More questions about Clinton’s opposition to crack guideline retroactivity
This post at the Drug War Chronicle blog asks “Is Rudy Giuliani Shaping Hillary Clinton’s Stance on Drug Laws?”. The post notes that Clinton’s team has defended her opposition to the new crack guidelines being retroactive by citing Giuliani’s apparently similar position. Here is the potent end to the potent post:
We must now ask ourselves to what extent Hillary’s other drug policy positions have been shaped by Rudiphobia. When she raised her hand in opposition to marijuana decrim, was that for real? Was there a little Giuliani in a devil suit whispering in her ear, threatening to tell the swing voters what a hippie she is? Will she backtrack on medical marijuana and needle exchange if Giuliani says he disapproves?
We can spend eternity smashing minority communities with our drug war hammers at the behest of authoritarian demagogues like Rudy Giuliani. And if no one speaks up, that’s exactly what will happen. So if Giuliani wants to publicly embrace racist drug war politics, let him. The antidote to the “soft on drugs” label is to stop looking over your shoulder and start speaking with conviction.
Some recent related posts:
UPDATE: I now see that Celeste Fremon has picked up on this issue in this post at The Huffington Post. I will remain intriguing to see if this issue continue to have traction since, as detailed in this item from Politico, suggesting that “one of Clinton’s real vulnerabilities [is the] perception that she’s driven by polls, not conviction.”