I agree with
@howie105 and
@nickdanger . Gridlock will result if we start choosing between left and right rather than right and wrong. Something I wrote earlier but did not post as it didn't seem relevant to furthering discussion I add now to reinforce the difference between theory and reality.
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I hesitate to add a personal reason why I don't trust politicians on either side as I might give out too many facts that could allow a motivated reader to go to PACER and tease out names and such (Which is bad for many reasons.) with a clever search, but think it might be useful here so will add it--although will be vague and will probably not reply to questions on it.
I had an acquaintance (Of the level of that guy you see every year when your friend puts on his annual [insert theme here] party. Basically, a friend of a friend.) who was a successor trustee of a trust that had just became irrevocable on the death of the principal, his dad. In it, there was an industrial building with shared income beneficiaries among the trustee and his sisters.
He came to me to be part of his team in a golden (green) opportunity to rent out the property to...someone involved in cannabis who was going to use the property for state-legal cannabis activity. There were numerous good reasons why it was being considered from a business perspective. However, I (and others) pointed out the potential legal risk. The trustee felt that the reduction of enforcement activity and the promises of the administration to allow for state-legal medical marijuana to be left alone unless it violated other federal priorities kept the risk low. I remember him saying that he would try to mitigate risk (I'm paraphrasing. He didn't use those terms.) by having the lease extend no further than the next election with the rationale that if someone other than Obama is elected, he could end the lease and escape risk.
I declined to be a part of it for personal and professional reasons and the Trustee took his own advice and leased the property.
Not that long thereafter came the letters. Really threatening letters. In the summer of 2012, the building was gone from the trustee's control (to be eventually lost under RICO), the trustee was being threatened with criminal indictment (Which resulted in 5 figures of attorney fees.) and some problems in how the lease was written (giving some percentage profit in addition to set-fee rent for the property) brought in the IRS as well. Things went poorly, but he didn't go to jail.
Oh, yeah. His sisters sued him for breach of his fiduciary duties. He lost. He went BK. Good times.
Some might say he lost everything but his freedom because Obama cared more about looking tough on crime for the election than following his promise to leave it to the states. Me, I'd say it was because he was an idiot who took the promises of politicians as some substitute for the law.
We can either work together to form coalitions that bring true legalization in, what seems, a fairly short time, or, we can divide and keep this on the back burner forever with sides drawn and opinions locked in stone--based on priorities completely unrelated to cannabis. What any politician says he will do is near irrelevant in this day and age. There will always be another "stakeholder" or another moment to explain as to how he is on your side, but this is just not the right time, in his explanation (If he deigns to give one.) as to why he did not act according to what he said.
Actions are the only things you can believe in from the government any longer. It might have always been that way, but it certainly is that way now. Let us bring people together who want legalization or who feel the government should not intrude rather than divide us down lines drawn by the marketeers who sell us a politician's sizzle. (Not the steak.)
