Since there’s always more than enough time to do things the right way after all other approaches are exhausted:
In an about-face, the Mexican government has begun refocusing much of its energy on attacking social issues in Ciudad Juárez, in what officials say privately could be an experiment for other Mexican cities that are consumed by drug violence.
This will probably require more CBO-scored, PAYGO-tested legislation, since the last billion we sent to Mexico went for “helicopters for the army, X-ray equipment for customs, training for judges and a new police academy for federal police recruits.”
Also, not to rouse slumbering giants, but why isn’t the usual crew of pearl-clutchers yelling for Obama’s scalp over this? When some lone nutcase crisps his ‘nads on a plane, we’ve failed as a country to prevent terrorism. But when State Department employees and/or family members are executed in broad daylight by a private army operating less than a mile from our border, it’s just another day in sunny Mexico.
Joey Maloney
Because they were employees of the eebil gubmint, members of ZOG or whatever the hell the conspiracy of the week might be. In any case, they weren’t Real Americans ™ so their deaths just aren’t that big a deal.
There might be some upset because the elimination of these rootless cosmopolitans was offshored to brown people, who probably took the job from honest, hard-working, white lone wolves, but other than that…
El Cid
Actually, quite a few observers in Mexico thought that much of the state-level and federal conservative leadership in Mexico sought to use these situations (elsewhere in the nation 45 people were executed in and around Acapulco just over the weekend) as a way of exerting power through military involvement than they did solving any problems.
Which is a pretty bad approach for effectiveness, given that the narcotraffickers count among their main allies often highly placed supremely corrupt state level and federal police and military officials.
For readers of Spanish, this editorial in Mexico’s El Universal is pretty insightful:
Given increasing direct shipments of Colombian-produced drugs to Mexico’s Southwest coast (hence, the violence in Acapulco in the state of Guerrero, since Colombian narco-traffickers ship there by sea in undetectable home-made submarines), I fear that you have not just a consolidation of the sorts of ex-assassin / barely demilitarized rebel criminal gangs of El Salvador and Honduras and Guatemala, but the narco-paramilitaries of Colombia, who not only run at times the majority of drugs trafficking and orbit in a routine alliance with Colombia’s conservative governments (the 4th largest bloc in Colombia’s Senate is now a party entirely composed of the relatives and lieutenants of arrested / convicted paramilitaries and allies).
Mexico has already taken the step of decriminalizing small drugs possession.
Maybe we ought to think about, you know, relieving Mexicans and Colombians of the burden of living with the brutal results of our addiction to keeping drugs as a vital criminal activity. Pshaw. Perish the thought — we’ll just give them a few more dollars to ‘crack down’ and announce a new “Plan Mexico” or “Plan Colombia” or “Plan Juarez”, ad infinitum.
WereBear
Prohibition was a clear and conclusive failure. So no wonder they won’t let go.
Randy P
Ciudad Juarez is the site of an appalling crime wave that has been largely ignored in the US press. Hundreds of young women have been disappearing and being murdered over a period that now spans nearly 20 years.
http://www.impactpress.com/articles/aprmay03/juarez4503.html
http://www.mujeresdejuarez.org/
jon
Now that it’s okay to propose messing with Social Security, the new political third rail is the War on Drugs.
At least, that’s what the politicians believe.
But here in reality, ending prohibition is the best way to defund the Colombian death squads, the Taliban, the Russian mafia, the Mexican death squads, the kidnappers and rapists who hold women in sexual slavery in places such as Amsterdam, Krakow, and Tel Aviv, and our insane court and prison systems. Of course, the downside would be that a lot of people would be high on something other than beer and cigarettes. So there’s no way we’re heading down that road.
(Off topic, but I’m sure it will come up: No, marijuana legalization will not be taxable in an amount that can balance any budgets anywhere. Well, there may be some guy somewhere who’s paying way too much, but that’s another issue. The only thing making pot legal will do is increase the profits of home gardening stores across the country. Governments will save money by not pursuing potsmokers, but they won’t be taxing anyone to death for growing stuff that any idiot college student could cultivate in a dorm closet. It’s not called weed because it’s so difficult to grow.)
Mike Kay
This wouldn’t be happening if Lou Dobbs was president.
El Cid
@jon:
Don’t forget the huge blow to our ability to pay people to keep poor and particularly colored folk in the slammer (in many parts of the country, the only major economic growth is in the prisons industry), and getting police forces really cool SWAT teams with awesome weaponry, along with 40 years of LAWNORDER politics.
David
OT:
State of Hawaii becomes fed up with Birthers:
If passed, the bill will implement an “abuse of process law for vexatious requesters of public records.”
http://www.thepostemail.com/2010/03/15/public-hearing-scheduled-for-hi-vexatious-requester-proposal/
mistermix
@jon: I agree that taxation alone won’t be a windfall. I haven’t seen an estimate of the economic benefit of not imprisoning a bunch of low-level dealers/users who would probably be taxpayers if they weren’t in prison. But I’d guess that it’s big bucks.
someguy
Of course conservatives aren’t reacting. There’s a lot to love about these incidents. Sure, they normally hate Mexicans with a burning passion, but a lot of things mitigate that hatred. First off, it’s an attack on the Gubmint, which warms conservatives’ hearts everywhere. The cartels don’t like paying taxes. They’re into guns. *Very* into guns. Plus they’re from a right wing Catholic country. And they loves livin’ in Texas and Arizona. Finally, the cartels have utterly rejected government authority, which would win a big double ++ at CPAC.
Really, the question isn’t why conservatives aren’t angry, it’s why they aren’t sending flowers to the cartel’s leaders and trying to rename an airport after them.
Ash Can
@David: LOL! Hawaii hits the birfers with a stupidity tax. I love it. I’d like to see all the eedjits at the site you linked be made to fork over a small fortune in fines, for starters.
Mike Kay
@someguy: Ha! They’re also for deregulation and gett’n gubmint off the backs of business.
SGEW
@mistermix:
Not to mention the social effects – the debilitating weight of criminalizing an entire generation (moving on to two generations!) of distinct, vulnerable minority groups cannot be overstated.
Linda Featheringill
Good morning, folks.
Please allow me to introduce you to my friend.
http://tinyurl.com/yzszjh6
Mike Kay
@Linda Featheringill: That’s a nice pussy
Mike Kay
@Linda Featheringill: That’s a nice puzzy
NickM
@someguy:
Because the airport naming rights cost money and they haven’t gotten the check yet.
Linda Featheringill
To Mike Kay:
Thanks.
Gotta start working. Have a nice day!
El Cid
@NickM: Also, all airports, currency, and public buildings of any type in the USA must feature and be named after Ronald Reagan.
jeffreyw
@Linda Featheringill:
Mojii 01–I assume that’s the pick of the litter? LOL Pretty kitty.
Pigs & Spiders
Mexico makes me has a sad. Such a gorgeous country with so much potential squandered by mismanagement and corruption.
rageahol
having nearly 2% of the adult male population in prison has macroeconomic effects too. When you consider the fact that a whole fuck of a lot of people cant get decent jobs because of drug convictions this has a lot of cascade effects. i know there’s one economic thinktank that’s just starting to look at the issue, but it’s long overdue for an examination.
Bootlegger
On a heavier note, the sectarian warfare known as March Madness has begun and BJers can fight it out here. Don’t forget the “seed bonuses” when you make your picks. You’ll need the group ID# in the group label below.
DBrown
C. Hitchens in Slate has a great article on Pope “I protect people who torture and rape children” Benedict the Satin loving monster. Any one who claims to believe in Christ should read what this animal has done – ugly.
jibeaux
Okay, so this is not my hobbyhorse or anything I have strong opinions about. It definitely seems to me that a minimum, we could decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana with good positive effects and minimal negative effects. But it seems to me that there isn’t a “solution” as such to drugs, is it? You can fight a pointless, counterproductive, expensive, and ineffective war, or you can not fight that war and just have a nasty, violent, and destructive narcotics industry. So what’s the “wonk” approach to drugs, and no offense to any of you guys but I’m not talking about random thoughts from people whose lives would be more convenient if they could buy their pot without a hassle, I mean link me to a good approach to the problem from a public policy standpoint? Who’s the Ezra Klein of drug policy reform? I’m being perfectly sincere, it’s not an issue I’ve spent much time on.
CADoc
I visited Ciudad Juarez as a kid in the 70’s; it was a lovely town with great shopping and restaurants and later in the 80’s we used to camp on the beach just north of Ensenada, with no worries at all. All this violence must be choking the legit economy of Mexico, especially along the border. Very sad, indeed.
Fair Economist
He doesn’t deserve to be called or considered Pope.
jibeaux
Well, satin does make me think of Ivana Trump and Smoove B from the Onion, but I don’t really think it makes you a monster….
Alien-Radio
@jibeaux:
Portugaul. They had a massive drug problem, since legalizing everything has seen drug use and abuse go down.
That’s on top of the expected drop in crime.
Dimmic Rat
He sounds like a pope to me. Which saint has the “make horrific sex abuse scandal go away” superpower?
SRW1
@Linda Featheringill:
Is that mojii like huomenta?
Ash Can
@DBrown: What does believing in Christ have to do with it? Not all Christians are Catholic. And the pope isn’t Christ.
Dimmic Rat
@jibeaux
Perhaps we could make it so the drugs aren’t illegal, but becoming dependent on them to the point where you are no longer a productive member of society carries harsh penalties.
Keith G
@Fair Economist:
That’s just plain wrong!
His horrible personal and “professional” choices put him well above average on the list of men who have held that position.
Bootlegger
@Alien-Radio: Here’s a link to Greenwald’s research on the Portuguese solution.
DBrown
@jibeaux: But the children raped because of his protecting these animals (and allowing them to continue to attack children) does make him a monster.
Jerry 101
@El Cid:
Lawnorder? I read that as Lawn Order, rather than Law and Order.
Lawn order politics….The politics of green lawns? Or is that the politics of property lines?
:-)
Zifnab
@Dimmic Rat:
Ah, the “kick them when they’re down” approach. Perhaps we can set up a stiff fine for being poor, thus discouraging people from not earning enough money. :-p
We could set up drug rehabilitation centers and government treatment facilities, lowering the barrier to the tools necessary to overcome addiction. But that would be ebil soca-ma-lism, because we’d be giving undeserving drug addicts something they haven’t earned.
Jerry 101
@someguy:
The illegal shipment of guns to Mexico is a growth industry.
They ship the drugs to us, we ship the guns to them.
We get high, they get dead.
burnspbesq
@Bootlegger:
Apropos of the annual flare-up of sectarian tensions, this would be funny if it weren’t pathetic.
http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2010/03/14/grayson-highlights-pauls-degree-from-duke/
WereBear
@Zifnab: Ramen!
When will it occur to the Tut-tutters that people take drugs for the same reason others drink too much? To mute unbearable psychic pain, that’s why!
Just watch Precious for a glimpse of what some people deal with day in & day out. I need drugs just to watch it, much less live it.
jibeaux
@Zifnab:
Yeah, I wasn’t really looking for an approach like Dimmic’s, of course that could have been snark. I mean, drugs are kind of designed to make you dependent on them. I don’t think it’s a good idea to try to dabble in heroin. I am a big proponent of treatment centers, and of rehab instead of jail time for nonviolent drug addicts. I used to live near a very large rehab place, actually — you know the neighborhood was real excited to get that, and it was a very tolerant neighborhood — but they ran a very tight ship and were good neighbors, really reassured a lot of people. Even hosted cookouts and gospel concerts. The treatment method was pretty old school, basically “work until you are completely exhausted” and “your suspended sentence will be activated unless you complete this program”, but very effective and left its graduates with some cash and some skills at the end.
aimai
I’m for totally legalizing all drugs–let them import them freely at the border, paying a minimal tax importation tax. Put a high tax on them in stores in the US and criminalize selling outside of government run stores. Sell drugs only to registered adult users. Use the money to pay for universal health care. Give addicts a set amount of money/therapy to get off their addictions if they want, or to pay for addiction related medical problems and then cut them off. A certain number of people are going to go ahead and get addicted, and die of addiction related illnesses under *every* system. But legalization would ensure that the civilians in drug producing countries aren’t made into criminals and victims as well.
Too brutal? I think 45 beheadings in a weekend ought to give us pause. There’s no way keeping some idiot from getting addicted is worth those deaths.
aimai
BR
I think the policy wonk approach is alcoholization of cannabis (21+ only, taxed) and other non-addictive drugs (mushrooms, LSD) and the decriminalization of all other drugs. The decriminalization allows the focus to be on large scale trafficing, which would have been weakened due to the loss of revenue from the legalization part. It also saves tons of money since we no longer lock up people for simple possession.
Redshirt
The Drug War is useful for the Elites overall control: It’s the very definition of a “divide and conquer” approach at keeping poor people and minorities hating and killing each other, while at the same time giving the Authoritah’s more and more unchecked power.
This is such an obvious win for the Powers that Be that I see no way it will change, despite how insane it all is. That’s a feature after all, not a bug.
Linda Featheringill
To SRW1:
huomentera? Finnish? Wow.
Don’t know. Mojii is what he told us his name was when he adopted us.
ChristianPinko
@24 jibeaux, Mark Kleiman over at Reality-Based Community is an expert on drug enforcement. A lot of his posts deal with other subjects, but his writing on drug enforcement seems well informed.
Stefan
Perhaps we could make it so the drugs aren’t illegal, but becoming dependent on them to the point where you are no longer a productive member of society carries harsh penalties.
Oh yes, by all means let’s punish the most vulnerable. Why not go after those who have a chemical/genetic abnormality that makes them more likely to become addicted than others? And perhaps we can also impose harsh penalties on alcoholics as well. After all, if there’s one thing we’ve learned it’s that the threat of jail time makes people stop abusing drugs and alcohol….
PeakVT
Mexico? Mexico?!? Mexico isn’t some crappy country in the Middle East. Why should anyone care about Mexico?
Bootlegger
@burnspbesq: Arrgghh, the crazy never stops in the Cantuckee. Every person has UK hats, shirts, jackets, socks, stickers on their cars, you name it. And they’d all rather cut pre-school funding than the coaches salary.
PanAmerican
Weed isn’t the problem.
Coke and heroin are the import market drivers. They’re easier to transport and cut and have substantial retail markup.
Public policy?
UK NHS used to prescribe junkies dope. It scans horribly from a political POV but it declaws the profiteers, reduces addicts reliance on petty crime and keeps them alive longer because they’re getting consistent dosages and not shooting junk cut with poison.
Enforcement comes with endless violence, an ever upward security state cost spiral and terrible health outcomes.
We are paying 3-4 times more per year to incarcerate or kill an addict compared to letting them fix on the public dime.
El Cid
Portugal went for decriminalization, and it’s working out pretty well.
I don’t care whether people think that the perfect policy option has been reached — we simply have to stop jailing so many millions of our citizens for drug use, we have to remove the profitability of the drug industry from funding gang activities throughout the continent, and we have to stop fomenting the destruction of other nations and societies by giving their criminals such a gigantic incentive for the drug trade.
Just going off the current post, Mexico’s and Colombia’s citizens are sick and tired of surviving a wrecked society because of our massive, massive consumption of drugs through a system we keep strongly incentivizing criminals.
Comrade Dread
Because any sacrifice of human life, any innocent deaths, any mistaken folks gunned down by police in their homes, any dog who was running away from cops in a home, any lawman mistakenly shot as an intruder, all of the suffering, misery, erosion of civil rights and human dignity is acceptable as long as it prevents one DFH from lighting up a joint.
Also, it’s for the children. Unless they happen to be the ones who die in the violence.
But even then, they can die knowing that their tragic sacrifice makes it slightly more expensive for someone to score some coke.
Dollared
Gang, I’m just a tiny bit disappointed in you all.
We’re all racing to share information about Colombian autodefensas, submarine drug transport, Acapulco death squads, brown people in prisons and little orange tabby cats.
But let’s take at least one moment to recognize mistermix here:
Now we know why mistermix is in the mix. That is some fine phraseology, Cole-ific in its disgusted sense of irony. Bravo.
Dee Loralei
@jibeaux: I second the recommendation of Mark Kleineman @ The Reality Based Community.
SRW1
@Linda Featheringill:
Well, then the pronunciation corresponds to that of the colloquial version of ‘huomenta’. But I guess for felines that’s international.