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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDoes Gary Johnson give potheads a bad name?
The only reason he doesn't seem more dumb is he hasn't had that many opportunities to be on TV to demonstrate.
Gidney N Cloyd
(19,846 posts)uponit7771
(90,358 posts)former9thward
(32,066 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Yep, stellar displays of intelligence are pretty easy to distinguish from the people who are fucking imbeciles.
Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)RonniePudding
(889 posts)The anti-pot kink some have had on DU lately is quite odd. The 80's and Just Say No are over, folks.
Go Vols
(5,902 posts)Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Potheads are the nincompoops who are center their lives around pot, are obsessed with 4-20 references, have zero ambition because the weed destroyed all of it, and think it's a miracle cure for every illness.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)getting high isn't going to make an idiot Albert Einstein, but then neither is filling their head with a lot of arrogant, self-validating bullshit.
Response to former9thward (Reply #2)
kestrel91316 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Hekate
(90,773 posts)I live in California and have voted to legalize pot every time it's been on the ballot. It's way past time to do that. Prohibition of alcohol was a resounding failure, too.
But smoking the stuff gives me asthma, which erodes the cool factor considerably for me. I much prefer a good Scotch whiskey.
My issue with Johnson and Bornstein is what I already said: they are caricatures, which is why I was all "Duuuuude." They invite ridicule in my political world -- and Stinky is right: they're not helping.
Response to Hekate (Reply #44)
kestrel91316 This message was self-deleted by its author.
Hekate
(90,773 posts)I turned 69 this week (and as I said to someone else: I want to know how the hell that happened, since I distinctly remember being a feisty middle ager when I joined DU almost 15 years ago) ... So just extrapolate some of the usual ills the flesh is heir to, plus for decades he's had colitis and I've had fibromyalgia.
I would not mind giving it a try. Our next door neighbor smokes it for his migraines. Another friend swears by it for a good night's sleep with her arthritis. My son has a seizure disorder and getting the right medication that doesn't leave him dopey has me fervently wishing he could legally obtain that product developed in Colorado. And so it goes.
As for recreational use, since college days in the 1960s I've felt it should be in the same category as liquor.
Response to Hekate (Reply #70)
kestrel91316 This message was self-deleted by its author.
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)former9thward
(32,066 posts)If that is possible with you...
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)There's a self-directed irony in your statement you most likely are unable to perceive... which makes it even more bemusing.
rurallib
(62,441 posts)Course, he's not doing Libertarians much of a favor either.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)Need no help in getting a bad name.
That said, if they want to smoke their life away, more power to them.
As long as they are earning the money they spend on pot.
RonniePudding
(889 posts)Lots of posters with a weird anti pot kink showing up on DU lately.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I wonder what they have in their itunes library- new kids on the block? Ted Nugent? KISS?
Get rid of all the rock and roll, jazz, blues, etc. made by "potheads", and it's a pretty bare fucking cupboard.
opiate69
(10,129 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)opiate69
(10,129 posts)GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)If you want to smoke it I think you should be able to. But most potheads I know lack ambition. And that's fine. It's a free country.
As long as my tax money is not used to pay for the pot I am fine with it.
And I support universal health care and guaranteed housing, even for pot heads.
I find that recreational pot users are pretty good citizens. But chronics are unbearable.
azmom
(5,208 posts)And no, it does not make you lose ambition.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)And I support legalization.
But every single pothead I have ever known has one ambition...to get high. I know that my experience does not mean shit, as I am one person among 300 million and I am sure there are super ambitious potheads. I just have not met one.
And I should define pothead-a person that uses daily. We would be a much safer and heathy country if all the folks that got shit-faced drunk every weekend got high instead.
ArcticFox
(1,249 posts)Not even correlation can be assumed to prove causation. The causation could always be in the other direction, or due to some other unmeasured factor for example.
Those folks you find lacking in ambition might be just as lacking without pot. Many people with little ambition never even thought to try pot.
Please educate yourself. I think you'll learn that studies finding significant impairment rely on administering ungodly amounts of thc.
Do you understand scientific method enough to know the meaning of statistical significance, controls, peer review?
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)I am pretty sure I understand the scientific method.
I also understand that humans are really good at discerning patterns, and lacking a peer reviewed, controlled study we depend on the patterns we see in our life to shape our views.
And one pattern I have seen for the last 50 years is that every person I have know that uses pot daily has one ambition. And that is to get high. As a man educated in the sciences I understand that my experiences are limited.
My comment about chronic pot users being intolerable is driven by the fact that every person I know that uses pot daily is super defensive about their use. They complain endlessly about how little money they have, but will never admit that their pot use has anything to do with it. Again, I know there are tons of people who smoke pot that have lots of money and ambition. But every habitual user of pot I know does not have a pot to piss in.
I do not smoke. I support legalization. But good luck trying to make me see that there is no problem with using daily.
Have a great day.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)"I am pretty sure I understand the scientific method..."
We'll keep your fingers crossed you begin illustrating that, rather than predicating a sentiment on a flawed sample, regardless of the pots you allege to piss in.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)I have limited experience and that my experience may not be representative of the big picture.
But they are still my experiences, and we all shape our beliefs off our experiences. And I hardly think I am alone in thinking folks that use pot daily have issues.
So I guess we will just disagree on some things. But where it matters, we actually agree...legalization.
Response to GulfCoast66 (Reply #54)
TheSarcastinator This message was self-deleted by its author.
eShirl
(18,502 posts)Mike Nelson
(9,964 posts)...ones and some not-so-smart ones. Johnson should step down. He can't name a world leader and he wants to be one. I think he should have an interest in current events, also. Weld should be rethinking his participation in this third party run.
former9thward
(32,066 posts)He was asked which world leader(s) he respected. If he does not respect any then that is a fair answer.
Stargleamer
(1,990 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)go and round up everyone, who knows more than they do
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,335 posts)Staring Dr. Laura as the nurse.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)...
tenderfoot
(8,438 posts)eom
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Yeah, consenting adults should be left alone about what chemicals they choose to put in their own bodies or if they want to watch hairy granny porn on the internet, and I think as smart progressives we should be pushing for a strong personal freedom agenda in our party (example: Most Americans support marijuana legalization) to draw off that appeal from the (L)s-
--but the rest of it is bugfuck bonkers Ayn Rand privatize the fire department shit.
Still, people who support the Libertarians want a Lassiez-faire foreign policy, or better yet one that is fully checked out from the rest of the world. So honestly GJ's answers aren't that shocking nor do I think they really cost him with his base.
Go Vols
(5,902 posts)and make wine.
Leave me the fuck alone along those lines.
Hekate
(90,773 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)What is it about not smoking pot that turns people into barely sentient, pompous, full of shit assholes?
Hekate
(90,773 posts)Bornstein looks and acts so stoned I couldn't believe what I was seeing in that interview. He kind of giggled. His co-ordination was loosey-goosey. His posture was so lax as to be nearly boneless. He acted like he thought the whole issue of his excuse note for Donnie was a joke.
Johnson has this deer in the lights look. He did this kind of little dance during one recent interview. When asked if he felt anything about possibly being a spoiler he literally carolled "Goody goody!" His posture and demeanor are not as bad as Bornstein's, but that's not saying a lot. He doesn't seem to grasp the essentials of the presidential job and repeatedly flubs perfectly normal questions. But on that last, so does Trump, to be fair.
As for the other people you mention, my Dad used to sing a little song of his own invention regarding the clueless asshles of the world: "Oh the world is full of idiots."
Yes it still is, Dad. Rest in peace.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Also it'd be nice if some in our party would stop treating cannabis legalization like a giant joke, instead of the serious issue, supported now by a majority of Americans, that it is.
Seems to me, the easiest way to undercut a good chunk of Johnson's 'spoiler' appeal- esp. to Millennials, right quick, would be... well, no use in belaboring the point.
Sorry, for your loss. I miss my Dad, too.
Hekate
(90,773 posts)As for Dad, he passed some 20 years ago.... Mom about 10 years ago. I'm now the older generation myself.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)at which point my dangerously youthful and impertinent attitudes on things like sex scenes on HBO or that cellphones and selfies aren't, actually, destroying the fabric of the spacetime continuum, tend to get me angrily exiled from the lawn forthwith.
Johnson is goofy, I don't even know who that other person is-- okay, Trump's doctor? Sure, fine, but shit, no one could be more mysterious than Melania's mystery speechwriter.
Whatever Meredith McIver is smoking, apparently it makes you invisible. I WANT SOME OF THAT.
But no, no one who has bothered to find out what the Libertarians are about, is going to take them or Gary Johnson seriously. But we all know that, already, that's why we're on DU. The angle I'm coming at it from is; since we (as solid progressives) all support personal freedom and ending the drug war anyway, right-- how to best undercut what appeal GJ has, particularly with millennials, when most of that is driven by support for pot legalization, which is seen as being taken only lukewarm serious at the national level by the DNC?
We have good leaders out here, Newsom, Merkley, to be sure.. and it's worth noting (as I have noted repeatedly) that in Oregon where the state Democratic party is firmly behind things like legal cannabis and our stronger-than-the-1st-Amendment free speech protections, personal end of life choice-- in short, a consistent pro-individual freedom tack combined with solid progressive communitarian values; see where I'm going with this? The (L) party up here is a JOKE.
And Democrats do consistently well in terms of performance and turnout, even in crappy off nat'l years like 2014.
I can't tell Gary Johnson what to do, but I don't see the value, political or otherwise, in making fun of or belittling people for whom cannabis legalization is actually an important issue at the polls. Insulting Millennials who are considering voting Libertarian because of that issue is probably not the best way to win them over.
Hekate
(90,773 posts)....from it, including the skunk who takes her evening perambulations across it. I wish the gophers who've colonized it would take a hike though.
But I digress. So easy to do. When I joined DU 15 years ago I thought of myself as middle aged, so I want to know how in hell I turned 69 day before yesterday. I've never in my life felt so ambivalent about the odometer turning over, but I assure you I was in college in the 1960s.
But as a former high school classmate said recently: Any day above ground is a good day. So there you have it.
Yes, Bornstein is Trump's version of Dr Feelgood. There was a lot of discussion here when he had his interview with cameras rolling. People were divided between thinking he has some form of dementia or thinking he was stoned out of his gourd. (a phrase from my youth)
Oops, it's 3 am again. Talk to you tomorrow -- and enjoy HBO.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I stay way away from Cable "newz" so I've never actually heard him speak; but when I first saw his picture a month or so ago I think I said he looked like the bastard hybrid child of Gene Simmons and Howard Stern. Not what you would call a good look.
You have a good night, too. And happy belated Birthday!
uponit7771
(90,358 posts)Lint Head
(15,064 posts)Is tha a city in some country somewhere?
rusty quoin
(6,133 posts)There's irony. He's against all things Democratic Party, but his liking pot could hurt our party.
Raine
(30,540 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Prohibitionists are going to need to get over their bad selves and their little control fetish.
joshcryer
(62,276 posts)Libertarians cannot lay exclusive claim to this issue anymore.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Yes, we have some leadership, particularly on the left half of the country.
joshcryer
(62,276 posts)But I take umbrage with how the OP phrased the question. In reality Johnson is really a terrible advocate for anything, an embarrassment.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)But just so we're clear, the "they" in my post up there referred to legalization proponents (or, in the OP's vernacular, "potheads", hurr durr) not Libertarians.
joshcryer
(62,276 posts)Wasn't disagreeing with your comments in this thread. More wanting to make a point against the OP's shit generalization.
(But yeah we pot legalizers should be kinda glad he's not our leader; the Democrats and their leaders in the states are way better than he could ever be.)
nilesobek
(1,423 posts)This Johnson guy is just dense period. He has been lightly rinsed in Libertarian ideology. Kicking grandma to the curb and cutting social programs flows smoothly from his mouth but he doesn't know or care about pressing world issues.
A vote for this idiot is a vote for Trump. And I'm really ripped on some legal top shelf buds from across the river of this border town to Wa. State. It does give pot a bad name.
StrictlyRockers
(3,855 posts)I think the problem is that he gave up smoking herb a long time ago. Smoking the herb expands your mind and makes you smarter. There is no doubt about this. Do your research, and get with the times, oldsters.
There is broad agreement that ganja is a boon for society in many ways. The Colorado experiment has been an unqualified success. You can't argue with results. This is why NINE (9!) states are voting to increase access to marijuana in November.
____________________________________________________________________
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/states-vote-expanding-legal-access-marijuana-42410099
From California, with its counterculture heritage, to the fishing ports and mill towns of Maine, millions of Americans in nine states have a chance to vote Nov. 8 on expanding legal access to marijuana. Collectively, the ballot measures amount to the closest the U.S. has come to a national referendum on the drug.
Five states Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada will consider legalizing the recreational use of pot. Three others Florida, Arkansas and North Dakota will decide whether to permit marijuana for medical purposes. Montana will weigh whether to ease restrictions on an existing medical marijuana law.
As the most populous state, with a reputation for trend-setting, California is attracting the most attention and money in an intensifying debate over Proposition 64.
Silicon Valley tycoons and deep-pocketed donors with connections to the legal medical marijuana industry are among the top financial backers of a pro-pot campaign that has raised almost $17 million. Opponents have raised slightly more than $2 million, including a $1.4 million contribution from retired Pennsylvania art professor Julie Schauer.
Advocates on both sides say passage in California would likely ignite legalization movements in other states, especially when the tax dollars start adding up. California's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office estimated the state could collect up to $1 billion a year in marijuana taxes.
"As California goes, so goes the nation," said University of California, Berkeley political science professor Alan Ross.
<...>
__________________________________________________________________
People can whine about the changing times all they want, nevertheless the times are a'changin'. If you're on the wrong side of history on this issue, do yourself and the country a favor and do something to expand your mind. The whole world is waking up on this. Herb is a sacrament. It deserves respect. I'd bet that it's legal nation-wide in ten years. Acting holier than thou on this subject only reveals your ignorance and your regressive attitude.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)give Christians a bad name.
One difference, though, no one in the US is being sent to prison on the taxpayer's dime, for going to church.
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)Sorry but unless he's doing wax from the moment he wakes til he drops into bed there's no way pot can make you that fucking stupid. He's either naturally dumb or he's indulging in something stronger than pot. Maybe he's a heavy drinker?
Many of the pearl clutching, fainting couch occupiers on this thread would shit themselves if they had to do one of my work days cold sober. I find the high stress, fast paced pressure cooker situation I deal with is far less stressful when a little herb is applied (medical grade). Somehow I manage to keep many things straight and do the difficult parts everyone else does their best to get out of. They have no clue I imbibe.
But then again, I'm not a fucking idiot like Johnson.
etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)... as does Stein.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)I'd put chronic stoners pretty far down the list below some other types.
At least the stoners, in my experience, keep to themselves, like a good time, have a sense of humor and don't think they have some misplaced moral authority to judge other people, glass-houses style.
Calculating
(2,957 posts)Like some in this thread.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)Catching flak for it. The average "regular" pot user smokes less than a joint a week. Which might suggest how "addictive" it is.
I see very few references to JFK, Bing Crosby or Louis Armstrong as "potheads," even though the latter two publicly called for its legalization numerous times.
Rex
(65,616 posts)Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)It's about time Democrats break the habit of utilizing prohibition as social policy.
Stinky The Clown
(67,817 posts)No reading of the OP implies this is a bash on "potheads". It is asking if Gary Johnson, a known pot smoker/advocate, who is a dumb as a post, gives them a bad name.
It was as much tongue in cheek as anything.
But you carry on with your feeling of outrage.