To the victor goes the spoils, indeed...........

Hm. Harry Reid makes racist remarks. There is a love fest and everyone is forgiven.

What bullshit.

I have to say, Michael Steel is right: "There is this standard where the Democrats feel that they can say these things, and they can apologize when it comes from the mouths of their own. But if it comes from anyone else, it's racism. It's either racist or it's not. And it's inappropriate, absolutely."

Harry Reid is not resigning over it, of course. But maybe that's because he knows he's going to lose his re-election bid anyway.

This is a livid example of what Obama meant when he said, "Elections have consequences." Yes, they do. The minority party gets shut out, shut down, slapped around. And the winners can conduct themselves any way they please, with total impunity. Look who's running the plantation now.

Also, I'm really starting to wonder what exactly is the point, or the benefit, to Obama never reacting the racist behavior. This isn't the playground, and they are not going to go away if you ignore them. Too much more of it and he's going to start losing the black vote.

The War On Some Drugs: Hypocrisy From The White House

Yesterday, April 2, 2009, the House passed a new tobacco bill, giving the FDA sweeping powers to regulate the industry, including the contents of cigarette products, including nicotine. A battle will ensue in the Senate now, with the tobacco lobby as well as the economic lobby of states like North Carolina that have over 10,000 high-paying jobs in the tobacco industry.

According to the New York Times, President Obama "strongly supports the legislation." First of all, President Obama smokes, making such a claim the ultimate hypocrisy. And second, in related news, it is a major campaign promise broken (not to raise taxes "one dime" on anyone making less than a quarter million a year.) I bet you that quarter million he would deny that tobacco taxes have anything to do with personal taxes, but that is precisely what they are. In just 3 weeks here in Florida, cigarette prices have risen nearly $2 a pack. It's the highest sin tax this country has ever seen.

How about we tax the hell out of McDonald's? Coke-a-Cola? How about we tax Guitar Hero? Isn't that rotting the minds of our nation's youth, making them slaves to short attention span media, and ruining their depth perception? I know, how about we start taxing fat people pound-for-pound over their ideal BMI. That's as fair as taxing smokers for personal choice. Talk about pay to play. What I was really hoping to see was Barack Obama saying, "Yep, I smoke. And nope, it's none of your damn business." Instead he fawns and demurs and acts like it's some great mea culpa and feigns guilt. Sure, Barack. When you're sucking down that Newport Light behind a dumpster out of sight of the cameras, I'm sure all you feel is guilt and remorse.

Pill Culture Takes A Hit: Buh-Bye Darvocet!

It appears the FDA may soon ban the use and manufacture of Darvocet (Darvon), which according to the FDA was prescribed as many as 20 million times in 2007, and was one of the earliest prescription pain medicines, beginning circulation through housewives veins in 1957. Davrocet is one of the top 25 most prescribed pain medicines in the US, but is being criticized as largely ineffective in relieving pain, is considered a "combination drug" (meaning it is used in concert with other pills) and brings a high risk of addiction and suicide, according to several studies. With the combined low does of pain relief and the soaring amount of prescriptions for Darvocet, it should be obvious it has entered the ranks of recreational use, or Mommy's Candy. The UK banned their version of Darvon in 2005.

It may be hypocritical of me to project such a condescending approval of this move, considering the amount of marijuana I smoke. However, I see it quite another way. What I see is myself being paranoid and hiding my smoking and treating it like a dirty secret in professional (and even some social) settings, buying "detox teas" and Visine so I can pass hypocritical and invasive tests by employers, and watching as the government consistently treats marijuana as a demon... while my co-workers are walking around in a cotton-headed cloud of euphoria and confusion because of the handful of "legal" drugs they are shoveling down their throats all day long. Government-sponsored drug abuse is chic, but if I want to smoke a joint after a hard day at work and zone out in front of some trash TV, I could end up in court or jail or worse. So, yes, it makes me happy to see some of Mommy's Candy get taken away. This is the real war on drugs.