The Time Has Come To End War On American People: Legalize and Regulate Controlled Substances

The "War on Drugs" was to domestic policy what the decision to invade Iraq was to foreign policy:  the worst decisions made by the federal government in our nation's history.  I strongly encourage everyone to read Dan Baum's feature article in the April 2016 edition of Harper's entitled Legalize It All  Howto win the war on drugs.

Whether it is the fact that this misguided and evil policy has its historic roots in racial discrimination*, its modern roots in the cynical politics of the Nixon Administration**, has had the effects of turning the United States into the world's largest prison camp***, causing the corruption of law enforcement through unconstitutional forfeiture laws or perhaps most importantly, creating the belief among many Americans that the police and our government are the enemy, the bottom line is that this is an incredibly dangerous policy to have while we are trying to defend the nation against terrorism.

Furthermore, the "War on Drugs" is a failed policy, it has not worked in the past, is not currently working, and will never be successful.  We need only look to the nation's ill-fated experiment with Prohibition for proof of this policy's futility and most importantly for the disastrous unintended consequences (e.g. violent , organized crime) that the "War on Drugs" produces, some of which we are still battling today.

This is a no brainer people.  The only thing we are lacking is the moral courage of the electorate and our politicians to admit our mistake, despite all the well intended but misguided belief that tough policies were required to save the addict from him or herself or out of fear that our own children would succumb to drug addiction.  The only model that has worked or will work is legalization and regulation and treating the problem for what it is:   a health issue.

I strongly encourage everyone to read Dan Baum's feature article in the April 2016 edition of Harper's and listen to the interview with him on NPR's Weekend Edition radio show.

*A Brief History on the War on Drugs  The first anti-opium laws in the 1870s were directed at Chinese immigrants. The first anti-cocaine laws, in the South in the early 1900s, were directed at black men. The first anti-marijuana laws, in the Midwest and the Southwest in the 1910s and 20s, were directed at Mexican migrants and Mexican Americans. Today, Latino and especially black communities are still subject to wildly disproportionate drug enforcement and sentencing practices.

**John Ehrlichman, convicted Watergate co-conspirator and Nixon administration staffer and then Nixon drug policy advisor told Dan Baum:  "... an amazing thing. I started asking him some earnest, wonky policy questions (concerning the "War on Drugs") and he waved them away. He said, "Can we cut the B.S.? Can I just tell you what this was all about?" The Nixon campaign in '68 and the Nixon White House had two enemies: black people and the anti-war left. He said, and we knew that if we could associate heroin with black people and marijuana with the hippies, we could project the police into those communities, arrest their leaders, break up their meetings and most of all, demonize them night after night on the evening news. And he looked me in the eyes and said, "Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."  For full interview:   Legalize All Drugs? The 'Risks Are Tremendous' Without Defining The Problem

 ***World Prison Brief Institute for Criminal Policy Research:  Highest to Lowest – Prison PopulationTotal

Ranking                Title       Prison Population Total

1              United States of America             2 217 000

2              China     1 649 804

3              Russian Federation         646 319

Minneapolis Bracing for Freeman's Announcement That He Won't Be Filing Charges Against Police Officers

Take notice I said announcement and not decision since anyone familiar with Mike Freeman's tenure as Hennepin County Attorney and track record in not prosecuting bad cops (e.g. Metro Gang Strike Force and more recently the murder of Dawn Pfister by Chaska Police Officer following a lengthy high speed car chase), knows, Freeman won't even prosecute a cop even when he has prima facie evidence in the form of admissions or a dash cam video of the crime itself.  Don't believe me?  Just watch the redacted video below and ask yourself if this is how you would like law enforcement to treat your relatives.

Therefore it was a foregone conclusion that Freeman would not be filing charges in the Jamar Clark killing.  In fact, to be absolutely sure that justice would not be served in the Clark case or in any other shooting involving a police officer, Freeman recently announced he would no longer submit those cases to a grand jury but rather he would make the decision not to prosecute on his own.  As I write this protesters from Black Lives Matter are marching on Minneapolis and who can blame them, they're no fools.  Anyone who pays attention can see the handwriting on the wall: Freeman is incapable of prosecuting cops.

As outrageous and egregious as Freeman 's malfeasance as a county attorney is don't count on any help from the state.  While I am a supporter of our governor, the two areas where he has greatly disappointed me and done a disservice to the people of the State of Minnesota is his blind allegiance to the police federation which leads to a culture on unaccountability in law enforcement and stupid, mean spirited legislation like Minnesota's joke of a medical marijuana bill.  The reason the medical marijuana law in Minnesota is so bad and offers no relief for the citizens is because Governor Dayton abdicated his judgment and responsibility to law enforcement giving them what amounted to a veto so that only the most watered down version of a bill would pass.

Because of politicians like Freeman and Dayton we have seen the great State of Minnesota which use to have one of the lowest incarceration rates in the country turned into a prison camp so they can posture they are tough on crime when in fact they look the other way when the most dangerous crimes take place, crimes committed by those sworn to protect and serve.  Until people like Freeman are voted out of office or our, for the most part, good governor stops and self-reflects on his failed policy of blindly supporting law enforcement on every issue, especially on privacy issues like electronic plate readers and stingray cell phone interception, 2016 is looking more and more like Orwell's 1984.

Unredacted Chaska County sheriff department dash camera video of the Feb. 7, 2015 fatal police shooting of Dawn Marie Pfister, 34, of Elkhorn, Wis., and Matthew Vincent Serbus, 36, of Maple Grove. Courtesy of Robert Bennett, attorney for Pfister’s family. No audio.  For complete context of situation first watch top (redacted) video with audio then watch unredacted but without audio video immediately above.

Keith Sykes Delivers on "Songs From a Little Beach Town"

One of America's best songsmiths is back with a charming little EP entitled "Songs From A Little Beach Town".  After moving in more of a country direction the last several projects, Keith throws his audience a change up in the form of a trip to Key West, the Caribbean or to be precise, South Texas. 

To say "Songs From a Little Beach Town" harkens back to the day when Keith played guitar in Jimmy Buffet's Coral Reefer Band would be too easy.  Sure there are the obvious references to Syke's early career association to Mr. Buffet in the project's title and some of the content on his new ep, but since that time Keith Sykes has quietly gone on to an impressive career amassing one of the best bodies of work for a songwriter bar none.  Under appreciated by the public but incredibly respected by his peers, Sykes journey as an artist, albeit along a road less traveled has been far more interesting artistically, whether as a songwriter, performer  or producer, that any comparison to his more famous past is grossly unfair and more importantly, inaccurate to him as an artist.  Keith Sykes is the kind of artist you can't pigeon hole because just when you think you have him figured out he's off in an entirely different direction.  Sykes is the personification of the old adage "the only constant in life is change".

Like a lot of the ponies I bet on at the track, Sykes doesn't like running to form and the current project is the perfect example.  Just when you think Keith has figuratively sold his home in Memphis and permanently moved to Nashville he's fooled us all again and instead headed for the beach.  But don't expect Keith to be sorry because he has already done that, literally, several albums ago.

Recorded in Nashville, presumably not for the irony or to make people like me sound foolish, I don't need any help thank you very much, but rather, that is where some of the best talent has migrated these days and this project is no exception. Produced and engineered by Brent Maher, the production is first rate.  The musicians who back Keith up on the project are some of the industry's finest:   Nir Z.  on drums and percussion, the legendary Willie Weeks on bass, Bobby Ogden holding down both piano and organ duties, the absolutely wonderful Brent Mason on electric guitar and Thom Flora on backing vocals. 

The six track EP opens with one of the set's stronger pieces and slated single, “Come as You Are Beach Bar".  What in a perfect world would be destined for heavy rotation on either pop, rock or country stations this summer, Sykes displays his ability to craft the perfect warm weather song.  Like all his work, the musicianship is first class.  "Come as You Are..." is set in one of those laid back, hole in the wall watering holes you find in resort areas that caters to the locals, who are the "stars".   Wait a second, "...didn't Mr. Young (already) sing about it..."  The second track, “The Best Day” sounds like it is right of an old Buffet album, acoustic guitars over a calypso beat sets a happy, upbeat mode before the melancholy “I Pick You”.  But things brighten up again with “Little Beach Town”. 

Listening to the guitar work on "Little Beach Town" I swore I heard slide and Hawaiian slack key.  I was so impressed by the tasteful, perfect tone guitar I reached out to Keith's PR person, Elizabeth at Signal Flow to ask who was playing slide guitar on the track.  The ever attentive Ms. Elizabeth immediately got back to me with a great quote from Keith himself: "It is Brent Mason, but it's not slide. It's just Brent Mason!"  No Depression readers make a mental note to keep your ears open for Brent Mason because he is the real deal.

Next up is a song Keith wrote way back in 1977 and appeared on Buffet's "Son of a Son of a Sailor' lp, "Coast of Marseilles".  If there was any doubt in your mind that Keith Sykes was a world class songwriter this track should put it to rest.  Beautiful lush arrangement complete with strings, it is the perfect set up for the set closer and my personal favorite "Drive Myself to Drinking".  Just Keith solo playing acoustic guitar and the perfect economy of words and notes

There is something for everyone on his new EP.  For those familiar with Mr. Sykes early work, "Songs From A Little Beach Town” makes for an interesting respite from his recent concentration on country music, and undoubtedly will be welcomed by the legions of Parrot Heads as a return to the fold. For the uninitiated there is the joy of discovering one of America's music treasures and for those intimately familiar with his long and storied career, a certain smugness.  Perhaps now the rest of the country will finally find out what we have known all along.  Those in the know have high expectations for the man who penned such Americana classics as "Love to Ride", "Flying Low", "I Know an Angel" and "I Was Right About You" and on "Songs from a Little Beach Town" Keith Sykes delivers.

Sen. Warren Speaking for All Americans In Telling GOP Senators: "Do Your Job!"

Whatever your political persuasion, if you are an American citizen and care about the future of our country, you must watch Sen. Elizabeth Warren's heartfelt and impassioned plea to her Republican colleagues to take a step back and realize the damage they have done to their party, democracy and the country.  The Republicans are reaping the consequences of their actions and only have themselves to blame for the grotesque slate of leading GOP candidates for the presidency.

While it is easy, convenient and incredibly short sighted as well as the ultimate act of hubris for the Republicans to continue to believe their own press and live in denial, especially when they are drunk off the adulation of the Cracker Barrel bonobos that make up the tea party i.e. mainstream of the party these days.  But it doesn't take a Nostradamus or charlatan like Edgar "enema" Cayce to foretell the thumping the party of hate and obstruction is going to receive in this November's presidential election.  Furthermore, with the changing demographics in the electorate, this could very well mark the beginning of the end of the Republican Party as a viable force in national elections, but you know what, they will only have themselves to blame!