Sort of Republican but mainly Libertarian Congressman Ron Paul is making his third run for the Presidency and his second run in the Republican primary. Congressman Paul will not win the nomination, but his Libertarian base is committed and passionate, described recently by a political pundit as one Paul supporter who will put up 2,000 yard signs against 1,000 Romney supporters that will put up one yard sign.
One of the main planks of Libertarianism is the legalization of ALL narcotics, and not just marijuana. This position has puzzled me but now that the case of Ashraf Boulos Hindi, a math teacher at Canyon High School,struck so close to home, for the first time I can see the Libertarians point.
From the allegations contained in the story, it appears that the worst crime concerning the Camarillo Police Department ("CPD") today is adult males trying to make a "love" connection on craigslist enticing adult women with promises of liquor, marijuana and cocaine. If we assume EVERYTHING in the story is true the poor Mr. Hindi took an amount of weed that merits a citation to a Motel 6 in Camarillo to "get jiggy with it." Well, one search warrant later and Mr. Hindi failed to engage in a legal, consensual act and is being held on $50K bond under some fairly serious charges, which probably mean the end of his teaching career.
Read the comments to the above story. Besides the usual "rah rah law and order" suspects with their conflations and teacher union bashing, a fair number of commenters wonder about this usage of law enforcement resources in a time of fiscal austerity. Some former students have even rushed to Mr. Hindi's defense, saying this never got into the classroom. I guess the local Libertarians have not found the story yet, but hopefully they will weigh in soon.
I already know their argument. They will say the defendant was an excellent teacher and but for this draconian sting would have never got in trouble with the law, thus making the law and police enforcement of the law unjust. God help me I am starting to see their point.
The Case of Ashraf Boulos Hindi-I Think I can Finally Understand Libertarians
One of the main planks of Libertarianism is the legalization of ALL narcotics, and not just marijuana. This position has puzzled me but now that the case of Ashraf Boulos Hindi, a math teacher at Canyon High School,struck so close to home, for the first time I can see the Libertarians point.
From the allegations contained in the story, it appears that the worst crime concerning the Camarillo Police Department ("CPD") today is adult males trying to make a "love" connection on craigslist enticing adult women with promises of liquor, marijuana and cocaine. If we assume EVERYTHING in the story is true the poor Mr. Hindi took an amount of weed that merits a citation to a Motel 6 in Camarillo to "get jiggy with it." Well, one search warrant later and Mr. Hindi failed to engage in a legal, consensual act and is being held on $50K bond under some fairly serious charges, which probably mean the end of his teaching career.
Read the comments to the above story. Besides the usual "rah rah law and order" suspects with their conflations and teacher union bashing, a fair number of commenters wonder about this usage of law enforcement resources in a time of fiscal austerity. Some former students have even rushed to Mr. Hindi's defense, saying this never got into the classroom. I guess the local Libertarians have not found the story yet, but hopefully they will weigh in soon.
I already know their argument. They will say the defendant was an excellent teacher and but for this draconian sting would have never got in trouble with the law, thus making the law and police enforcement of the law unjust. God help me I am starting to see their point.