Fresh Ideas for a Tired Crusade

[amsterdamage]

Article about Rick Steves speaking out against the prohibition.
Good writing and surprising very interesting!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/op...01egan.html?hp

Year after year, nothing changes, except the faces of those in jail.

The cheerleaders and architects of harsh drug laws — from Rush Limbaugh, who promised to take random drugs tests after admitting his addiction to pain pills, to the former drug czar Bill Bennett, who had a multimillion-dollar gambling habit — have been exposed as moral frauds.

It’s been largely forgotten, but Cindy McCain, the wife of the presumptive Republican nominee, was once so hooked on the opioid painkillers Percocet and Vicodin that she resorted to stealing from a medical charity she ran.

President Bush used to drink too much, and was cited for driving under the influence. But instead of using his life experience for change, he has done nothing but carry around the self-righteous tedium of the reformed drunk.

We are left, then, with people like Rick Steves to renew the republic with common sense brought home from other shores. He’s taken to heart these words: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.” They come from an earlier innocent abroad, Mark Twain.

[Fcat]

I went to Rick Steve's website a while back and was surprised to see evidence of his liberal attitudes. Now when I see his travel show, it's in a different light.

I would love to meet him in a liberated cafe in Amsterdam one day. The hit would be on me.