Bob Newland and I absolutely do not agree about the legalization of marijuana.  I think minor possession should not be a major crime, but generally I believe it should not be legalized.  I also believe that until there is serious medical evidence, it should not be allowed for medical uses either.

But Bob has a right to his point of view and to try and change the law on medical marijuana.  And, I believe under the First Amendment, he has a Constitutional right to go to public events in publicly financed and owned facilities and circulate petitions--as do all South Dakotans.

My friends PP of SD War College and KWo from the Rapid City Journal have the story, via this excerpt from PP:

Hey man, Bob was framed! He didn't do nothing wrong. But every time he gets the blame.

 

Another battle in the Rapid City crusade against petitioners was waged yesterday. And Bob Newland's freedom was a temporary casualty. Check out this story in the Rapid City Journal from Kevin Woster:

Well-known Libertarian political activist Bob Newland of Hermosa found a generally receptive crowd at the Black Hills Stock Show this week for his campaign to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

He also found himself under arrest for violating restrictions on gathering petition signatures inside Rushmore Plaza Civic Center.

Newland was arrested Tuesday by Rapid City police officers and booked for failure to vacate. He is scheduled to appear in 7th Circuit Court at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

This is outrageous.  Just like Cindy Sheehan and the Congressman's wife being tossed out of the State of the Union Address for their t-shirts.  Does America, and particularly South Dakota, fear free speech and democracy?  Are we becoming what we proclaim to be fighting?  The Northern Valley Beacon often compares contemporary USA to George Orwell's 1984.  Maybe, sadly, they're right.

Bob, good luck with the legal process.  You've been screwed over.

I don't know where Deputy Senate Majority Whip John Thune stands on this issue. 

If you know, let me know.

I do know I don't want Congress restricting what I see on cable TV.

The Sopranos.  Deadwood.  Six Fee Under.  All gritty.  Sometimes violent.  Sometimes with nudity. 

But I pay for it. 

An excerpt from TV Week via today's TV Spy's about what's going on:

Leading lawmakers in the Senate and the House on Tuesday endorsed proposals to extend the government's indecency prohibitions to cable and satellite.

As it stands, the Federal Communications Commission's prohibitions on off-color programming apply only to broadcast radio and TV, not cable and satellite. But at a National Association of Broadcasters-sponsored seminar in Washington, Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, both said cable and satellite should be subject to the same programming restrictions that broadcasters face. 

"In this country, there has to be some standards of indecency," said Sen. Stevens, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. Added Rep. Barton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, "I think [broadcasters and satellite and cable operators] ought to play to, to the extent it's possible, the same rules."

The rules imposed on broadcasters are unconstitutional, in my opinion.  They came from an age when spectrum is scare.  That is no longer the case.  An archaic system should not be imposed on cable and satellite.  What is next, the Internet?

No way.

Sen. Thune, where do you stand?