COP on the Hill: Stories from the week of October 4 and 11, 2013

COP on the Hill

Stories from the week of October 4 and 11, 2013

Passed the audition:  I was part of a three person radio chat that went out all over South America.  The host spoke slowly to me when asking for my point of view = all went well (I speak better than I understand).  It did go well, my Spanish was up to ‘snuff’ and I will be invited back.

Clueless in the Senate:  On the 9^th at a National Press Club event where we viewed the documentary “Breaking the Taboo” Senator Whitehouse (D-RI) told us how proud he was to sponsor a bill to reduce penalties for drug crimes.  After I told the 80 people there, “The War on Drugs/Drug Prohibition has been the most destructive, dysfunctional and immoral policy since slavery and Jim Crow.  Prohibition is the great evil in America.  So why Senator has not one Senator introduced a bill to repeal prohibition?”  He mumbled that his bill would focus on sentencing.  “Pitiful” I said to myself.

Fun & effective in Oklahoma:  Chance Tinker decided to make Karen and me 10 feet tall on a billboard.

Life barked and I responded:  I spent most of these two weeks in Georgia working on family business…mom went unexpectedly into assisted-living and I am tasked with selling her home in Georgia, etc.  Given the total dysfunction in the Congress with the shutdown, it was definitely the best time to have an emergency.

This week’s stats:

• 1396 Presentations to Congressional staffers..01 this week
• 44 brief chats with Members of Congress.. 01 this week
• 34 Radio Interviews.. 01 this week

I need your help >>Reminder:  have you sent your Congressman a letter in support of HR 1523?  Sample here:

Dear Congressman XXXXXX

I hope and trust you will become a co-sponsor of Respect State Marijuana Laws Act of 2013: HR 1523

I hope we can agree that the 10^th Amendment should be employed in many more areas.  Our state should be allowed to set its own path regarding Industrial Hemp, Medicinal Use and Personal Use of Marijuana.  Highly-trained federal agents are needed to find the terrorists that attack us at every opportunity, not fly around in helicopters looking for a green plant.

Moreover, the federal government currently wastes about 4 billion dollars looking for a green plant and its users.   The Congress is also missing about a billion dollars in lost tax revenue.   I challenge you to tell me one, substantive advantage of our prohibition approach.  We all know the disadvantages (funds The Taliban, Mexican Drug Cartels, kids hurt selling, less money to education, easier for kids to buy pot than alcohol, etc).

And please, no wishy-washy letter that says thanks for your views.  Take a position.  Silence equals you will vote no & thus help The Taliban buy weapons which kill our troops in Afghanistan.

Sincerely,

COP stats since inception: August 2009

• 42 chats with other elected officials, state reps, senators, VIPs, etc.  this week
• 63 interviews and reports in minor media = blogs, cable TV, weekly papers, etc.. 01 this week
• 16 major conferences attended..  this week (CPAC, LULAC, NRA, CBC, ASA, DPA, Dem & Repub. Presidential conventions.  etc)  this week
• 34 Appearances on major TV networks..this week(Fox, ABC, CBS, NBC, Univision)
• 22 published interviews in major (daily)newspapers or magazine… this week
• 72 published letters to the editor (value per MAPINC in free publicity: $70,000)
• 2 editorials in daily papers mentioning Howard’s efforts & in support of COP position
• Permanent invitation to Grover Norquist’s Wednesday brunch attended by 150 conservative leaders.   Named the “Grand Central Station of the Conservative Movement.”
• Consider being a member of COP at $30.00 or more per year.   All contributions are tax-deductible.  30 dollars buys all the copy paper COP uses in one year.   Law Enforcement’s voice in opposition to current policy is vital on the Hill to achieve a repeal of federal prohibition.  COP provides that voice.   If you agree that Modern Prohibition/War on Drugs is the most destructive, dysfunctional and immoral policy since slavery & Jim Crow and want to be a part of the solution…  Go to:

• www.CitizensOpposingProhibition.org and click on Donate/Join – by credit card or send a check to:
• Citizens Opposing Prohibition
• POB 543
• Buckeystown, MD 21717

The rotating electronic message is actually clear to the public…hard to photograph…original below