cannabisnews.com: Shadow Convention to Give Voice to Excluded Shadow Convention to Give Voice to Excluded Posted by FoM on July 29, 2000 at 22:20:40 PT By Cathy Newman, Washington Post Staff Writer Source: Washington Post Hundreds of relatives of people jailed for drugs offenses will travel to Philadelphia on Tuesday as part of a five-day alternative convention designed to "embarrass" Republicans, organizers say. The "shadow" convention, which also will set up camp next month in Los Angeles for the Democratic National Convention, wants to throw the spotlight on campaign finance reform, the war against drugs and poverty. Organizers hope the event, the brainchild of columnist Arianna Huffington, will attract almost 1,000 people for the most controversial debates.Buses carrying as many as 300 people from Michigan, New York and Minnesota will converge on Philadelphia on Tuesday to protest about the number of nonviolent offenders in jail for breaking drug laws.Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation, which is hosting Tuesday's event, said the war on drugs is failing because the United States has as many as 500,000 people guilty of drug offenses behind bars. That's more than the total prison population of Western Europe, he said, adding that some people are given a longer sentence for such crimes than for second-degree murder or rape because of federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws.New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson (R), Rep. Tom Campbell (R-Calif.) and Jesse L. Jackson will join the protesters."Shadow Conventions 2000: A Citizens' Intervention in American Politics" aims to revitalize what organizers identify as "a superficial political debate" and the "short-term smugness" of an "ever more privatized political process." Or as Huffington put it: "The purpose is to give voice to people who have been excluded from the political system."Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the star speaker, opens the shadow convention today with a speech on his favorite issue – campaign finance reform. Huffington's ex-husband, Michael Huffington, spent $30 million on a failed bid for the Senate in 1994.On Monday, the advocacy groups Common Cause and Public Campaign host a day dedicated to the subject. Granny D, who at age 90 and while suffering from arthritis and emphysema walked across America to lobby for campaign finance reform, will kick off the discussion.Tuesday's drug debate will feature a choir from Minnesota made up of children whose parents have been jailed for drug-related offenses. The third theme – poverty and the wealth gap – will be addressed the following day. E-mail: letterstoed washpost.com Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htmBy Cathy NewmanWashington Post Staff WriterSunday, July 30, 2000; Page A23 © 2000 The Washington Post Company Related Articles & Web Sites:The Shadow Conventionshttp://www.shadowconventions.com/Shadow Conventionshttp://www.lindesmith.org/shadowconventions/Common Causehttp://www.commoncause.org/Public Campaignhttp://www.publiccampaign.org/ Shadow Convention 2000 News Boardhttp://homepages.go.com/~marthag1/Shadcon.htmMcCain In The Shadows http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6426.shtmlMapInc. Articles On The Shadow Conventions:http://mapinc.org/shadow.htm CannabisNews Articles On The Shadow Conventions:http://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=shadow Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on July 31, 2000 at 04:47:08 PT: I watched the rebroadcast Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the whole program, so I missed McCain's speech and the moment where some people from the audience were rude. But I did see Ms. Huffington dressing down the hecklers, and thought that what she had said was the quintessence of what the purpose of the Shadow Conventions were all about. Namely, to remind us of how far the political machinery of the nation has left behind those it cannot afford to neglect - and why. And that the only way to get that machinery on track is hear every viewpoint, (no matter how 'programmed' we might be against it) as to what is wrong.But, IMHO, no one presently supping from the Federal trough can ever be expected to quit gorging themselves and back away from it. It's as addictive as crack and heroin combined. And as much as I admire John McCain the warrior, John McCain the pol has voted for the DrugWar. And all the tyranny that it promotes. You'd think a man who had had a taste of state-sponsored tyranny courtesy of the North Vietnamese would be leary of afflicting another sort upon his own people, but McCain is as clueless as the worst of them. So despite his somewhat brave appearance at the Shadow Convention, it means very little in the long run.I was watching both Nadelmann and Campbell, and I am hoping that over the next few days they expound some more about their positions. Granted, the WoSD is such an enormously complex issue that it will take several days to teach those who aren't totally braindead what has been done to them in the name of a war on plants. But I think Campbell did yeoman duty in standing up and trying to exlain the failure of the WoSD in a way that would appeal to the 'lowest common denominator' - namely, the figures that illustrate so plainly *how much* it has failed.It's been my sad observation that many Americans really don't care about how much of their heritage has been stolen from them piecemeal because of the WoSD. So long as the economy is good, they are just as happily, willfully ignorant as many Germans were just at the beginning of WW2. And for the same reasons. Who gives a damn if some pothead gets hauled away in the middle of the night? Who cares if he's yelling about how his rights are being violated? Who cares if people dressed like photographic negatives of Darth Vaders' Stormtroopers break into his home, threaten his family's lives, smash the place, take whatever cash is laying about, and later sell everything at auction? He's a dirty pothead and deserves to be punished! So long as I get mine, keep my nose clean, and go along, nothing will happen to me.Yep, the parallels are downright frightening, folks. History does indeed repeat itself.But talk to Americans about wasted tax dollars, about *their* wasted tax dollars, *their* money, and they get indignant. And if that's the only way to get their attention, so be it. Yes, I'll be watching for further developments at the SC; I hope that everyone 'here' will be as well. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on July 30, 2000 at 19:42:07 PT I watched it too! Thanks Dan for the link and comment. I heard Ethan Nadelmann and Tom Campbell speak and they did say how it really is. I honestly wish we would see more emphasis on the separation of Cannabis from harder drugs though. We must shake the stigma that follows marijuana. Cannabis has been so mistreated and it has been very unfair. I don't know much about illegal hard drugs. I only did a lot of diet pills when I was young because they were easy to get and my best friend's father owned a pharmacy and we just went in and took them. They weren't a controlled substance then and yet they were really powerful. I can only imagine what would happen if two young girls did that in this day and age. We shared them with friends at catholic school and everyone was happy. It is so strange how we have gotten into this mess. I have fond memories of all our crazyiness. We didn't ever hurt anyone we just wanted to have a little fun. What is so darn wrong with a little fun? I was 26 years old when I first smoked marijuana. How times have changed.Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by Dan B on July 30, 2000 at 19:19:07 PT: I watched the whole thing from 10am-12 Central Very good stuff, especially when it came time to talk about the drug war. Both Ethan Nadelmann and Tom Campbell (R-CA) were quite good; both pointed out the true statistics about the drug war. I looked up Tom Campbell's site, and it says he is against legalization--except for medical marijuana--but his statistics in this speech indicate that he has an open mind, as well. Maybe he'll come the rest of the way around when it becomes more politically savvy to do so. At any rate, he's running for the Senate against Dianne Feinstein, and anyone with even a remotely enlightened approach to the drug war would be a welcome replacement for her. Tom Campbell for United States Senate [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by FoM on July 30, 2000 at 16:23:29 PT Ethan Nadelmann on C-Span at 7:30 ET Mr. Nadelmann is speaking on C-Span now. I hope some of you see this comment and turn it on!Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by FoM on July 30, 2000 at 10:27:51 PT C-Span Shadow Conventions 2000 Coverage TODAY'S FEATURE:Shadow Convention 2000 Speakers: Arianna Huffington, Shadow Convention Organizer; Sen. John McCain, (R-AZ); Al Franken, author & political humorist; Rep. Tom Campbell, (R-CA); Ellen Miller, Public Campaign; Scott Harshbarger, Common Cause LIVE on C-SPAN at 11am ET http://www.c-span.org/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on July 30, 2000 at 09:59:44 PT Your're right MikeEEEEE Thanks MikeEEEEE,I know that this really is a war. It is a war on freedom. Personal moral freedom and the battle has been rough and it will get worse but then better. The voices of the people are finally being heard. A choir of children who's families have been torn apart by the drug war. Wow. Who would have thought a year ago we'd read that? We have come a long way haven't we?Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by MikeEEEEE on July 30, 2000 at 09:43:32 PT Winning FoM, we're going to win, they'll be ups and downs, but as long as we keep wanting it and doing something about it it will happen.Peace as always,Mike [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on July 30, 2000 at 09:16:17 PT Thank You shishaldin Thank You shishaldin!That makes the work so much easier for me. I really appreciate the compliment. We have fine people here. I'm very proud of everyone that visits here. I mean that.Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by MikeEEEEE on July 30, 2000 at 06:08:25 PT Spin Spin Spin Now the children are raising their voices, I wonder how the drug warriors will spin this, it will be hard. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by shishaldin on July 30, 2000 at 01:37:53 PT Hope it rings in Dubya's ears "Tuesday's drug debate will feature a choir from Minnesota made up of children whose parents have been jailed for drug-related offenses."After decades of waging this Drug War "for the CHILLL-DRUUUN", may the sweet voices of THESE children echo in the heads of Dubya and the rest of his "lock 'em up" cronies. Looks like they'll need a few more of those prescription sleep aids from their "major sponsors" to sleep at night after this. This is GOOD, SO GOOD. Guilt can be such an effective tool, in the right hands, of course.To FoM, dddd, kaptinemo, DanB, (and all others I haven't mentioned specifically by nom de plume who choose to speak their mind so brilliantly/eloquently on these pages), a big THANKS! You bring me hope, inspiration, and the strength to speak out to others to end this WoSD insanity. The true spirit of REAL patriotism flows thru you all.As a father of a ten year old boy, your efforts to bring about an end to the WoSD show that you truly do it "for the children". May ours never have to see any more Wars, ever.Fight the good fight, people.much respect,Shishaldin [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: