You know, I was sitting here thinking of writing another rant on the fable known as the War on Drugs. I was researching facts and figures that show obesity kills more people than any drug. (Which reminds me that I need to get on that bike again today, but that's another story.) I was going to provide statistics that show that most of the seizures and searches in the Drug War don't result in an arrest. Many of them, however, do result in the death of innocent people. Some of these people are cops fighting on the wrong side of the law. Others are innocent people caught in what they think is a home invasion.

Then I was going to provide statistics showing how much of our tax money, how much of the percentage of our national budget is used for the Drug War. But, frankly, these last two rants has depressed me somewhat. I can't believe we live in a "free society" such as this. I can't believe our president would say, "A free society trusts its citizens" when it's painfully clear that his government does not trust us at all. I'm sorry, but this is far from a free society.

So I thought I would shed some light on where our tax money may have been better spent instead of the War on Drugs.

A Grave Oversight

In Georgia, crematory operator Ray Brent Marsh, 28, is charged with 16 counts of theft by deception for allegedly discarding the bodies instead of cremating them. Investigators estimate the recovery of all the bodies to take up to eight months, with the count growing each day. Five million dollars have been spent thus far on recovery and identification of the bodies and that figure will likely rise dramatically. So far, more than 300 bodies have been found buried in pits, sheds and even dumped in a nearby pond, which will soon have to be pumped.

Gov. Roy Barnes requested federal disaster aid Thursday, calling the recovery effort complex and "very emotionally taxing on personnel." The request in a letter to President Bush is unusual because the operation does not stem from a natural disaster. The number of state workers dedicated to the recovery effort has passed 500 and may eventually exceed 1500, Barnes said.

After touring the search site on Thursday afternoon, six Georgia lawmakers, including Rep. Mike Snow, a friend of the Marsh family, said they would support a bill that would force all crematories to open their doors to state inspectors. "We can't go back, but we've got a bill that will take care of any licensing problems," said Snow, who represents part of Walker County in the Georgia House of Representatives.

Snow, who called the Tri-State scandal the "worst thing" to ever happen in Walker County, admitted that he had made a mistake in 1992 when he introduced a bill that would have exempted Tri-State from inspection. The bill failed, but an amendment giving the crematory a two-year reprieve passed.

Just Lay Down And Take It

Meanwhile, the Enron debacle still spirals. I admit I have not paid close attention to this case. But one thing I cannot understand is how this got past the eyes of the government in both the Clinton and Bush administration. The government keeps tracks of its citizens in a number of ways to make sure we're not speeding, that we're not using drugs. But they can't keep tabs on a billion dollar corporation to make sure they're not fucking their employees and stockholders up the ass!

I'm sure, but that dog don't hunt.

Congressional investigators made good on a months-old threat and sued Vice President Dick Cheney to force release of names of Enron and other industry figures who met with Cheney's energy task force. I'm sure nothing will ever come of it. Meanwhile, the government will spend a few more billion of our dollars trying to find or hide the answers.

Ken Lay, former chairman of bankrupt energy giant Enron Corp., often sought President Bush's support for business projects and legislation when Bush was governor of Texas, according to correspondence released on February 15, 2002. The documents, which include a number of notes and letters released by state archivists, show a close personal relationship between the two men as well as an alliance built on common political and business interests. Bush and Lay are shown with Nancy Lazar, executive vice president of International Strategy and Investments at an economic forum January 3, 2001. Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Reuters

Did The War on Drugs Allow September 11th To Happen?

I might be treading on thin ice here. If I am, it wouldn't be the first time. In the rant The War On Drugs is Evil and Immoral, I complained that George Bush and his administration was making a huge mistake trying to link drug use in America to the terrorists involved in the attacks of September 11. I stand by that statement and will to the day I die. Unless I'm a vegetable with the thought capacity of a child. Then I may just wonder where my teddy bear is.

But there are a few questions I have. First, how could those terrorists in this country on student visas still be in the country long after those visas went out? I won't even question how they could still be here even though they weren't in school. Perhaps the proper government agency needed more money that was going to the War on Drugs.

Secondly, those planes were in the air for over an hour after they went off course and the terrorists cut off contact with the tower. This isn't just one plane that may have gone down somewhere. We're talking four planes that disappeared. Why was the Air Force not called out? These planes were hijacked. Furthermore, when the first one hit the World Trade Center, shouldn't alarm bells have gone off? While the media and those watching at home may have been in the dark as to whether this was an accident or an attack, the government had to know this was more than an accident. They simply had to know this was an attack. One plane had hit the trade center and three others were still missing. Yet nothing was done. Only the last plane, the one that hit the Pentagon, was trailed by jets and they got there too late.

Now if you do a search in the net, you will find a lot of conspiracy theories on this. Most of these have the government in some way responsible for what happened. There are two thoughts that come to mind when I think of this. Let's get the obvious one out of the way first. I do not think the government was responsible for the 9/11 attacks anymore than if they had been channeling our tax money to a better purpose this may not have happened. If the government was not so intent on putting their own citizens in jail for something that does not harm the person or property of another, then perhaps more money could been spent on intelligence. Perhaps more money could have been spent on new radar systems where we could have found those planes sooner.

On another note, people really hate the government. Why? Well, I think the answer is obvious. Every year the government takes more of our tax money to fight crimes that should not be crimes. The government wants to take our guns now. (Well, your guns, rather. I don't have any.) They tell us we have to wear helmets on motorcycles and seat belts in our cars. And if we don't, they'll fine us and take more of our money. They tell us we cannot decide when we won't to die. There are thousands of people languishing near death. But the government states they cannot die with dignity when they have stated this is their wish. Why? The only reason that makes sense is that Big Government is acting like the Father Figure it wants to be. We cannot be trusted with life-decisions. We might make the wrong one.

Is it any wonder that people resent the government? If the government would revert back to what the founding fathers intended and stop treating it's adult citizens like children, then I say we would respect the government once again. Is it too late? It might be. But we need to end the laws against all victimless crimes. Why? Because it's the right thing to do.

What Other People Are Saying about Victimless Crimes

"My definition of a free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular." -- Adlai Stevenson

"If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law." -- Justice Louis D. Branders

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced powers exist and will persist." -- President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961

"Do what's right for you, as long as it doesn't hurt no one." -- Elvis

"Thank heaven for the military-industrial complex. It's ultimate goal is peace in our time." Barry Goldwater

"I believe there is something out there watching over us. Unfortunately, it's the government." -- Woody Allen

"The aim of the law is not to punish sins." -- Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

"All casual drug users should be taken out and shot." -- Daryl Gates, ex-L.A. Chief of Police

"We're in a war. People who blast some pot on a casual basis are guilty of treason." -- Daryl Gates, ex-L.A. Chief of Police, once again

"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home." -- Edward R. Murrow

"The founding document of the United States of America acknowledges the Lordship of Jesus Christ because we are a Christian nation." -- Pat Robertson

"The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." -- George Washington

"AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals, it is God's punishment for a society that tolerates homosexuals." -- Jerry Falwell

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