Captains Log

StarDank 2007.10.15I start this entry in a strange mood. Not strange like Flavor Flav and Brigette Neilson but strange as in unsettled or out of place. I used to look at the landscape of this social experiment we call the US and be able to put people in neat and tidy boxes. Good vs Bad, Conservative vs Liberal, King Kong Vs Godzilla. Not anymore. As a pot advocates we are used to taking the stance that it was us versus them. “Them” being the establishment, the man. We were the bad guys and the outlaws, the tree huggin liberal hippies, jazz musicians, and urban rappers. And every single time something bad happened and pot was involved I had to cringe. I mean hell I love the NBA too but how many of these knuckle-heads are out a 2 am, driving an unregistered Range Rover 120 mhp while drunk with a Glock 9mm in the glove box and a half a blunt in the ash trey. No one ever blames the gun maker, the bartender or for that fact Land Rover. But they sure as hell blame the 2 grams of Chronic. I guess I should thank Mike Vick for not using the dead dogs as fertilizer for a weed garden, keeps PETA of our list of enemies. But the climate has begun to change. Now we live in the Brittney Spears, George Bush, Larry Craig era. Now these are bad people. I mean Brit has driven on the wrong side of the road, endangered two small children, hit a parked car and left the scene, and scared us all with flashes of that stretched out, and well used po-nanner. Sure I’m willing to give her a break for amusing me in a variety of new and horrifying ways but trust me Brit, I’m laughing at you. But I’m not laughing at reckless driving, driving without a license, leaving the scene of an accident, child endangerment or indecent exposure. But if I were to break even one of these laws I’d be writing you from an 8X8 concrete box while negotiating a deal on a case of honeybuns with the Nation of Islam so that I could remain a virgin. As for W where do I begin? This guy is responsible for murdering 4,000 US soldiers, Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi’s and the English language on several occasions. He’s lied to Congress, The Senate, and the America Public. He outed a CIA agent and tapped our phones. But with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi taking impeachment off the table this jack-ass will never even be accused of a crime. Now what kind of world do we live in where the president can blatantly break the law and violate the constitution without so much as a slap on the wrist? But if I light up a “J” outside the UA Cinema while waiting to catch the matinee showing of Soul Plane it’s a problem. Now Larry Craig, you, the wide stance taking law maker are the only one who is going to actually pay for your alleged crime. Not with jail time but with the social, and political fall out that will end your cushy public servant’s gig. Now I’m not going to say the police should be setting up stings in men’s rooms or not but someone needs to protect my rights when I’m making a sacrifice to the porcelain God. I mean who needs a guy tapping your foot and flirting when you’re in that moment? True I’m not a gay man (no problem with gays or lesbians by the way) but trust me after dropping the kids of at the pool sex is the last thing on my mind. The point to all this is that our society is at a cross roads. If we can’t trust law makers and politicians (and we are supposed to be able to) we say a lot about the state of our nation. And since when do rich, spoiled pop princesses melt down publicly under the weight of…..what? Being a rich, spoiled pop princess? It’s far past time to redefine who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. Betty Holt Walker, a 71 year old Greensboro, NC woman charged with manufacturing marijuana and felony marijuana possession after police discover 6 plants growing in her garden. Temple 420 founder Craig X Rubin, charged with one count of selling or transporting marijuana and one count of possessing marijuana for sale despite federal laws protecting both he and church members. Paul Richard Martinetti, 73, and Suzanne Roberts, 68 an elderly couple from Alameda caught with 200 plants in their small distribution operation. The cash strapped seniors were just trying to make a few bucks to help make ends meet. These are not bad people. These are not murders, liars, hypocrites or out of control celebrity train wrecks. These are the plant lovers, the religious leaders and the capitalist. These are what America is built of. But these are not who we embrace, or reward. We covet the bad guys, we reward their lies, we condone their hypocrisy and we applaud their meteoric rise and tragic falls. Maybe it’s time to change that. Maybe it time to value simple honest plant loving Americans. Maybe it’s time to understand that his country was founded on religious freedom and built on Capitalism (yes I know slavery and exploitation as well). Maybe it’s time to say that murderers are not the good guys, hypocrites are not the good guys and chemically imbalanced Mtv icons are not the good guys. Maybe the marijuana toking, nature loving, religious pioneers are the ones we should value and not condemn. I feel the concern of my fellow citizen. Some of us are tired of the lies, tired of the hypocrisy, tired of the glitter with no substance. The tide is going to change. I can smell it in the air….or is that just Chronic Smoke? Until next time, Puff on.