Thursday, December 23, 2004

Drug Reform - A Good Thing

So I've been working on a little theory and Martha Stewart (of all people) has got my back on this one. The best CEO's are always the ones that worked their way up through the company. They know what works, what doesn't and what makes the employees happy. If you are going to do your job, you should really KNOW what the impact of your decisions are on the daily lives of the people that are affected by the decisions. That is one of the problems with George Bush. He has no idea what it is like to work for a living. And it shows. When he was running for Governor of Texas he told an advisor that he needed to figure out how poor people thought "because he had never met any". But back to my theory. If you are a Judge that sentences people to jail, I think you should have to do a couple of months of hard time yourself. If you get to sit back and decide whether someone goes to jail for 10 years or 15 years or perhaps to rehabilitation instead, I think you should know what that decision means. Really know. You should spend some time in the joint. Get in the door, bend over, grab the ankles, let them check your orifices for hidden objects. Maybe dine on the LOAF for a few days. And then maybe you might think twice about sentencing a first time non violent drug offender to 20 years in prison. Hell, it only took Martha Stewart 2.5 months in prison and she now is speaking up for reform of the drug laws. And she hasn't even had to eat the Loaf! Martha isn't supposed to be a very nice person but even she can see that this is bad for our society. So there you have it. My theory is to lock up all the judges for a couple of months. And then the whole NY State Assembly for as long as it takes. They don't get anything done anyways. And then we could have some votes on reforming the drug laws in a meaningful and compassionate way. All in favor?