mycatharsis.com

Sanity has yet to return in the drug war …

Lt. Kevin Navarro, commanding officer of the Chicago Police Department’s Narcotics and Gang Unit, said the ordinance will be an “important tool” to go after grocery stores, health food stores and other businesses. The bags are used by the thousand to sell small quantities of drugs at $10 or $20 a bag.

That’s good, if there’s one common theme out there, it’s that grocery stores and health food stores NEED to suffer a crackdown.

Just one of WAY too many examples of the insanity of our drug war. More here. He made a really rather minor mistake at a young age, referring one friend to another for drugs at his friends urging.  He didn’t buy it or use it, but he got life while everyone else involved got less, some no time at all.   In fact, he may well be being punished BECAUSE he was so low-level in his case, and had no one to offer up to the prosecution to spare himself.  He’s been in prison in 1993 and missed so much of his life.  Even the admitted kingpin of this whole deal only got eight years.

His case is an unfortunately good example of why I’m so offended when President Bush can see fit to pardon his buddy’s buddy Scooter Libby to ensure he never spends a single day in prison, and will use every second he can get in front of a microphone demanding (not urging, DEMANDING) Congress give the telecoms total immunity from CIVIL (not criminal, no one has to worry about jail here) lawsuits for their illegal behavior. Yet all the time being the stingiest president in recent history in commuting or pardoning sentences for people who aren’t fortunate enough to be a crony of his. People whose sentences are totally out of whack with what they should be, and whose lives are wasting away in prison in the meantime.  It’s really offensive to me, and considering how much South Park I’ve watched over the years, that’s saying something.
Hopefully, President Bush will see fit to pardon Aaron before he leaves office.  Unfortunately, I’m not sure I’d hold my breath, not with his track record at least.  If only Aaron had only released an undercover CIA operative’s name and then lied about it to a federal grand jury.  Because that crime is not worthy of prison time, and Aaron’s crime of introducing two consenting adults at their request obviously is.