ARMAND BRINT, DEA OPERATIVE
Sent to voters by Richard Johnson during the Measure B Campaign:
Dear Fellow NOOBIE'S
Many have wondered why and how it is that a big lump of
so called "progressives" and "liberals" in our community who are with us
on issues like the war and growth are suddenly so puritanical when it comes
to slamming marijuana and the people who earn their living from it.
After all, we were united in passing Measure G eight years
ago and the idea then was ENOUGH with dedicating scarce law enforcement resources
punishing people who were in fact harming no one. Most everyone we knew saw
through the so called War on Drugs and were in fact puffing on joints at
outdoor concerts and on weekend hikes.
What's different now? How did a whole segment of the population
don sack cloth and sprinkle themselves with ashes, confessing to the faith
in the public square and swearing abstenance? How did we let Mike Sweeney
and John McCowen organize Smart Growth into Smash G?
I always knew it but Armand Brint brought it home to me
in his email below. It's AODP. If you don't know, that means "alcohol and
other drug programs" and it is a catchall for federal and state funding --
including DEA money -- infusing and penetrating all the little obscure "human
service agencies" that provide jobs and health benefits to hundreds and hundreds
of "helping professionals" throughout local government agencies and non profit
organizations. It is so ubiquitous that you will find it from the sheriff
and police departments the schools to Nuestra Casa which is a major, major
contractor as the "only" umbrella that represents Latinos to the government
here.
These "consultants" and "counselors" to whom real work
is a foreign language and most of whom are unqualified to be discharging
their duties for lack of formal education have grown fat on Drug War money
and have internalized the Canons of Holy Catechism for example that marijuana
is a gateway drug and have to promote that view in their work, just as those
who get US foriegn aid are taught to say that abortion is against God's law.
Mr. Brint who may have supported Ralph Nader or something
in the past to get on our NOOB GOTV list, perhaps signed a petition for Spanish
ballots at one point or the annexation of South Ukiah into the second district
-- (we Greens have worked on so much over the years it's hard to remember
it all). But now he's got religion and he has to preach Yes on B because
pot is bad for kids. WHAAAAT?
No. The guy is not an idiot. He knows Measure G doesn't
say it's ok for kids to smoke pot. But 20 years of cashing DEA checks has
grown a little device in his brain that disconnects his higher faculties
when discussing this subject. It's like the Catholic intellectuals that tell
you they can believe in the Divine Trinity and the Virgin Birth. It's what
makes the loggers give you the finger and call you a commie when they know
you are trying to save their jobs. People who are tortured fall in love with
their tormentors. It's called cognitive dissonance.
This election has already been determined. It's way to
late to change minds now. What we can do once it's over is investigate just
how much federal drug war money is coming into our county and who is getting
it.
Now there's a story.
Meanwhile, Mr. Brint. Tell your kids not to smoke pot.
It's not good for them at all.
You on the other hand, need it bad.
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RICHARD JOHNSON, 203 N. State Street, Ukiah
P.O. BOX 533, TALMAGE, CA 95481
(707) 468-1009 phone and fax; 800-464-0559
www.mendocinocountry.com
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