Obama's Brother Performs Dope Anthem

[BubberMiley]

It was recently reported that Obama's half-brother lives in China and recently performed a cover of Fats Waller's "Viper's Drag" on piano. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/090116/..._half_brother_1

According to the cannibis dictionary at http://www.concept420.com/marijuana_cannab...ictionary.htm#v, vipers are "1930s hipsters who frequented tea pads and smoked jive; onomatopoeic from ssssssssst, the sound made by an inhaling pot-smoker."

Chronic pot-smoker Louis Armstrong was well known as "King of the Vipers"and the term has been resurrected in "The Viper Room," the club owned by Johnny Depp in Los Angeles.

Is the change Obama speaks of a liberal attitude to marijuana?

Doubt it, myself. The black market is the only thing propping up the economy these days.

[kimmy]

Don't get your hopes up, Bubber. I think that Obama's first term will be focused primarily on generating hugs, rainbows, and Disneyesque meadows (as well as addressing the economy, international relations, trade, healthcare, and that sort of thing.)

Mark Ndesandjo sounds like a fascinating person, and not just because he's got a parent in common with the President. However, other than performing a song with a title that references drug use at a charity performance, I don't see anything to indicate that he's any sort of drug advocate. And as someone who grew up on the other side of the world from Obama, I wouldn't assume his views are any sort of mirror of his half-brother's on any particular issue.

As you'll recall, Barak Obama himself used marijuana and cocaine as a young man... an experience he now describes as his "greatest moral failure." Somehow I don't get the impression that he's going to be interested in legalizing drugs.

-k

Edited January 18, 2009 by Charles Anthony
deleted re-copied opening post

[Sir Bandelot]

Don't get your hopes up, Bubber. I think that Obama's first term will be focused primarily on generating hugs, rainbows, and Disneyesque meadows (as well as addressing the economy, international relations, trade, healthcare, and that sort of thing.)

I'll take that over Bush's sneering scowl and call to war on all things non-Americanized. Did you notice that on Obamas web site change.org, pot legalization was the NUMBER ONE item suggested out of the top ten? What's with that?

[bush_cheney2004]

....Did you notice that on Obamas web site change.org, pot legalization was the NUMBER ONE item suggested out of the top ten? What's with that?

That's why they call it "dope"....a President Obama would have little to do with any such attempt at legalization, if only because he didn't do so as a legislator, and will no longer be in the Congress.

[Sir Bandelot]

I see. So democracy is a complete sham then?

[bush_cheney2004]

I see. So democracy is a complete sham then?

When it comes to legalizing controlled substances...yes. How do you think they were banned as scheduled items to begin with....popular vote?

[kimmy]

I'll take that over Bush's sneering scowl and call to war on all things non-Americanized. Did you notice that on Obamas web site change.org,

Change.gov is Obama's website.

Change.org isn't Obama's website. It describes itself as a networking website for social activism. It does, however, describe Joe Biden as

...one of the Senate's most rabid drug warriors. He is responsible for creating the drug czar (and the Office of National Drug Control Policy). He authored the RAVE act, which extends drug punishments to owners of bars and clubs where drug busts happen. After nearly three decades in the Senate, and despite smart positions on plenty of other issues, Biden refuses to admit that the drug war doesn't work.

...and referred me to this handy article which notes that

Obama and Biden also want to revive the Byrne grant drug eradication program, another block grant initiative. At a speech last month in Florida, Obama promised to ensure funding for the Byrne program, adding that it "has been critical to creating the anti-gang and anti-drug task forces our communities need." Although Byrne has not failed to achieve its stated goal (reducing the availability of illicit drugs), it has made drug policing more aggressive and militaristic and less accountable. And by prioritizing raw arrest statistics, the program tends to focus police efforts on low-level offenders instead of major distributors.

Making drug enforcement more aggressive and less accountable? Prioritizing raw arrest statistics and targetting low-level offenders?

hmm. It sounds as if the Changewagon will not be making a stop in Funkytown afterall.

pot legalization was the NUMBER ONE item suggested out of the top ten? What's with that?

What do I make of it? I guess it shows that lots of pot-heads have computers. Good for them.

I see. So democracy is a complete sham then?

I hope you're not suggesting that the new President should base his policy decisions on what people are saying on websites. I certainly believe that Barack Obama has more sense and competence than that.

-k

Edited January 19, 2009 by kimmy

[kimmy]

To me this kind of exemplifies that people seem to project themselves onto "hope and change".

People don't interpret Obama to represent a specific set of policies, they interpret him to represent things that are great, good, just, and fair. Decriminalizing marijuana fits Bubber's definition of good, fair, and just... so it seems to him that drug policy reform should be a part of the "hope and change" that Obama brings to America.

It seems inevitable that there will be a lot of disappointed customers when people find out that hope and change doesn't turn out to mean what they thought it was going to. Whether it be drug reform, wars, trade, middle east policy, affirmative action or probably anything else... starting tomorrow, "hope and change" is no longer a nebulous idea that people can project their own expectations onto.

-k

[BigAl]

To me this kind of exemplifies that people seem to project themselves onto "hope and change".

People don't interpret Obama to represent a specific set of policies, they interpret him to represent things that are great, good, just, and fair. Decriminalizing marijuana fits Bubber's definition of good, fair, and just... so it seems to him that drug policy reform should be a part of the "hope and change" that Obama brings to America.

It seems inevitable that there will be a lot of disappointed customers when people find out that hope and change doesn't turn out to mean what they thought it was going to. Whether it be drug reform, wars, trade, middle east policy, affirmative action or probably anything else... starting tomorrow, "hope and change" is no longer a nebulous idea that people can project their own expectations onto.

-k

Agreed Kimmy. I think part of the reason the Obama campaign was so successful is exactly what you're saying here. The idea of "change" is vague and indirect; even though Obama was relatively clear on his party platform if you chose to look into it, most of his speeches were geared to the emotional impact of the idea of change as opposed to clearly set-out guidelines of what that change would entail. It's good marketing on his part, because it allowed the American public to project their own conception of "change" and relate it directly to Obama. If you look back in history, Obama's speeches bear a striking resemblance to the early speeches of John F. Kennedy where he discussed the "pioneer spirit" of the American people in indirect terms, engendering an emotional rather than an intellectual response. Kennedy was elected largely by virtue of his charisma...I really do think Obama has managed to do the same. Well, that, and let's face it -- it's not really hard to appear more liberal than the Bush administration; while that doesn't necessarily mean that there will be parties in the streets reminiscent of the Free Love movement, people are certainly free to imagine it as such.

And as far as the whole decriminalization issue goes...at this point I'm fairly certain the Obama administration is going to have somewhat bigger fish to fry. Though I tend to agree with your earlier statement that the first year at least will be dedicated to the flowers and rainbows etc. you mentioned.

[BubberMiley]

People don't interpret Obama to represent a specific set of policies, they interpret him to represent things that are great, good, just, and fair. Decriminalizing marijuana fits Bubber's definition of good, fair, and just... so it seems to him that drug policy reform should be a part of the "hope and change" that Obama brings to America.

You don't read so good. I said I don't think Obama will decriminalize anything.

[Shady]

You don't read so good. I said I don't think Obama will decriminalize anything.

Even if he wanted to, he can't. A President isn't a Monarch. He signs legislation, he doesn't write legislation. It's amazing how many Canadians have no concept of the checks and balances of the American form of democracy.

Anyways, Obama has a vast number of brothers and sisters, and half-brothers and half-sisters. All of which have as much significance to me as Roger Clinton did.

[Smallc]

A President isn't a Monarch. He signs legislation, he doesn't write legislation.

Huh, just like a monarch.....

[BubberMiley]

Even if he wanted to, he can't. A President isn't a Monarch. He signs legislation, he doesn't write legislation. It's amazing how many Canadians have no concept of the checks and balances of the American form of democracy.

Anyways, Obama has a vast number of brothers and sisters, and half-brothers and half-sisters. All of which have as much significance to me as Roger Clinton did.

Being a president with the executive powers Cheney arranged for him, and with his party holding a majority in the house and the senate, and with the goodwill and political influence he currently holds, he's the most powerful president ever and can do pretty much whatever he wants.

Odd that you are still consumed with his passing acquaintances from school boards but uninterested in his blood relations. I guess whatever makes the stickiest smear.