Hundreds of thousands of non-violent marijuana felons can't find a job.

[tabasco]

Is Obama concerned about that or just one animal torturer who's a good football player?

:shrug:

[Fumesucker]

1. Vick has the potential to make millions..

Indeed, he is making and has made millions.

The wealthy are just more important, why can't you resign yourself to that?

[DrDan]

11. and wealthy athletes are at the top of that heap - obviously

[Scurrilous]

13. Vick wealthy?

LOL

Despite success on field, Michael Vick still faces massive debt

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=yhoo-ept_sports_nfl_experts-291781

[Fumesucker]

15. Lots of us face massive debt..

But we don't get multi million dollar contracts for playing a fucking kid's game.

Let him work at Waffle House as a cook for twelve dollars an hour, then you can come crying to me about how much money he owes.

[Scurrilous]

19. Telling comment.

:eyes:

[Fumesucker]

22. Yes, your comment I replied to was telling..

[patrice]

2. I'm working hard to be patient with the President, but this kind of Injustice IS hard, very hard to

bear.

:sarcasm: I guess the rich and famous are just more forgive-able. :sarcasm:

[tabasco]

4. Me too.

This Vick thing is weighing on my last straw.

[patrice]

37. Ha, ha . . . I didn't look at your post, because I thought I was going to get my butt kicked for

trying to be constructive about Obama's administration.

I'm glad I went ahead and looked at what you said. Thanks for not insulting me!

I'm still trying to be constructive, less for Obama himself now, and more for trying to preserve valid Medicare reform so that there is a functional base there upon which to begin to phase in Medicare for All (Senator Bernie Sanders talks about this approach as de facto Public Option Health Care that we need in order to create authentic competition for private insurers and, thus, drive down premiums).

They're probably going to make some kind of move on Medicare "Reform" in the next Congress, but if Republicans take the WH, what with the ground work laid in "faith based" "initiatives", Medicare "Reform" will not be much more than a guaranteed jobs program for SaintCo built on the backs of the poor and elderly, at the expense of the quality of care that they need in order to be as fully human as possible. If Republicans have their way, we will see death warehouses served by religious hyper-emotionalism and feeding the kinds of financial streams that use the Citizens' United decision to control this entire country with propaganda generated by intimate relations between Chambers of Commerce and ChurchCo.

And, of course, the other reason to be constructive about this President, and prevent even more of a Republican take-over, are the coming Supreme Court nominations, nominations which I predict will either preserve the union of these states "united", or further facilitate various forms of overt and covert secession.

[patrice]

38. All of that said, this particular INJUSTICE in favor of Vick IS absolutely fraying my last nerve. nt

[CakeGrrl]

3. Talk to the people who won't hire them.

Why are people ignoring the point of the President's reach-out to the Eagles? He thanked them for hiring someone who had been in prison.

Isn't that what people want organizations to do?

If an employer sees someone like the President lauding an organization for hiring a ex-convict, maybe other employers see that it's not such a horrible thing to consider the marijuana felon who applied to their company.

Lead by example, perhaps?

Or are you so undone by WHO the Eagles happened to hire that you can't see the point of the President's comment?

[tabasco]

7. You make a good point.

However, Obama could have found an employer that hired a non-violent felon that didn't torture dogs and praised them.

This is a no-win for Obama and it was bad judgment for him to use Vick as an example.

[CakeGrrl]

10. The President doesn't "lose" here, unless you assume he supports what Vick did.

The EAGLES hired Vick. Any blame for allowing Vick to regain some prominence and success, if someone feels compelled to assign it, falls to them.

The President's message stands and it's a good one. People are reaching to associate this general concept of giving the convicted a second chance with implicit approval of Vick. Swing and miss.

[Fumesucker]

20. Read the threads about it..

A lot of people are upset about what Obama said re: Vick.

Why oh why did Obama have to pick a sadistic psychopathic torturer multi millionaire sports star to make the point?

It's a valid point true, but Obama's choice of the vehicle to make that point was amazingly tin eared, particularly for such a brilliant politician.

[tabasco]

30. Yes, he does.

I handed out pamphlets for Hubert Humphrey and I'm about as goddamn a loyal Democrat you will ever find.

I still support Obama but this was ONE STUPID PR MOVE ands he has lost some of my respect because of it.

[frylock]

24. and they hired him out of the kindness of their heart..

if it were ryan leaf that was an unemployed ex-con, would lurie have given him a second chance?

[Crazy Dave]

5. It is so stupid and the drug testing

I see ads on craiglist all the time for janitor positions that only pay minimum wage. They all say "must pass a drug test".

Who in the hell has ever heard of a janitor that didn't smoke a little weed? Janitors used to be our most reliable and safest supply source for weed back in high school and various office buildings I've worked in.

This economy and low paying employers are so fucked up these days it's pitiful.

Typical ad on craigslist:

"Janitor Position - Minimum wage. Must have at least 10 years of continuous and verifiable work related experience, pass a drug test and world wide criminal background check. Please email or fax your professional resume with a cover letter and two page essay explaining why you should be the person we hire for the position"

[krabigirl]

35. Try to work freelance if possible. I do, but not for that reason. Just tired of corporate bs.

Drug testing for cube rat or janitor jobs are a complete joke, though.

[Riftaxe]

6. Hmmm, you mean ex-cons are not at the top of the

list in this job market, wonder why?

[Fumesucker]

8. But there is *one* ex-con who is at the top of the job market..

And Obama had to single him out for praise because he makes millions.

A very revealing statement by Obama.

[tabasco]

9. Me too.

I wonder why too, considering some of the brightest, most decent people I know have grown pot in their closet.

Felons are not necessarily ex-cons.

Your comment indicates a lack of critical thinking ability.

[Kingofalldems]

26. Hmmmm. Very familiar.

[cottonseed]

12. I'm sure he's concerned about both. Dopers and awesome football players.

It's a big tent.

[Fumesucker]

That was why he brushed off the top question in his own poll about legalizing pot..

With a sarcastic and snide remark.

Gil Kerlikowske speaks for Obama on "drugs"..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Kerlikowske

Richard Gil Kerlikowske (born November 23, 1949) is the current Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, a position generally referred to as the United States "Drug Czar". He assumed office on May 7, 2009.

...

In a May 22, 2009 interview on KUOW radio, he said any drug 'legalization' would be "waving the white flag" and that "legalization is off the charts when it comes to discussion, from my viewpoint" and that "legalization vocabulary doesn't exist for me and it was made clear that it doesn't exist in President Obama's vocabulary." Specifically about marijuana, he said, "It's a dangerous drug" and about the medical use of marijuana, he said, "we will wait for evidence on whether smoked marijuana has any medicinal benefits – those aren't in."<16>

[Fumesucker]

17. Dupe.. Self delete..

[superduperfarleft]

29. Not even trying anymore, are you? n/t

[littlewolf]

14. hundreds of thousands of Non Felons can not find jobs n/t

[ecstatic]

16. "people who have paid for their crimes should have the opportunity to contribute to society again."

What part of that statement confuses you?

http://www.ajc.com/sports/obama-commends-eagles-for-788965.html

[Fumesucker]

21. And make millions while doing it..

Meanwhile other people who have never done anything remotely as heinous as the sadist torture Vick engaged in are hungry and cold out on the streets of the land of the free in a fucking blizzard.

Obama's choice of his vehicle to make the (admittedly valid) statement was remarkably tin eared in a time of hardship such as now.

[ecstatic]

27. oh please. He makes millions because he

has talent in football. If either of us had that opportunity we'd probably do the same thing! I don't waste my time begrudging people because they make more money than I do. That energy could be better spent changing careers or something.

[superduperfarleft]

28. Or pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, or something... n/t

[Phlunk]

18. What about the non-felons

I'll worry about the felons once the law abiding folks have jobs. just my .02

[Fumesucker]

23. Unless they're going to make millions they don't count apparently..

[madrchsod]

25. no shit...

[GeorgeGist]

31. Obama thanked a war criminal ...

at his Inauguration.

[felix_numinous]

32. And an ex coke addict can become president

it's all about the connections and the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. We could make a long list of the criminals who have all the power, while us peons are molested, sniffed and filmed for suspicious activity.

It's upside down justice.

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Scurrilous]

34. LOL

wb

[Ignis]

36. Oh, those are just the Little People. Only millionaires deserve a second chance.

:puke: