{news} Re: The case of the cokehead mayor: Why not one law for all?

[Loretta Nall]

Wear it slap out Cliff!!
I launched my campaign ads today
You can listen to them here
http://nallforgovernor.blogspot.com/2006/06/nall-launches-campaign-ads.html

Loretta Nall
http://www.nallforgovernor.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "clifford thornton" <efficacy at msn.com>
To: "ctgp-news" <ctgp-news at ml.greens.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 5:32 PM
Subject: ARO: The case of the cokehead mayor: Why not one law for all?


> This could be the straw that broke the camels back.  This mayor has been 
> on TV, Print, and radio for the last
> two days.  With help from drug policy people in the state we may bring 
> this subject to the forefront for weeks.
>
> http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16818156&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=565859&rfi=6<http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16818156&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=565859&rfi=6>
>
>      <http://www.journalinquirer.com/> Wednesday,
>       June 21, 2006
>
> Editorials
> The case of the cokehead mayor: Why not one law for all?
> 06/21/2006
>
> Yesterday Mayor John M. Fabrizi of Bridgeport called a press conference 
> and cried.
>
> He said he'd used cocaine while mayor.
>
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> He apologized to his friends and family, "to all the people of the city," 
> and maybe Lewis the Cat was on the list too.
>
> Like the Steve Martin character of years ago who confessed he'd shot his 
> girlfriend, the mayor said he kind of blamed himself.
>
> He also said he would not resign.
>
> He said that, bottom line, he's been a good mayor.
>
> And most observers who know something about it seem to agree that Fabrizi 
> has been a good mayor.
>
> But is that what we are talking about here?
>
> Say a 10th-grade history teacher gets busted for drugs.
>
> Does he get to keep his job?
>
> Even if he has done a great job at what he does?
>
> You pick the example: Cop. Minister. Short-order cook. Let's say that one 
> of them used to use illegal drugs, but all along he was able to do his 
> work and do it well.
>
> Does he get a pass?
>
> How about a single mother?
>
> Let's says she lives in a tough neighborhood in Bridgeport and is poor and 
> unemployed. She gets swept up in one of those big busts the authorities 
> like to conduct to show they are fighting the drug war. (Mayors always 
> applaud them.) And she gets arrested. Does she get another chance?
>
> No. She loses her kid and goes to jail.
> Or the UConn student who gets busted in a raid?
>
> Does he go to jail?
>
> Probably not, but his career is ruined before he begins it.
>
> Even if he says the obvious, which is that he is responsible for his own 
> stupid choices. Even if he says so on TV and weeps.
>
> Which thing do we believe in? Second chances and treatment? Or the "war on 
> drugs" and destroying lives and jailing drug users?
>
> Let's decide.
>
> If it is OK for the mayor to be a functional user, why not anyone else?
>
> Suppose a bus driver or airline pilot says, "Hey, man, my record is 
> impeccable. I have never had an accident. I just happen to use crack 
> instead of Budweiser on Friday nights."
>
> Do we cut that guy a slack burger?
>
> Well, at least, as one town employee in Bridgeport said, the mayor brought 
> this revelation out himself. That took guts.
>
> Uh, no, he didn't.
>
> There was an inadvertent release of an FBI document in which an alleged 
> drug dealer claimed his "associate" had a videotape of the mayor using 
> cocaine.
>
> And then the Connecticut Post got hold of it.
>
> U.S. Attorney Kevin O'Connor actually apologized to Fabrizi for the 
> accidental release.
>
> O'Connor said last week that Fabrizi was not a target of the feds' drug 
> investigation.
>
> Think he would do that for a black kid with a record in Bridgeport? Sorry 
> to embarrass you. We were actually after someone else. We'll be moving 
> along now.
>
> The mayor said, "I will do everything, and I mean everything, I can to 
> redeem the respect and the support of you, the employees of the city of 
> Bridgeport, and of you, my friends, and of you, the great people of the 
> city of Bridgeport."
>
> He added that he had put all this behind him.
>
> Certainly he must hope that he has.
>
> Look, Fabrizi seems like a decent guy.
>
> And there but for the grace of whatever higher power protects or bestows 
> dumb luck go any of us.
>
> But there are two issues here.
>
> No. 1: Do actions have consequences?
>
> We live in a time in which public officials and others of great power (in 
> the corporations, the media, the church) preach consequences for those who 
> are young or powerless but accept none for themselves. They either say 
> that bad things just happen and no one is really to blame or, "I cried. 
> Can we let this one go?"
>
> The list is long: The head of GM drives the company into the ground and 
> gets a big bonus. Cardinal Law covers up child abuse and gets a sweet 
> sinecure in Rome. The head of the CIA and the national security adviser 
> say there are WMDs in Iraq, both are wrong, and one gets a medal while the 
> other gets a promotion.
>
> Remember Lord Carrington? He showed us the way.
>
> It's simple. You screw up, you have to pay. At least a little.
>
> It's just too easy to apologize if there is no consequence.
>
> That brings us to issue No 2: If we don't think drug use is criminal for 
> some people, why is it for others?
>
> And if we don't really think recreational drug use is like theft or arson, 
> why don't we decriminalize it and stop jailing people for it?
>
> Many of us think we should decriminalize.
>
> The mayor is not on a par with predecessor Joe Ganim, who went to jail for 
> graft.
>
> But let's have one system for all.
>
> Either prosecute Mayor Fabrizi or let all the potheads, crack users, and 
> junkies out of the state's prisons and jails.
>
> ©Journal Inquirer 2006
>
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