Roll Call scan courtesy NORML

Roll Call Is NORML!

January 3rd, 2009 By: Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director — Capitol Hill Cannabis Law Reform Lobby Highlighted Since the election of Barack Obama to the presidency, despite the government’s best, but utterly feckless efforts to suppress cannabis culture and use in America, the ‘buzz’ in Washington D.C. and nationwide these days about alternatives to cannabis prohibition is palpable. One interesting tea leaf for me to gather in this evolution towards cannabis law reforms at the national level is to see otherwise staid, Capitol Hill-based print publications such as The Hill and most recently Roll Call taking interest in the cannabis law reform lobby’s efforts in Washington—after decades of ignoring us. Is real change afoot here as indicated by these mainstream, political publications casting needed public and political attention towards NORML’s nearly 40-years of grassroots advocacy? Time, and increased public efforts by reformers, will tell…

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Timeinc.net

Operation enduring disaster

19/11/2008 04:19:00 PM GMT, Aljazerra — Obama would be foolish to imagine that Petraeus can work a miracle cure in Afghanistan. The cancer has spread too far and is affecting US troops as well. If the American media chose to interview active-duty soldiers in Afghanistan (on promise of anonymity), they might get a more accurate picture of what is happening inside the U.S. Army there.

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From the New Republic, Feb 26, 1972, p.7.

Pot Policy at the Federal Level: Time To Get To Work!

By Paul Armentano, NORML. Posted November 7, 2008.

Three suggestions for how Obama can take immediate, practical steps to reform America’s antiquated and punitive pot laws

We’ve had our celebrations; now the real work begins. In Massachusetts, where 65 percent of voters mandated an end to minor marijuana possession arrests, police and pundits are already calling on lawmakers to amend — or even repeal — the new law. Therefore, if you reside in Massachusetts, it is critical that you conta

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Obama maintains solid lead over McCain

Gallup Daily: Obama 52%, McCain 42% Among Likely Voters

November 1, 2008 PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama leads John McCain in Gallup Poll Daily tracking interviewing conducted Wednesday through Friday by an identical 52% to 42% margin among both traditional likely voters and expanded likely voters. Obama leads by a similar 52% to 41% margin among all registered voters.

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Obama and McCain photos courtesy CBS, AP

Pact on Debates Will Let McCain and Obama Spar

September 21, 2008 By PATRICK HEALY New York Times — The Obama and McCain campaigns have agreed to an unusual free-flowing format for the three televised presidential debates, which begin Friday, but the McCain camp fought for and won a much more structured approach for the questioning at the vice-presidential debate, advisers to both campaigns said Saturday. At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates…

Right off

Drudge dredges NY Post Obama smear-n’-fear

Sept. 16, 2008, Floyd Ferris Landrath — Rightwing darling Matt Drudge, creator and owner of the well known Drudge Report [link] web site, in a tasteless yet predictable move, is promoting Amir Taheri, a discredited neo-con favorite who has been described by some of his critics as a “former crony of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi.”[link], [link]

Now writing from London, Taheri is more recently known for falsely reporting in May, 2006 that Iran was requiring Jews and other religious minorities to wear distinctive color badges. In 2005 he claimed that Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Javad Zarif, had taken part in the 1979 hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. At the time Zarif was a graduate student in the Department of International Relations of San Francisco State University, a teacher’s assistant to professor Dwight Simpson who publicly debunked Taheri’s allegation. Please read the SourceWatch.org link above for much more on Taheri.

_{Amir Taheri}

With creative headline writing, Mr. Taheri screams “OBAMA TRIED TO STALL GIS’ IRAQ WITHDRAWAL in the New York Post’s Monday, Sept. 15, 2008 online edition [link].

Of course Drudge jumps on the smear-n’-fear bandwagon. As though it were actual news, despite the clearly noted “Opinion” section where the Post placed the Taheri screed, Drudge parrots the outrageously inaccurate headline to millions of daily viewers.

Upon reading Mr. Taheri’s made-up news, it becomes clear Sen. Obama is pushing for a security agreement under his own terms and not tied to the failed Bush Doctrine that got us into this mess in the first place.

Don’t believe for a minute that President Obama will needlessly delay the return of our troops. Which is perhaps why Taheri, and by extension Drudge and the entire rightwing establishment are so worried and work so hard to ignore what most of us hope are the last gasps of American imperialism and hegemony.

Rare Matt Drudge interview
November 28, 2007 Thirdrailradio.com Rare Matt Drudge interview on Sky News

Obama and McCain photos courtesy CBS, AP

August 25, 2008, PRINCETON, NJ — The last Gallup Poll Daily tracking polling conducted before the beginning of the Democratic National Convention shows Barack Obama and John McCain tied at 45%.

Gallup, Democratic, Convention, Obama, McCain, Joe Biden, ‘vice presidential bounce’, Olympics. registered voters, presidential nomination, Michelle Obama, public opinion polls

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., right, shakes hands before answering a question from a man who identified himself as a veteran living in a homeless shelter during a town hall meeting at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

By BETH FOUHY, RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – A combative Barack Obama said Tuesday that Republican John McCain ‘doesn’t know what he’s up against’ in this election and challenged his rival to stop questioning his character and patriotism.

Obama, McCain, election08, Veterans of Foreign Wars, VFW, Orlando, Iraq, surge, patriotism, Vietnam, Russia, Georgia, Joe Biden

Barack Obama @ VFW ‘I love America’
‘I will let no one question my love of this country’ Sen. Barack Obama emphasized his patriotism in a speech to a veterans group Tuesday.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) (C) greets troops at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, in this frame grab taken on July 18, 2008 and released on July 19. (Photo from Reuters Pictures)

Thursday August 14, 6:31 pm ET Troops donate more campaign money to Obama than McCain, despite McCain’s military record WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. soldiers have donated more presidential campaign money to Democrat Barack Obama than to Republican John McCain, a reversal of previous campaigns in which military donations tended to favor GOP White House hopefuls, a nonpartisan group reported Thursday. Among soldiers serving overseas at the time of their donations, 134 gave a total of $60,642 to Obama while 26 gave a total of $10,665 to McCain. That was less than the amount received by Republican Ron Paul, who collected $45,512 from 99 soldiers serving abroad, the report said.

Military, donations, Obama, McCain, Ron Paul

Barack Obama hits 3-point jumper on first try in Kuwait