Enough Is Enough

There is no action on marijuana legalization taking place in Virginia.  While New Jersey and other states have had medical marijuana legislation in the news recently, and California, Alaska and others are having votes on outright legalization, big news in Virginia is some delegate from Gloucester introducing legislation to expunge marijuana convictions from people's records, in certain limited circumstances.  BIG NEWS!  Wow!  This is some BIG FUCKING NEWS!

Virginia is not completely shut out of the news in regard to drug policy reform, however.  Senator Jim Webb is working on a review of federal penal laws in relation to the prison issue.  As Webb says, in 1980 the federal government imprisoned 40,000 people.  Today it imprisons over 500,000 -- mostly for nonviolent drug offenses.  I hope Jim Webb is not the only U.S. Senator who believes those numbers are alarming, and are willing to, as Webb advises, "put [marijuana legalization] on the table."

In fact, Webb's office and that Gloucester delegate I scorned earlier provide real resources for anyone who would want to begin a marijuana legalization legislative campaign in Virginia.  The article I read named a couple other Virginia legislators who displayed at least a minimally positive attitude toward the general idea of maybe approving the expungement legislation.  They might constitute secondary resources.  What we need in Virginia is a legislative strategy that consists of legislative language and lobbying to get the language in front of the legislature where necessary, and the people where possible.  We need specific legislation to support with a specific campaign.  It needs to operate on the local and state level.

If we can make marijuana legal in Virginia, that would put Virginia in the forefront of the brewing state challenge to federal drug policy.  We have an administration in Washington that has signalled it will RESPECT STATES RIGHTS by ordering the federales not to go after distributors legal under state medical marijuana laws.  If state legislation legalized marijuana in Virginia and legally prevented state and local law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal anti-drug operations, that would make it harder for the Feds to fight marijuana in Virginia, and make it safer for Virginia's citizens.  If the Obama Administration extended its order to Virginia, that would effectively end the Oppression of Marijuana Users in Virginia.

IT CAN BE DONE!  I am going to begin work on a pamphlet of WHAT IS TO BE DONE: Common Sense for the Inhabitants of Virginia.  I will produce this pamphlet this week and hopefully present the plan to the VCU chapter of SSDP.  They will provide the core of the corps.  I noticed on Facebook they have links with other SSDP chapters in Virginia.  They provide the statewide foot soldiers, or hopefully the sergeants, who will motivate their stoner friends to perform simple, one-shot tasks that will register a number somewhere relevant.

A hell of a lot of Virginians believe that the Legalization of Marijuana is Good Public Policy.  It is time that we all stand up and say so.  The vast majority will only do so if there is a concrete proposal to support, and if they feel secure enough to voice their opinion without fear of consequences they are not prepared to face.  I believe that there are enough of us now to provide safety in numbers.  All that is missing is the proposal, and the recruitment effort will have a decent chance of success.  All we need to do is get a certain percentage to register its support for legalization legislation, then keep raising that percentage until it passes.  Even if we get only 29% of the population on record in support of a TRUE, non-watered-down legalization bill, that is a substantial minority, and it commands respect.  It provides legitimacy, and makes it easier for more people to come forward.  Next round you get 37% in support.  It gets a little easier, and demographics are in your favor.  Next round, which is only three years into the campaign, you get 44%.  Now you're starting to look unstoppable.  The press picks it up, and the other side is solidly on the defensive.  IT WILL PASS.  I say this:

If those of us who believe in legalization mount such a campaign, it will not fail.

The Rebirth of a Renaissance Man

Welcome to my new blog. The Peripatetic Mind. Look up "peripatetic" and you find that it means "walking or traveling about; itinerant." However, it also has a more focused definition, "walking or traveling about to teach." A "peripatetic" is a wanderer, or more specifically, a wandering teacher -- a wandering muse, if you prefer. Yes, the Peripatetic Mind is a wandering teacher.

Capitalize it and Peripatetic means "of or pertaining to Aristotle or the Aristotelian school of philosophy." A "Peripatetic" is "a follower of Aristotle." Aristotle, of course, was the wandering philosopher of ancient Greece. He gave us Socrates, a fellow who committed a self-righteous suicide for the sake of reason, not faith.

All of the above definitions will animate this blog. Each of the above definitions provides clues as to my purpose. The blog will touch on many subjects. It will go places to learn, and then to teach. It will be informed by philosophy. It will be an attempt to find guidance in reason and logic. Brought up a Roman Catholic by parents who were "born again" and moved toward nondenominational fundamentalism (despite being intelligent people otherwise), I am not big on faith. Faith opposes questions. It denies answers. It is antithetical to reason. During my adolescence I stumbled upon the choice between Faith and Reason, and I chose Reason. Why? Because Reason welcomed difficult questions and explored for answers.

My wandering mind has been a weakness of mine when it comes to making a career. It makes decisions as to which path to follow more difficult. I am constantly looking to switch courses. As a result, I drifted into the career I inhabit, and it does not suit me as I would like. This blog is an attempt to turn that weakness into a strength, to capitalize on it by Capitalizing it.

ONCE UPON A TIME, I went by Joyce Junior. It was one of my first online personae. That was before the World Wide Web (WWW) was developed. It was in the world of BBSes. Joyce Junior used a 2400 baud dialup modem. The USRobotics 19200 modem was a revolution. Now I am going by Jefferson Junior.

Joyce Junior was the nom de plume of Sam Adams for his rabble-rousing. Joyce was some English revolutionary "long ago" when Adams was inciting crowds in Boston. Joyce Junior was a firebrand, a polemicist, a trouble-maker for the cause of American liberty.

Jefferson was a mature revolutionary. He looked to philosophy and law. He was a revolutionary who also governed. He created the Library of Congress. He founded the University of Virginia, my alma mater and still the home of my mind. He was an architect and a designer, an inventor and a gardener. He was also a financial failure. Most of his projects went unfinished, he was always in debt, and he died poor. His library became the seed for the Library of Congress when it was sold off to pay his debts.

The change from Joyce Junior to Jefferson Junior reflects my maturation process. I am no longer interested in rabble-rousing and intellectual trouble-making (non-violent methods were always central to my theory of revolution). Now I am interested in philosophy and architecture, governance and gardening. I am also, fittingly enough, a financial failure. Permanently in debt and likely to die poor. Most of my projects go unfinished. But I have a deep passion for the correct governance of my people and desire to be part of the Great Conversation.

I am a man in my early forties with two children from a first marriage, about to enter my second marriage. I left my wife two years ago for reasons that will remain private, and in less than a week I will marry my 20-year-old fiancee. My 10-year-old daughter will lead her down the aisle. In my past I took many drugs, but I still made it through undergrad and law school. I am hounded by debt collectors; some of "my buddies" call ten times in a day. I have no health or life insurance. I have stumbled and bumbled my way through life, but somehow I have progressed to a place where I am happy. I feel younger than I did at 22. I am taking on new challenges. I look ahead and see a future. I am crafting a new life, and this blog is part of that. It is the Rebirth of a Renaissance Man. General Sherman is my inspiration.

Welcome to my blog. It will grow and develop. I have a Road Map for Peace in my head. The blog will touch upon many subjects repeatedly, subjects like Israel, Iran and the Middle East, Russia, Europe, populist socialism and drug wars in Latin America, China and great power hegemonic struggles, the Drug War and marijuana liberation, the culture of narcissism, health care and insurance, environmental and energy policy, family law and the state of boys in this country, and probably a miscellany of others as well, including World Cup soccer (I am a despairing fan of the USMNT). Don't worry, I will keep it organized.

I hope your mind will find a rest stop here. I don't want to be your "home page." I'm not Google or Yahoo or MSN or any of the other major players in cyberspace who want to dominate your Desktop. I just want to be a place you stop in for a beer (a Sam Adams Boston Lager perhaps?) and good conversation, or perhaps for a little revolution-making.