abolitionist no. 2

A Colorado Congresswoman has introduced legislation to exempt Colorado (and

presumably other states with legalized recreational cannabis) from federal drug

controls on cannabis. Diana DeGette (D-Denver) has revived legislation that is

essentially identical to 2012 legislation that would "protect" legal cannabis in

Colorado from future executive branch action.

The bill enjoys bipartisan support among Colorado members of Congress, although

multiple Republican presidential candidates — who apparently want to lose

Colorado's likely-essential 8 electoral votes in the general election — have repeatedly

promised to crack down on law-abiding Coloradans. The argument among drug

warriors like Chris Christie is that federal agents should be sent in to push

Coloradans around because they don't respect the so-called "rule of law," which is

code for "unquestioning deference to federal power."

So, the local delegation is looking to protect the state from federal meddling under

the next administration.

Of course, no such legislation would exist at all if the state had not first gone ahead

and voted to ignore federal law and legalize recreational cannabis. Efforts in

Congress to lessen federal Drug War power are a direct consequence of state-level

disobedience to acts of Congress. In other words, state-level nullification has put

cannabis legalization on the table for the first time in decades in a way that would

not have been possible had the locals followed the advice of the "rule of law" crowd. In

reality, there is no lack of "rule of law" in Colorado. It's just the rule of Colorado law.

The first time DeGette ran the legislation, it never received a committee hearing.

Since then, though, two more states have voted to nullify federal cannabis laws, so

now Alaska, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado have now all taken the step.

As the movement grows, the success of such legislation will become increasingly

likely. This is especially true if California finally votes to legalize, as becomes more

likely with each passing election cycle. (According to some polls, 55 percent of

Californians now support legalization, and a new ballot initiative is being prepared.)

[This article originally appeared on Mises.org September 22, 2015.]

The Abolitionist The Young Americans for Liberty Campus Newsletter

"A government big

enough to give you

everything you

want, is strong

enough to take

everything you

have."

–Thomas Jefferson

Congress Considers Formally Admitting

Defeat in Cannabis Legalization Dispute

By Ryan McMaken

Issue 2 9/23/2015

Editor: Will Porter

The Abolitionist | Young Americans for Liberty

2


About YAL :

Young Americans for Liberty

(YAL) is a chapter-based

organization dedicated to

spreading the ideas of

human liberty, free trade,

and peaceful foreign policy.

With over 600 chapters and

204,000 activists nationwide,

YAL is one of the fastest-

growing pro-liberty

organizations in the country.

This weekly newsletter will

provide relevant news and

commentary on the issues

most important to YAL,

libertarians, and anyone

generally interested in

politics, philosophy, and

world affairs.

US Plans Escalation of ISIS War in Syria,

Will Lower Vetting Requirements

By Jason Ditz

Not that Centcom officials would even publicly admit it (or allow it in their reports),

but the war against ISIS isn‘t going so well in Iraq. Months of effort at ―retaking

Ramadi‖ hasn‘t even gotten the city surrounded, and ISIS seems more entrenched

than ever. Administration officials, at least, seem to be conceding that point, and are

looking to shift their war focus away from Iraq and toward Syria.

It‘s hard to imagine it, but US officials see Syria as a more promising territory, even

though they trained 54 troops, sent them into Syria, and had them quickly turn into

―four or five.‖ They‘re citing the comparative success of the Kurdish YPG in fighting

ISIS there as proof of this, and are looking to escalate their backing for them.

This has been proposed more than a few times, however, and usually gets shot down

by Turkey, which considers the YPG a terrorist organization and doesn‘t want them

getting any stronger either. The US is desperate for gains, however, and may be less

and less worried about where they come from.

One official quoted by the Washington Post suggested that the vetting process may

be getting the axe too, restricting it to a few ―top‖ commanders, saying the focus right

now is ―getting them some [expletive] bullets,‖ and who ―them‖ is is becoming less of

a concern.

Ironically, ISIS was awash in weapons in no small part because the CIA was

throwing arms at Syria early in the civil war without worrying about where they

ended up. The US seems to have given up on the objections that this strategy didn‘t

work last time, for lack of any better ideas.

[This article originally appeared on Antiwar.com September 21, 2015.]

Remaking the World in Greater Israel‘s Image

By Dan Sanchez

However they want to address the issue, most people are horrified at the refugee

crisis now besetting Europe, with its scenes of chaos, conflict, and desperation. Yet in

Israel, at least one high official sees in it not horror, but hope. As Rania Khalek has

reported:

Dore Gold, director general of the Israeli foreign ministry, expressed optimism that

the refugee influx will shift Europe to the right, making it more sympathetic to

Israel‘s ‗security‘ justification for its ongoing colonization of Palestine.

‗Israel always faced the problem in the past that its national security perspective was

completely out of sync with how Europeans were viewing the emergence of the

3


European community and the borderless world that was emerging,‘ the American-

born hardliner told The Jerusalem Post.

‗In the European models that existed 25 or 30 years ago, it is kind of difficult to hear

an Israeli argument. But now things may be beginning to change a little,‘ posited

Gold.

‗The European perspective is beginning to sound a little bit more like Israel‘s

perspective on security issues, compared to what it was in the past.‘

This is hardly the first time a top Israeli politician reveled in the great misfortune of

an ―ally,‖ hoping it will engender tighter identification with Israel. Immediately after

the 9/11 attacks, The New York Times reported the following:

Asked tonight what the attack meant for relations between the United States and

Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, the former prime minister, replied, ‗It‘s very good.‘

Then he edited himself: ‗Well, not very good, but it will generate immediate

sympathy.‘ He predicted that the attack would ‗strengthen the bond between our two

peoples, because we‘ve experienced terror over so many decades, but the United

States has now experienced a massive hemorrhaging of terror.‘

Sharing Israel‘s perspective seems to have a self-reinforcing quality. The US

response to the 9/11 attacks that Netanyahu welcomed — 14 years of widespread,

non-stop war and intervention in the Muslim world — is what caused the European

refugee crisis that Dore Gold welcomes today.

(Note that throughout this essay, by ―Israel‖ I mean the government and not its

Jewish subjects. Any anti-Semites reading this looking for support for their bigotry

can go jump in a lake.)

Like Israel (and often through Israel), the US has long projected colonialism and

militarism upon countless Muslims, whether through direct force,

proxy wars, clandestine subversion, or puppet dictators.

Like Israel, the US suffered terroristic blowback as a consequence.

Like Israel, the US responded with massive, indiscriminate violence

and conquest, compounding the original problem of colonialist

militarism, and leading to further blowback.

European governments have participated in that violence, and now

they are also partaking in the blowback as waves of war refugees

wash up on their shores.

As a result, scenes are now playing out in Europe very similar to

everyday life in ―Greater Israel‖ (Israel proper plus the Occupied

Territories in Palestine): crowds of unarmed Muslim men, women,

and children being chased, beaten, rounded up, herded, penned, and

cage-fed like animals.

It is a vicious cycle and a cycle of viciousness. The more we adopt Israel‘s perspective,

the more we adopt its policies. The more we adopt its policies, the more we adopt its

problems. The more we adopt its problems, the more we adopt its perspective. And

around we go.

―Western powers have

been subverting,

bombing, invading,

and occupying

Muslim countries

non-stop since 9/11

(Afghanistan, Iraq,

Libya, Syria, Yemen,

Somalia, Pakistan,

etc.). . .‖

4


Of course Israel has done far more than passively serve as a model for US policy. By

leading the drive toward a war on Iraq, its neocons and Israel Lobby actively grafted

Israel‘s foreign policy onto America. The long propaganda campaign diverted the

post-9/11 rage and hysteria into a catastrophic war on an Israeli strategic rival that

had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11 and posed no threat to American security.

On top of those killed, the Iraq War displaced millions, many of whom fled to Syria.

There they joined hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who themselves,

their parents, or grandparents were driven from their homes long ago by Israel

directly.

Unfortunately for them, Syria is also hated by Israel. So, Israel-firsters in

Washington have since helped make Syrian regime-change official US policy. In

pursuit of that policy, the government has fomented and armed a rebellion that has

plummeted Syria into a devastating civil war.

Actually, it would be more apt to call it an invasion than a rebellion or civil war, as

the leading ―rebels‖ are predominantly international Sunni jihadists, like ISIS and

Jabhat al-Nusra, which is a branch of Al Qaeda.

That is how completely Israel-firsterism has hijacked the post-9/11 American

rampage. In the latest stage of that rampage, the US has taken the side of Al Qaeda,

the perpetrators of the very attacks that triggered the rampage in the first place, in

order to overthrow yet another regional rival of Israel. This goes beyond ―sympathy‖

to enthrallment.

As a result, displaced millions are pouring out of Syria (including many originally

from Iraq and Palestine). And these comprise a huge part of the refugees pouring into

Europe.

Western powers have been subverting, bombing, invading, and occupying Muslim

countries non-stop since 9/11 (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia,

Pakistan, etc.), just as Israel has long subverted, bombed, invaded, and occupied

Palestine, Lebanon, and more.

And now in Europe, governments are caging displaced Muslims and contemplating

tyrannical measures to maintain ―security‖ and ―demographic purity,‖ just as Israel

has done to the Muslims it has displaced within its own jurisdiction since its

inception.

Moreover, the ultra-nationalism and Islamophobia that has afflicted Israel especially

since 2009 is now on the rise throughout the West, stoked in Europe by the refugee

influx and in America by the atrocity films of ISIS: that spawn of the Iraq War.

Western governments have always been imperialist, and the Israeli government has

always been a colonial appendage of the West extending into the Middle East. This

was true even before its founding, when its paramilitary precursor trained under the

wing of the British Empire. But now the tail is wagging the dog, and the Western

imperial core is being radicalized by the demands of its militant frontier outpost.

The Washington-led West is becoming ever more like an occupying Global Israel,

forever paranoid, exclusivist, imperious, and warlike. And it is turning the Muslim

YAL Group Schedule:

9/29/2015 – Tabling session.

10:00am-4:00pm in Student

Center.

9/30/2015 – General meeting

and end-of-the-month film

screening (Citzenfour ).

4:00pm-6:00pm in LA 161.

10/2/2015 – General

meeting. 4:00pm-5:30pm in

LA 161.

10/6/2015 – Tabling

session.10:00am-4:00pm in

Student Center.

10/7/2015 – General meeting

and ―What is Bitcoin‖

presentation by David

Nieman. 4:00pm-5:30pm in

LA 161.

10/14/2015 – General

meeting. 4:00pm-5:30pm in

LA 161.

10/17/2015 – ―Civil Liberties

Graveyard‖ build. 12:00pm-

2:00pm (location TBD).

10/20/2015 – ―Civil Liberties

Graveyard‖ event. 10:00am-

4:00pm in Student Center.

10/21/2015 – General

meeting. 4:00-5:30 in LA

161.

10/24/2015 – Students for

Liberty Ohio Regional

Conference.

10/28/2015 – General

meeting and end-of-the-

month film screening

(1984 ). 4:00pm-6:30pm in

LA 161.

[Note: This schedule is subject to

change.]

5


world from Mali to Pakistan into an occupied Global Palestine, its people forever

bombed, corralled, and at times driven to desperate violence.

War is remaking the world in Greater Israel‘s own ugly image. It is therefore no

wonder that homicidal racist colonialists like Benjamin Netanyahu and Dore Gold

feel more comfortable in the brutal new world they helped create.

[This article originally appeared on Antiwar.com September 22, 2015.]

Students Celebrate Free Speech at WCC

By Will Porter

Last week, our group held an event for Constitution Day in the Student Center. With

your help—despite some minor issues with Student Development and Activities

(SDA)—our ―Free Speech Wall‖ was a great success!

A big thanks to everyone who participated; we couldn‘t have done it without you! We

hope to generate the same level of enthusiasm with future events and activities,

check out our Group Schedule on p.4 of this issue for details.

With our fall leadership transition behind us, we look forward to a busy semester of

activism and interaction with students at WCC. Cheers!

Contact Information :

Please feel free to contact us

with questions, comments,

concerns, or anything else

you‘d like us to know.

We accept article

submissions; contact the

editor for details.

Will Porter – YAL Chapter

President for WCC and

Abolitionist editor:

Cell -

248-464-0564 (Call or text)

Email -

[email protected]

Twitter -

@WKPAnCap

The end result of our "Free Speech Wall" – Photo by Adam Vale

abolitionist no. 2

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