking veteran that stopped smoking pot when I enlisted, both voluntarily. Don't like the rule? Don't enlist. Simple. This isn't hypocrisy on his part. That's a bunch of crap that tries to put the blame on him for a regulation someone else penned and all service members are aware of.
Ezlivin
(8,153 posts)Ask anyone who served during that time.
Just because someone chooses to inhale instead of swallow doesn't mean they can't get the job done
Blue Owl
(50,291 posts)panader0
(25,816 posts)MrScorpio
(73,630 posts)I'll pass.
More for those who want it, I say.
panader0
(25,816 posts)MrScorpio
(73,630 posts)And on the other hand, I don't have the feeling that my mind needs any kind of consciousness altering.
I've been that way my entire life.
Sure, I've drank alcohol, but that's because I liked the taste of what I was drinking, not because I wanted to get drunk. Once I start getting tipsy, I usually lay off.
Snotcicles
(9,089 posts)Just when I thought he was getting use to it.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)And I don't regret quitting.
And if/when my state legalizes recreational use, I will do it again.
I am not impressed by David Brooks.
Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)a benefit to advance themselves, and then pulling the ladder up behind them so nobody else can have the same benefit.
& R
cap
(7,170 posts)someone else who had fun and now doesn't want other people to do the same thing.
Some people will say anything for the sake of money or status or belonging to a certain group.
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)Or Tom Friedman, for that matter.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)spanone
(135,795 posts)MrScorpio
(73,630 posts)He looks like he has more than 10 years on me.
Being a right wing hypocritical asshole really ages a guy.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)I don't regret it. The idea of putting soneone in prison for it is itself a crime.
I think stoners are losers but being a loser is not a crime.
No smoking in public, fine. Same with a dui of driving while stoned- positive blood test plus field sobriety failure.
Other than that, make it like alcohol for growing it. Small batch ok, big batch need a licensce.
Wolf Frankula
(3,600 posts)Do as I say, not as I do.
I can (could in this case) but you mustn't.
Bite me Brooks, you neoconvict goof.
Wolf