Televangelist and one-time Republican presidential candidate Pat Robertson came out on his show “The 700 Club” in opposing the criminalization of marijuana. As someone who has historically preached about bringing down fire and brimstone on sinners, the concern over tokers came as something of a surprise and sent his handlers into a wild spin with the media.
In the midst of his usual dialogue on the show, Robertson stated, I’m not exactly for the use of drugs, don’t get me wrong, but I just believe that criminalizing marijuana, criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot, that kind of thing, it’s just, it’s costing us a fortune and it’s ruining young people. Young people go into prisons, they go in as youths and come out as hardened criminals. That’s not a good thing.”
It is a statement that surprised many of his critics as remarkably sane. However, despite the fact that he criticized “criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot,” his handlers later insisted that he was not calling for the legalization of possession — only criticizing the sentences handed down for pot possession.
Spokesman Chris Roslan stated “Dr. Robertson did not call for the decriminalization of marijuana. He was advocating that our government revisit the severity of the existing laws.”
Either way, it is a great deal better than claiming Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for homosexuality. Indeed, after making the comments on pot, Robertson allegedly broke up into the following song for liberals:
Some people call me the space cowboy,yeah
Some call me the gangster of love
Some people call me Maurice
Cause I speak of the pompitus of love.
People talk about me, baby
Say I’m doin’ you wrong, doin’ you wrong
Well, don’t you worry baby
Don’t worry Cause I’m right here, right here, right here,
right here at homeCause I’m a picker
I’m a grinner
I’m a lover
And I’m a sinner
I play my music in the sun.
I’m a joker
I’m a smoker
I’m a midnight toker
I get my loving on the run Wooo Woooo
Spokesman Chris Roslan later went on the air to deny that anyone has ever called Robertson Maurice and that he is a lover in the purely platonic, non-Steve Miller band sense.
Source: NYTIMES
I mentioned this story on an earlier thread.
Surely, these are strange times.
And what a long, strange trip its been.
This coming from the same jerk who when the earthquake in Haiti happened he said they deserved it because they made a pact with the ” devil ” some 150 years ago……………give me a break
I’d love to be non-cynical about Rev. Pat’s statement, but non-cynicism in these days is like believing in fairy tales such as religion. I think maybe ol’ Rob has found a new racket to get into to supplant his interest in blood diamonds.
Why anyone would consider that doddering old curmudgeon an authority on anything is beyond me.
Missing the byline…
Its funny this morning I was thinking about this,you can pull a tractor &trailer up to liquor store and buy every bottle,can &keg that they have take it home unload it and a cop may drive by and say jokingly that you must be getting ready to have a helluva party and smile and be own his/her way.
And that same alcohol is causing people to die maim one another disrupt families etc,etc.Get caught with a $10.00 bag of pot and you go to jail.Crazy.
eniobob,
Yep. Makes no sense at all. Some people still few it as a gateway drug… and can’t get past it.
The discussion at this point should probably be about how to best legalize.
The small grower medical model is appealing to many unemployed but involves zoning issues. Neighbors complain about the traffic and there have been problems w people breaking in to steal the goods.
I have blogged a lot about my problems on Princeton Ave in Steamboat Springs. I lived next door to a city council president who had been convicted of conspiracy to sell hash. That was not publicly disclosed at the time and was denied by the police but fueled gossip. I heard that he was dealing years later but don’t know for sure.
Just because you eat meat doesn’t mean that you want a slaughterhouse next door. etc.
My perception at the time is that a lot of people were coming to my neighbors late at night. That bothered me because we lived on a dead end with no culdesac so my neighbor’s visitors turned around in my drive and their headlights and noise woke us up. Rightly or wrongly I worried that the reason that the city let him build extra buildings that weren’t allowed by the zoning was because he was supplying them.
One thought is that maybe wineries could grow pot too. They already have the zoning, they have the real estate buffer, they are familiar with licensing and control of sales etc.
Mendicino County CA is supposed to be a huge pot growing area. It also has a lot of wineries.
This idiot isn’t the least bit news worthy … I agree with mespo.
But the significance of an ultra-conservative with a huge following saying something like that has to be acknowledged. I’ll take it as a win even without respecting the man one whit.
(On more than one occasion I’ve thought he should have been called ‘Maurice’, he’s so anti-gay it’s downright suspicious.)
Gotta go with lotta(katz).
“(On more than one occasion I’ve thought he should have been called ‘Maurice’, he’s so anti-gay it’s downright suspicious.)” —lottakatz
lol… (a lotta that goin’ around… (sorry, lottakatz, I can’t help my fingers — they have a mind of their own at the moment… the “lottas” keep poppin’ up…
)
Too much caffeine… Time to take care of some last minutes shopping before the stores close…
Did someone slip some of the *good* brownies into Pat’s green room…
Careful with that caffeine or as they used to say ‘never turn your back on a drug’.
I ended up with a last minute Christmas chore (for lack of a better word) and it’s thrown my whole day off. Any holiday responsibility when you normally do nothing for the holiday is a monkey-wrench of major proportion. I say that from a behavior mode verging on total sloth for the next few days.
I hope you (and the other Turleyblawger’s) get some rest and can usher in Christmas: 1. sitting on your butt, 2. mildly buzzed, and 3. smiling at all you’ve accomplished. If not, repeat steps one and two as often as necessary.
Take care of yourself.
Slartibartfast
“Did someone slip some of the *good* brownies into Pat’s green room…”
================
Hearty laughter on this end…
Lottakatz,
You never cease to amaze… More on your comment later but, as Buddha might say: Shopping. Must go. Now. Or is that Yoda-speak. Or both…
I’m outta here, before it’s too late…
Take care…, too.
I’m much taller and better looking than Yoda.
A much snappier dresser too.
Other than that, we do have a lot in common.
BIL:
Speak better English you do
Frank/BIL, More jolly/green he is.
Robertson made his wrath of God comment about Katrina because of abortion, not homosexuality.
You probably don’t know that homosexual act with man and homosexual act with women are listed on the USMS Prisoner Tracking System manual as offense codes along with 5005 civil contempt and sedition.
Buddha…..smokin down on bourbon street…..what a strange trip its been…..