News you can use

DRC's weekly Drug War Chronicle arrived early and is full of interesting items as always. This week's corrupt cops feature is a must read. My personal favorite:

In Houston, two federal air marshals were arrested February 9 and held on suspicion of involvement in possessing or smuggling cocaine. Shawn Ray Nguyen, 38, and Burlie Sholar III, 32, were arrested by agents of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's Office after receiving more than 30 pounds of cocaine and $15,000 in "front money" from an undercover informant. The pair agreed to transport the drugs on an airline flight, federal officials said. They agreed to use their official positions to bypass airport security and fly the coke from Houston to Las Vegas, the US Attorney's office explained. One of those arrested is a former DEA agent, Time magazine reported. The pair were formally charged Monday in federal court in Houston.

If well paid law enforcers can't resist the temptation of blcak market money, how are ordinary citizens who often have no other means of making a decent living supposed to resist?

Meanwhile, a judge inArgentina ruled a tough provincial law penalizing drug possession violates the South American republic's constitution. Too bad our own politician's don't see the sense in that. Anybody who wants to blame Republicans for the war on some drugs should read this.

The Democratic Party is no longer the party of the people. Bad enough they spend their time reading focus polls and looking like incompetent ninnies because they keep changing their stance on issues based on the weekly polls, they think they're going to score some political points with "tough on crime" talk?

Sens. Tom Harkin (D-IA), Mark Dayton (D-MN), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) have all loudly called for restored funding for the program, even though the Office of Management and Budget has found it is a failure and taxpayer watchdog groups such as Citizens Against Government Waste and the National Taxpayers Union have described it as little more than "pork barrel spending." All three senators called the grants essential "for a rural state" and cited the much-hyped methamphetamine "epidemic" as the reason the program must continue.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) was the latest to jump on the JAG bandwagon. In a press release last Friday, Reid joined his Democratic colleagues in criticizing the proposed cuts, and he hit the same talking points. "Once again, President Bush's budget will inhibit the ability of first responders to prepare for new threats and law enforcement to combat the growing methamphetamine problem," he said, adding that the programs are "specifically designed to assist rural communities."

Reid attacked the Bush budget not only on the JAG program, but also for proposing deep cuts in the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program, which, Reid noted, helps "combat methamphetamine use and distribution," among other things. And while the Bush budget proposes $40 for a Methamphetamine Cleanup Program, that isn't enough, Reid said.

The one issue that cuts across partisan lines and they think they can make hay with going against these cuts to failed programs? You would think a party so in love with polls would notice they're running in favor of reform. What flipping idiots. Why don't you send them an email and ask them to get a grip.