http://www.washingtontim...ush-continues-pot-raids/

obama plans to keep DEA from circumventing state laws

So far Obama has been one of the coolest presidents I've ever seen. He's been president for only a short while and has got tons done and totally has his head in the right direction. He seems well in touch, almost like he’s actually an average guy, but then he’s REALLY SMART. I love the way he responded so strongly to all the bank CEOs giving themselves huge bonuses while the rest of us suffer. Bush wouldn’t have said a thing about it and would probably have gotten a kick back too (self serving bastard).

Definitely. I can't wait for him to drop the hammer on the DEA, as he hopefully will.

Obama is doing pretty good by me.

if anything...hes intelligent!! i was getting tired of having a bumbling idiot as president...

obama can speak..he gives hope..hes getting things done..hes trying to make things better...

high five

Obama is going to destroy the U.S. economy and strengthen the power of the federal government and expand the war in Afghanistan. But that's another story that most people caught up in Obama mania are too blind to see. I will give him some credit though at least he is more intelligent then Bush way more.

As far as ending DEA raids. Yes he said it should stop but it hasn't. Why the f@#$ not? I understand it takes some time but come on issue a direct order to the DEA to quit it. We also need to watch very very closely at who Obama appoints to be the new head of the DEA. In other words I'll believe his promise when I see it. Also about allowing marijuana research to go on in the U.S. is something Obama promised. But I'll believe that when I see it too. I do think something is going to change in this area but just where it goes should be interesting to say the least.

yea obama is alot smarter and at least hes bringing peoples "hopes" up..

I have to agree more with burnt though, war will never end.. & neither will our govt & who it chooses to employ.

I think obama is just a tool to keep us calm, i mean shitt we have no money no jobs, thngs are at there worst, but at least we got our obama & our prozac to keep a smile on our faces.

I think something big is about to happen, maybe the govt knows maybe not, i mean if the predictions are right & they know it, then we have some problems coming in 2012

i wanna see obama make pot legal everywhere, then ill turn my head.

I agree with burnt also. Was on the news in the UK last night about obama threatening to cut ties with the Uk in certain areas if they leak documents about torture in guantanamo bay. Ill try find the link but im sure they were trying to make it illegal for the Uk to publish details about the torture thats went on. Good guy eh covering up a bit of torture all part of the job though eh??

Yes people in the UK are questioning the 'special relationship' because we're meant to be a reformed nation that does not torture and does not associate with torturers, but now the USA are trying to tell our judges to keep their human rights violations a secret and so the UK government is becoming guilty by association. If Obama is involved in that then he loses all my respect (and I was holding my breath before believing the go-Obama hype).

Course the UK is run by assholes too so don't feel too bad about it... our prime minister is calling Prince Harry a 'role model' in defence of yet ANOTHER racism scandal in the Royal family! (Prince Harry is the guy who dressed up as a Nazi for a fancy dress party and has been caught on film using the racial hate word 'Paki' His grandfather the Queen's husband is also a renowned racist who uses racial slurs while officially representing our country (such as 'slitty eyes' and 'spearchucker' Even the Queen has been in trouble and apologised recently for selling racist toys in her shops (the infamous 'golliwogs', a hangover from the racism that was the British Empire).

well we all know the whole mess with presidents and politicians is a damn show but christ..hes all we got right now..bush left this world in a fucking mess..obama has to do something..otherwise..everything is going to fail...

get your cigarettes...booze...food...guns...and ammo stockpiled and move the fuck out of the cities...

Hey, if we don't torture em, then we'll just send em to egypt or some other 3rd world country and have em torture em for us. It's inhumane, but it has happened since people needed to know things that other's wouldn't share. And torture aint gonna stop anytime soon, just wait until the UK's torture scandal or Germany's gets uncovered. We just happened to be the country that got caught.

Can't forget the mushies and the elves!

jesus..how the hell did i forget them!!

The U.S economy is one of the key factors in how it will go. Since almost everything in america is going bankrupt, including governments (local and national) themselves, obama faces some impopular decissions. Everybody wants government money, and there's a limit to how much money there is to spent.
Since the economy will keep on shrinking his popularity and therefore his political strength will likely diminish at some point.
Bottom line; saying 'no' to people has a political pricecard attached to it. Obama will have to cut deals with his political opponents. Those opponents happen to be conservative republicans although democrats will not like it as well when the bag of money passes them by.
He will have to cut a deal on some political issues; gay-marriage, abortion, euthanasia, immigration or the war on drugs.
His succes in the media will be vital for the strength of his position in this dealmaking.

No offense burnt but it seems as if your cought up a little in the "Obama Mania".

There is NO DOUBT the the U.S govt has ruled by secrecy and fear and mabey some of us...if not most of us have become jaded by that,i know i have.

The financial mess we are in now is not Obama's fault.

The man has been in office a lttle over two weeks and has already started making statements about cracking down on the DEA.

Why hasn't it happened yet?!?! Hmmm... well, he needs to nominate someone new to take charge of the DEA and he's only been in office for a little over two weeks. He has his work cut out for him,lets cut him a little slack.

Obama is going to destroy the U.S Ecomomy?

Well the U.S economy has been on a slidiing slope for quite some time due to the fed and the old fed chairman (Alan Greenspan) continuesly cutting rates, allowing people who were getting approved for interest only or ARM loans(crooks on wall street) to buy homes they probably couldnt afford..... and with rates so low, why not take equity out of you're house to buy a pickup truck,Big screen TV,a million burgers at mcdonalds and whatever else we can consume at Wallmart( THE DEBT BUBBLE), and up untill everyone said OH SHIT,everything looked good because people were spending $ that they didnt really have (china was making a killing $$$).

So the U.S Economy is already screwed and it has to get worse in order for it to get better.In the last 3 months there is 20% more dollars in circulation and you can expect the printing press to continue and eventually we will be back in an inflationary environment and the dollar will tank, it's inevitable. Start buying gold.

.....sorry i got off course.

My point is he's been in office for 3 weeks, so its really hard to judge him although, i like what i'm hearing....so far.

He's Better the Bush (not really saying much)

The Economy was already screwed and will have to get worse inorder to get better (not Obama's fault)

War has been going on since the beginning of Man. It is in our nature however sad it may be but it's people like us on this forum and other "free thinkers" that must oppose unnessisary violance and i believe thats what obama wants aswell, but we'll see.

Lets not be to Jaded from the past but be hopeful for the future. Ultimately it's to early to make any definate decisions.... right now it's just rhetoric and unfounded opinion.

I would also like to point out that polytrip made some very good points.

I have my fingers crossed on a lot of things obmama promised. We'll see how much he keeps to his words.

His appointment to the DEA will be my main focus when the next election comes around. He damn well better make a good pick. I'm tired of the drug war. I'm tired of looking over my shoulder.

With all due respect... that's bullshit. Government sponsored torture is a product of culture... on a small scale such as a ruling elite (The Bush administration, the Saudis, Pinochet, Stalin, Hitler- yes Germany has already been caught out and cultural change was forced accordingly!), or a large scale such as an entire culture indoctrinated to think that protecting the rights of their own group is more important than protecting the rights of outsiders (American protectionist culture). It's sad to say many other cultures too, I'm not just picking on the US- they are simply the most prominent and powerful and are currently abusing their power, with a long history of protectionism. The UK has the Geneva Convention culturally engrained so it's ideals are less likely to be broken. The police may be pushing endlessly for more powers here as elsewhere, but they have more to push against... thanks to the cynicism of the people grown from the erosion of their empire and its once racist, classist imperial culture!

When you say this, you are firstly apologising for torture. Accept it as inevitable and nothing will change, because you will have a passive population who don't police their own government (America) as opposed to one that does (Iceland!). Secondly, you are projecting. This is a common psychological effect. Your country does it, so you assume everyone else does. Whether torture occurs or not depends on the culture of the people who might do such a thing.

Anyway, I haven't seen any evidence that Obama's involved so I'm not writing him off just yet. Still, if he really is such a great guy, isn't it sad that he has to basically lie about his beliefs to get elected? Let's hope he does pull through for Maryjane... but he will not be able to change American culture enough in 4 years to reverse the law on drugs that the people support (it takes at least 5 years to complete a cultural change, so the books say). For the laws to be repealed, you're gonna need a fair few terms of office with sympathetic intelligent presidents to get anything done.

It's funny, more and more I'm seeing rabid "nobama" propaganda from the very people who probably should have been tossing bombs and fighting in the streets during the Bush administration WHEN THE TIME FOR REVOLUTION WAS RIPE. America's armed forces were more exhausted and despondent than ever and injustice was more rampant than it has been in some time. But now that time has passed, and the sentiment is late--even a little absurd. If revolution does occur under Obama's administration, it's going to come from all the worst sources: rednecks, bigots, and other fanatics. Hell, it might even have corporate sponsorship, and what's to stop them from building their own armies with "security contracting" as prevalent as it has become?

Certainly Obama-support can be quite absurd, but there's quite a difference between Obama and the propaganda of his supporters.

Well, yeah, now that the relief that someone half-decent has got in, the healthy cynicism has returned... and that's not a bad thing. Let's hope this politician keeps his promises... maybe he will