Back when we were fighting GlobalCorp for our pensions Barney Frank was one of two congressman willing to talk with us and take our side.

I went underground then. I think GlobalCorp was surprised that the intelligent, competent, and ambitious people they hired would actually see the scam and stand up and fight against it. Imagine that.

Well, the old farts like me fought. Underground, but still. And GlobalCorp did back down to the over-40 crowd which I was a member of at the time so I got my due.

The younguns took their screwing with a smile and I was kinda disappointed in that but they'd been taught since birth that corporations are the stern father and caring mother that we must never disobey so what could I do? You can't push a string.

I'm glad Barney Frank is still in office and our milquetoast Republican lackey Gutenecht is out. There is some karma in the world.

Wow! strangely encouraging even to see a report of somebody speaking rationally to the media in our nation's capitol.

If the fed caved, I have no doubt the southern states that have marijuana as their number one cash crop would love to get more of the tax money.

At the same time, Massachusetts has a ballot measure this fall to convert possession of one ounce or less to a minimal civil offense. It would be interesting if that really was the biggest threat to users.

What? Make marijuana semi-legal? And take away the exclusive right of the government to seize it, possess it, grow it, smoke it, and sell it on the black market? Why that's un-American!!

What those cancer and HIV stricken patients need is to have their door blasted in by more roided out, soldier wanna-be cops, who then will show these stoners and their families harmful they are to society.

Frank knows this proposal will go nowhere. It's merely a tokin' gesture.

Ha HA! GET IT???

"Kudos to Rep. Frank for being unafraid to state the freaking obvious."

Was he high or something?

And did you get a load of his space cadet co-sponsor? Ron Paul!

If Frank were serious about getting federal (much less state) law changed on this subject, he'd get far more interest if instead of proposing to lift the marijuana ban, he proposed an income test: smoking dope is not a federal crime if your income (or that of your parents) exceeds, say, 50K. That way, the feds would only be hassling the poor. Or Frank could propose the opposite, so the poor get off and only the rich are hassled.

In any event, such a proposal would stir up alot of talk and maybe rile up enough people that Congresscritters would just drop the dang ban.

Funny how we needed a Constitutional amendment to allow the feds to ban liquor sales; how is it that none was required for pot or other drugs?

Asked whether the resolution's passage would change his personal behavior, Frank quipped, "I do obey every law I vote for" but quickly said he did not use marijuana, nor does he encourage it.

So does he violate every law he votes against? Sounds fun.

Gaijin,

Frank knows this proposal will go nowhere. It's merely a tokin' gesture.

Ha HA! GET IT???

Lord of the Rings? But the humans won.

The war on drugs is a huge business. I don't see the current arrangement changing anytime soon.

As far as law enforcement is concerned... Violent criminals are dangerous and require great effort to catch. On the other hand, stoners are quite easy to catch.

And with many prisons now being run by for-profit companies (Wackenhut), it's no surprise that more Americans, per capita, are in prison now... Crime is big business for everyone now.

Beware pot tokin' evildoers! They're gonna smoke ya out!