POST SCRIPTS

Since 911 we've been so pre-occupied with Iraq, Iran, North Korea, etc., anything else has almost gone unnoticed, like the unfinished war on drugs. Unfortunately, it hasn't gone away and its as critical and relevant today as it was before 911, even more so if you ad in the terror threat. It's just not the attention getter it once was, because its not as politically viable to focus on too much bad stuff at one time so the "war on drugs" gets neglected, pushed to the very back of our priorities.

Bush can say, "My Administration is implementing a comprehensive, results-oriented strategy for reducing illegal drug use in America...." So where are the results, what's the strategy? Show us!

Bush can say, "We will increase border security to stop the flow of these drugs into America. And we will provide Federal support to local law enforcement agencies in combating drug trafficking networks." Well I've seen the support to local law enforcement and it's not enough to fund a meter maid. And we know the numbers of agents on the border and Mr. President, so if you think adding a mere 1500 more border patrol agents by 2007 is going to cut it, you're very much mistaken.

And yes Mr. President, it is a societal problem...and yes it does require personal responsibility, but take that message of "Just say no" to the barrio in East LA and see how far you get or go to the projects in Chicago and see how they react!

We are long past asking for personal responsibility, we are to the point now where we have to demand it or else! We have a duty take a no nonsense action against the sub-cultures you have helped create by the foolish, wide open unsecured border and mass amounts of drugs that have flooded into our society!

So you either legalize substance abuse and make it a medical problem or you wage an all out war on every offender, starting by getting us death penalties for drug pushers.

We don't warehouse and then pardon drug dealers anymore...we execute them and let God forgive them. When we catch shipments coming across the border and the bad guys make a run for it...we shoot to kill, because that fleeing felon does present an eminent deadly threat to society if he escapes!

Those two border agents you have in prison had it right, they just didn't have the law backing them up and that's your fault and Congress. Fix it and get those guys out of prison!

This is a deadly serious business and we better get deadly serious about fighting it or we go the other route and take the money out of it by legalizing it! Because what we are doing isn't working...no way, not even close and to tell us it is is to tell us a lie. We want action - we want a change and we want it now.

My patience is exhausted and I'm insulted by political rhetoric that leads us to think we're making progress when we are not...and that goes for any level of government. Better we hear the unvarnished truth.

In the profound words of Mayor Ray Nagen, "Somebody better do somethin!"

So you either legalize substance abuse and make it a medical problem or you wage an all out war on every offender, starting by getting us death penalties for drug pushers.

Making it a medical problem will take the problem from one pocket and put it into another...and that pocket is overflowing and broken too.

I think your other suggestion is worth considering...seriously...it is under valued and illogically opposed. They say the death penalty doesn't deter murderers. Well, I think they are wrong. Anyone who can figure the profit to be gained from pushing drugs, including judging the risk involved, is smart enough to figure it's just not worth it if it ends in death...unless he already has a death wish. We treat people like they haven't got brains enough to come in from the rain, as me mum used to say. Nothing could be further from the truth. People always know when they are taking a big risk and most of the time will avoid dangerous stupid situations if the consequence is swift and certain...and when they don't they are still aware on some level that they are responsible. Yes, they lie about it...but they KNOW. To the degree we pretend this is not true, we undermine the law and excuse and enable criminal activity. Interestingly enough it's a lot like aiding and abetting an enemy in war.

"Just say no" may be laughed at in the barrio and would not be a useful tool for a police officer. By the time he is dealing with the problem it's too late. It does work well if it is backed up with young children...as with the child who asked the original question of Nancy Reagan. Kids get responsibility...teens and adults try to avoid it. They laugh because, even in their simplicity, the words call for personal responsibility...they speak the truth. Until we ask every citizen to be responsible for his own life and life choices, including the consequences, we will continue to have these problems. The laws should be strict and the consequences enforced absolutely. Getting to this place may be impossible given the mind set of at least half of the country. It may be that the only lesson those folks will respond to is the chaos that will happen when good men refuse to "protect and serve" other than their own family. I honestly don't see how we can expect the good men & women who are in law enforcement to put up with a population that thumbs their noses at the law. Same with teachers in the classroom. Parents need to insist on respect for elders and people in authority...and that includes the law.

I don't blame you for feeling insulted by the rhetoric. As for Ray Nagen...his words may be profound...but from his mouth it sounds like avoiding the problem or passing the buck.

The border agent situation is horrible. If we are getting the true story about this something really stinks and this his may be at the heart of the delay in doing something about it. The law can cut both ways, especially when corruption or "shadow" political factions are playing games...something is definitely wrong here.

NOTE FROM Jack: The Nagan quote was done tongue in cheek, he's a creep like Rodney King who I also enjoy quoting for my own perverse reasons... I really do understand the medical solution is not viable, but if done it would finally put to rest any doubts about it. The personal responsibility comes when we get responsible about how we are going to deal with it. If the law is half-as### with loop holes up the kazoo and when a 13 year old street punk can make 2k a week working a corner in East LA...WE AIN'T SERIOUS about fixing the problem!

That street kid's parents likely had no clue about personal responsibility and neither did their parents before them and so on. Crime, welfare and other addictions pass down through generations of families...Sure, we can stop it, but it won't be easy and it won't through a kind and gentle approach. A lot of serious re-education will have to come from brute force backed up by citizens sick and tired of this whole stinking game and the revolving door at our prisons.

I really don't think the average american is tough enough anymore to take this firm stand and do what it takes to remove this cancer from our society. The voters act like whimps and the politicians play them for fools and get away with it regularly. The only people with some guts and rage are the radicals on the left trying to tear this place apart. I envy their energy, but loath their cause.

On our side, we the real conservatives who give us glimmers of hope. Those are our thoughtful, inspired thinkers (like Tina, Nick, Mike, Toby, Anthony, Jim, Dan, Bill and others), those are the doers, the sensible activists, the good organizers and outspoken critics within the system.

The only problem is the good guys are outnumbered worse than Custer at the Little Big Horn. And the demographics are getting worse every decade.

The results to save democracy in the USA that these few good citizens have achieved has been about the same as what Custer got too! Every great idea, every needed radical change has been shot down in flames by a divided Congress determined to achieve the low end of mediocrity.