Saturday, June 9, 2018

Trump's Canada Reality Show.


     This weekend while in Canada for the G-7 summit Trump had a thought and opened his mouth and suggested that he might support a law that federally ‘legalized’ marihuana (as the feds incorrectly spell it).1 At first that struck me as odd. But then I remembered I personally know quite a few people who smoke mota but tend toward the authoritarian view of politics and political science.           Marijuana’s fame as the peace and love drug of the very white hippy subculture of the 60s has dropped from the tree of history and is rotting on the ground like so much fruit at the end of summer. It is now a symbol of personal liberty and rebellion in a world increasingly devoid of personal liberty. Donnie’s “odd” position was consistent with and perhaps required by his act of clemency toward Alice Johnson a woman of color languishing in federal prison under burden of a life sentence for a relatively minor offense in the now ancient (and lost) War on Drugs.
     Because he frequently adopts a Randian view of modern economics, I would expect Trump’s main concern in this teased position on legal pot at the G-7 was with the economic potential of such a surrender in America’s longest war. Remember California just legalized recreational use of marijuana via an initiative on the 2016 General Election ballot. There was something in that measure for everyone and every special interest even remotely connected to the under the radar industry. This includes California’s taxing authorities. My most recent experience in the new industry was that the government at the retail level is now collecting taxes equal to 34% of the value of the transaction. The Feds if they have their way will simply put you in prison and seize all your assets after California 34% to have that little baggy.
     It also allowed him to engage in real fun, dropping a teaser in order to secure an audience for the next installment of his current reality show. That’s for the care and feeding of his narcissism.


1Caused by an ignorant attempt by the engrossing clerk to fix a spelling error.