Comments From Some Regular Guy, Do we believe, even for a second, that if Obama...

Do we believe, even for a second, that if Obama had been busted for marijuana — under the laws that he condones — would his life have been better? If Obama had been caught with the marijuana that he says he uses, and ‘maybe a little blow’… if he had been busted under his laws, he would have done hard fucking time. And if he had done time in prison, time in federal prison, “time for his ‘weed’ and ‘a little blow,’ he would not be President of the United States of America. He would not have gone to his fancy-ass college, he would not have sold books that sold millions and millions of copies and made millions and millions of dollars, he would not have a beautiful, smart wife, he would not have a great job. He would have been in fucking prison, and it’s not a goddamn joke. People who smoke marijuana must be set free. It is insane to lock people up.

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Penn Jillette

H/T Andrew Sullivan

(via huskerred)

Let’s pump the brakes a little, Penn. I, as much as anyone, think weed should be legal, regulated, and most of all… taxed. The reality is that plenty of people smoke pot, and everyone knows that. Furthermore, if President Obama would have gotten busted with a small amount of the mary-jane for personal use, he might have gotten arrested and sat is a holding cell for a couple hours, but there would be no prison involved. That’s why they have diversion programs and circumstance for first time, non-violent, offenders that allow for people to move past a silly thing like pot possession. I agree with his premise, but I think his argument is all wrong. If Obama would’ve gotten busted with Pot it would have been over with and expunged from his record within a year. Would it have come out in the campaign, sure, but it came out anyway. The American people have made very clear (as evidenced by our last three presidents) that they really don’t care if a person did some partying in high school or college. In reality I think it humanizes these folks for a lot of voters who will never see or meet them in real life.