‘Progressive’ Hypocrisy

A California state legislator is proposing legislation that would tax and regulate marijuana in the same manner as alcohol.
On the surface a policy change such as this could be considered a welcome call for sanity towards America’s ludicrous "war on drugs" but considering the man launching this trial balloon we have yet again a stunning example of progressive hypocrisy.

Tom Ammiano , who represents San Francisco in the state’s Assembly, is always on the cutting edge of expanding liberty, to those he considers worthy. As decreed by too many on the left wing of the political divide, the worthies are a rather narrow group of people whom the prevailing culture have anointed as saints and heros. In California gay activists lead the parade of worthies and same-sex marriage is the most important issue facing society. Ammiano, a gay man, is defined politically by his activism on this one issue. He couches his agenda as an expansion of liberty and fairness. His political actions, however, reveal him to be a man who revels in discriminating against and disparaging a group of people far more oppressed, at least in California, than gay people.

Last November Ammiano tirelessly railed against a voter initiative that amended the state constitution to specifically outlaw same-sex marriage. He was passionate in his denunciation against an initiative that would write discrimination into the constitution. How he damned the bigots behind the marriage exclusion initiative and how he sorrowfully deplored the mentality that would single out a group of people for separate and obviously unequal treatment.

Few who heard his cry for tolerance and fairness realized that, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Ammiano never missed an opportunity to jump on board legislation that demonized and mistreated smokers. When the law against smoking in all city parks and recreation areas being considered, Ammiano was there self-righteously voting to deny taxpayers who smoke the full use of the public property they financially maintained. He loudly supported the law that forbade pharmacies from selling tobacco products and was happy to vote in favor of legislation that restricted the right of smokers to smoke on the street. All the time he was endorsing legislation that could have come out of the Nazi regime, Ammiano congratulated himself as being oh so progressive.

Now he wants to expand freedom for pot smokers, another group of people far less in number of those who smoke tobacco. Liberty, of course, isn’t a numbers game and pot smokers and gay people deserve consideration. Too bad they have as their advocate a pious, bigoted hyopcrite without the sense to realize he is part of the problem and by no means any of the solution.