From Congressman Dana Rohrabacher

Not long ago, a supporter of mine, visiting from California, dropped by my Capitol office. A retired military officer and staunch conservative, he and I spent much of our conversation discussing the Republican agenda.

Finally, I drew a breath and asked him about an issue I feared might divide us: the liberalization of our marijuana laws, specifically medical marijuana reform, on which for years I had been leading the charge. What did he think about that controversial position?

“Dana,” he replied, “there are some things about me you don’t know.” He told me about his three sons, all of whom enlisted after 9/11.

Two of his sons returned from the battlefield whole and healthy. The third, however, came home suffering multiple seizures each day. His prospects were bleak.

His medical care fell under the total guidance of the Department of Veterans Affairs, whose doctors came under federal restraints regarding the treatments they could prescribe. (Among the treatments allowed were opioids.) Nothing worked.

Finally, a sympathetic doctor advised our young hero to see him in his private office, where he could prescribe medication derived from cannabis. The prescription worked. The seizures, for the most part, ceased.

“Dana,” said my friend, “I could hug you right now for what you’ve been doing, unknowingly, for my son.”

What had I been doing? With my Democrat friend Sam Farr, the now-retired California congressman, I wrote an amendment to spending bills that prohibits the federal government from prosecuting medical marijuana cases in states where voters have legalized such treatment. The amendment passed two consecutive years, the second time with a wider margin than the first, and has been extended through continuing resolutions and an omnibus spending bill.

Surprisingly, given the Obama administration’s generally liberal approach to marijuana, its Justice Department tried to interpret the amendment in such a convoluted way as to allow counterproductive raids on marijuana dispensaries. The courts — most recently the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit — repeatedly ruled that our amendment meant exactly what it said.

Unfortunately, my longtime friend Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, has urged Congress to drop the amendment, now co-sponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.). This, despite President Trump’s belief, made clear in his campaign and as president, that states alone should decide medical marijuana policies.

I should not need to remind our chief law enforcement officer nor my fellow Republicans that our system of federalism, also known as states’ rights, was designed to resolve just such a fractious issue. Our party still bears a blemish for wielding the “states’ rights” cudgel against civil rights. If we bury state autonomy in order to deny patients an alternative to opioids, and ominously federalize our police, our hypocrisy will deserve the American people’s contempt.

More than half the states have liberalized medical marijuana laws, some even decriminalizing recreational use. Some eighty percent of Americans favor legalization of medical marijuana. Only a benighted or mean-spirited mind-set would want to block such progress.

Despite federal efforts to restrict supply, studies continue to yield promising results. And mounting anecdotal evidence shows again and again that medical marijuana can dramatically improve the lives of people with epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder, arthritis and many other ailments.

Most Americans know this. The political class, not surprisingly, lags behind them.

Part of the reason is the failure of too many conservatives to apply “public choice economics” to the war on marijuana. Common sense, as well as public choice theory, holds that the government’s interest is to grow, just as private-sector players seek profit and build market share.

The drug-war apparatus will not give ground without a fight, even if it deprives Americans of medical alternatives and inadvertently creates more dependency on opioids. When its existence depends on asset seizures and other affronts to our Constitution, why should anti-medical-marijuana forces care if they’ve contributed inadvertently to a vast market, both legal and illegal, for opioids?

I invite my colleagues to visit a medical marijuana research facility and see for themselves why their cultural distaste might be misplaced. One exists near my district office at the University of California at Irvine, another at the University of California at San Diego.

Better yet, they might travel to Israel — that political guiding light for religious conservatives — and learn how our closest ally in the Middle East has positioned itself on the cutting edge of cannabis research. The Israeli government recently decriminalized first use, so unworried it is about what marijuana might do to its conscript military.

My colleagues should then return to Washington and keep my amendment intact, declaring themselves firmly on the side of medical progress. Failing that, the government will keep trying to eradicate the burgeoning marijuana business, thereby fueling and enriching drug cartels. Trust me: Hugs from grateful supporters are infinitely better.

Source

Benjamin Netanyahu ponders Germany's situation

When asked about the Muslim situation in Germany where a lot of Germans are being beaten up even murdered by the Muslim refugees they allowed into their country and the fact it is causing major problems for the German government Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded with this:

Stop the insanity,tell Congress not to sanction Iran getting nukes

From John Bolton PAC:

This deal with Iran is a historic mistake!

Iran is on its way to nuclear weapons and – as a bonus – they'll do it free of economic sanctions.

Patriotic Americans everywhere need to oppose this rotten deal that Iranians preemptively celebrated by chanting "Death to America, death to Israel" in the streets of Tehran.

If you agree with me, and strongly oppose this terrible deal with Iran, I want you to express your outrage.
After you've signed, please consider making a contribution of $25, $50, $100 or more so that I can get this petition into the hands of patriotic Americans everywhere who refuse to surrender to the demands of the ayatollahs.

I'm blitzing television, the Internet, radio, and newspapers, saying everything I can to stop this from moving forward – but I need more help.

If you think this is an outrageous surrender by the United States – I need you to sign my petition opposing this deal right away.

The United States has legitimized Iran as a state-sponsor of terrorism. With this deal in place, Iran will use its nuclear ambitions to blackmail its neighbors in the region and attack Israel – either directly or through terrorist groups they bankroll like Hamas and Hezbollah.

Iran is a radical fundamentalist government that hates America, hates Israel, and defends our worst enemies. We can't trust them. This deal was a mistake from the minute we sat down at the negotiating table.

I won't stand for it, and I hope you won't either. Click here now to sign my petition and express your outrage.

We have to be stronger than our leaders. We need to stand firm on rejecting this deal.

For America,

John Bolton
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

Don't let Iran get nukes

From House Conservatives:

President Obama just agreed to a devastating deal with Iran.

The deal not only lifts harmful sanctions against Iran, but also allows continued development that could lead to a nuclear weapon.

Despite this, President Obama has declared he would veto any attempt to hinder this historically bad deal.

America cannot afford to allow such a bad deal to become law.

We can’t risk the safety of America or our ally Israel.

Sign the petition

Israel isn't the only country threatened by this deal. The world will lose because of the mullahs that run Iran. The Iranians and their cohorts are death centric while we are life centric. That is what makes Iran with a nuke is dangerous.

Israel owns America

Shimon PeresMore evidence of what Peres said.

Play time for terrorists

If I were a terrorist I would strike on the southern border with Mexico. With all these children coming across at Barrack Obama's invitation it is an excellent distraction from what else is happening. According to tonight's Hannity a lot of muslims are pouring across our southern border as well. That would mean either Al Qadea or ISIS is coming across the border. Remember this is the same ISIS that is currently trying to bomb Israel out of existence and they have made it no secret that they are coming after us. Now add on top of that the United States has a southern neighbor,Mexico,that has no respect for our country. They show this by imprisoning our Marine,Andrew Tahmooressi,when it has been shown that he entered Mexico unknowingly and was cooperative with Mexican authorities. Now add to that Obama is discharging people from the military while demanding money for the illegal aliens pouring across our border. No military to defend the country,a system overworked by a ever expanding growth in illegal aliens and an infrustructure about to collapse. On the rest of the world,North Korea is getting brave and our allies are wondering if we can lead or not. America's enemies are embolden while America's allies are worried. Yes,I would say this is the time to strike and strike hard. I'm probably not the only one to see this but the only difference is I'm being hypothetical while they may actually implement it.