The pot pot keeps boiling

George Rebane

[This is the addended transcript of my regular KVMR commentary broadcast on 17 May 2017.]

We live in confusing times when much of what we hear is manufactured or fake news that overwhelmingly serves to polarize us.  It’s hard to tell whether the late-night comedy hours or the news programs are leading the stampede to put out the ever more unprecedented and outrageous.  Nationally we are embroiled with a constant tirade of Trump trashing, recently focused on Comey’s firing for allegedly not pulling FBI investigations of Russia’s impact on last fall’s election and of selected members of Team Trump.

The manufactured allegations continue to be cited as accomplished fact that require only a bit more evidence to bring Trump’s administration to an early end.  Few understand that Comey’s dismissal in no way affected the ongoing investigations.  And no one seems to recall that there’s never been any evidence about Russia’s impact, nor even identification of any feasible means by which Russia could have impacted the election.  But when such news is fashioned out of whole cloth, none of this matters, especially when your audience is made up mostly of sound-bite citizens.

Here in Nevada County, believe it or not, we have the local, and perhaps more sophisticated version, of manufactured news – we do most of it in our newspaper’s op-ed pages and the local blogs.  Marijuana is hands down the county’s major cash crop, and we have traveled the rocky road to legalizing its production, distribution, and consumption over the last several years.  How MJ is regulated in Nevada County continues to be a hot-button issue that divides us.  Our county supervisors’ recent formation of a citizens advisory group, or CAG, generated some heat about its make up, and unfortunately motivated one of our prominent voices on the Left to help widen our differences with his erroneous reporting and just plain snark.

I’m referring to Mr George Boardman’s 15may17 commentary in The Union.  Therein he lambasts conservatives led by county Republican chairman Mr Bob Hren in their attempt to balance the make-up of CAG that initially consisted only of 14 demographically skewed pro-MJ members.  Subsequently, led by Supervisor Ed Scofield, the Board reconsidered and appointed two additional members - a community involved farmer and Don Bessee, a prominent county anti-MJ activist. Mr Boardman opposed such a move and lashed out, likening the conservative MJ opponents to the notorious ‘monkey trial’ evolutionists of the early 20^th century, thereby also demeaning the intellectual level of his readers.  Opposing the legalization of MJ is not the same as opposing evolution as the organizing theory of life on earth.

Mr Boardman then piled on by viewing the appointment of Mr Bessee to be “analogous to appointing an atheist to the Vatican commission that considers candidates for sainthood.”  The citizens group is supposed to come up with a draft MJ ordnance that balances the concerns of the community with those promoting legal MJ grows in the county.  Mr Boardman believes that “opposition to cultivation makes it unlikely you'll be selected to serve on a committee that wants to establish grow rules.” – in short, our neighbors with other views should have no voice in producing the draft ordinance that the Citizens Advisory Group will submit to the Board of Supervisors.

There is much more to the story, and I’ll cover parts of it in the addendum to this commentary on my blog.  But the point I want to leave you with is that Mr Boardman’s gratuitous attack on conservatives and their community values regarding pot is hypocritical to the usually espoused progressive mantras about inclusion and balance, and serves only to widen the locally experienced chasm between conservatives and liberals.

I am on record as a proponent of legalizing the regulated and taxed consumption of drugs beyond nicotine, ethanol, and opioids.  The question now is how to legalize, regulate, and tax additional drugs in a prudent and reasonable manner that stifles criminal activity and minimizes the generation of human detritus.  Both sides should work together to bring that about.

My name is Rebane, and I also expand on this and related themes on Rebane’s Ruminations where the addended transcript of this commentary is posted with relevant links, and where such issues are debated extensively.  However, my views are not necessarily shared by KVMR.  Thank you for listening.

[Addendum]  Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I am a fan of George Boardman and consider him the most erudite local exponent of liberal causes.  Although I have never met the man, from his writings I gather that he is as devoted to his ideology and its critical examination as am I to mine.  The above is only a critique of the rhetorical methodology he brought to bear on the county’s cannabis controversy that has now advanced to the drafting of a hopefully live-and-let-live MJ ordinance.  I join with those who want voices from more sides than just pro-grower advocates to join in wordsmithing the draft ordinance.

By opposing that kind of balance, Mr Boardman didn’t need to get nasty about the local opponents of liberalizing MJ hereabouts, especially since that does not promote the kumbaya entreaties that the progressives always claim are absent from the polemics of the Right.  So it was hard to determine the point of Mr Boardman’s piece other than its being a gratuitous mocking of local conservatives and their community values by linking them to inappropriate historical happenings and false facts.  He is a better man than that and such ‘pseudo-factual’ commentaries demonstrate how the fake news phenomenon has leaked into other written observations of current events.

Nowhere do I imply that Mr Boardman didn’t have the right to write what he did.  I’m just questioning the utility of it, as the utility of the many pieces I have written over the years has been questioned by the other side.  Now back to the CAG issue.

In personal correspondence I received a copy of the letter Mr Hren wrote to the BoS.  In there he pointed out the factual imbalance of the originally nominated membership, offered to share background references, and made no demands/recommendation on who else should join CAG.  Supervisor Scofield also sent me a copy of his rough notes indicating his agreement with Mr Hren’s arguments and specifically recommending Mr Bessee’s membership as a knowledgeable anti-MJ advocate, and also that of Mr Richard Johansen to increase representation of the county’s agricultural interests.  Both were added to CAG.  Supervisor Scofield also noted concern about the rush with which CAG was initially empaneled.

Of the six scheduled CAG meetings, only the first four are open to public input.  The last two, during which the actual recommended ordinance is drafted, will be closed to the public.  I believe the public should be allowed to witness and hear for themselves how the final draft, which after all will be an exercise in compromise, comes together – specifically how all the diverse voices are heard and their influence on the final copy.  It is that kind of sunshine which will garner the best possible support for the final ordinance that the Supes finally adopt.

Comments

[Bonnie McGuire]

GR thank you for your observations that pretty much say what it is. I've noticed for some time many of our more political vocals have been more concerned about MJ than anything else. It's kind of funny, but why shouldn't people be able to help themselves with natural herbal remedies. Big pharma and the AMA peddle their drugs that cause all kinds of bad side affects...yet the Drug Administration approves of them. The lists of side affects testify that our bodies may look similar, but they react to things differently. Therefore what may help one person may harm another. In other words, we're kind of like lab rats. I've known a couple of individuals who took 20 prescription pills a day, and neither they or their doctor noticed the side affect of one prescription was causing the worst problem they suffered from. The pill (originally developed to kill rats) preventing blood clots, can also cause internal bleeding. Since we're in charge of our choices it's up to us to pay attention instead of taking things for granted.

[Paul Emery]

I'm wondering if the Supervisors do a background checks on appointees to the CAG committee. Might be a good idea from what I hear.

[Don Bessee]

Typical fakenewsman 'from what I hear' as opposed to what I know. What no poll? ;-)

[Paul Emery]

It's what I know. I'm being kind

[Don Bessee]

You know nothing other than what the usual suspects trot out every election cycle that's been long discredited, even on these pages. Don't you think the Sheriff knows the facts better than you? I still have clearance to enter high security fed. LE offices, do you? ;-)

[Paul Emery]

No need to be so defensive Don.

[Don Bessee]

Just because you are a fakenewsman does not mean we have to put up with your BS.;-)

[Todd Juvinall]

Paul Emery is a lowlife provocateur nothing more.

[Paul Emery]

There is currently a Palace Rebellion in the White House with more leaks than the oroville dam. The Rats will soon be jumping ship.

"The law enforcement investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign has identified a current White House official as a significant person of interest, showing that the probe is reaching into the highest levels of government, according to people familiar with the matter.

The senior White House adviser under scrutiny by investigators is someone close to the president, according to these people, who would not further identify the official. "

More to follow. The name should be revealed in a couple of days.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russia-probe-reaches-current-white-house-official-people-familiar-with-the-case-say/2017/05/19/7685adba-3c99-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html

[ScenesFromTheApocalypse]

A mathematician speaks:

http://blogs.ams.org/inclusionexclusion/2017/05/11/get-out-the-way/#more-772

[George Rebane]

Gentlemen - please review the topic of this commentary and try to keep your comments in its vicinity.

Scenes 922pm - care to connect some dots to that piece of crap you linked us to?

[fish]

Without a "Sandbox" these things are going to pop up in the craziest of places!

From the comment section.

It is fundamentally unfair and marginalizing for IQ tests and mathematics curriculum to be designed around the same white supremacist, cisheteronormative standards, thus marginalizing women of color. What we need isn’t just “fair hiring;” we need a radical reconceptualization of mathematics in a decolonizing framework. - See more at: http://blogs.ams.org/inclusionexclusion/2017/05/11/get-out-the-way/#more-772
It is fundamentally unfair and marginalizing for IQ tests and mathematics curriculum to be designed around the same white supremacist, cisheteronormative standards, thus marginalizing women of color. What we need isn’t just “fair hiring;” we need a radical
reconceptualization of mathematics in a decolonizing framework.

Oh I imagine Scenes is just bringing it to our attentions that pomo academic rot isn't just for the Humanities Department any more!

[Paul Emery]

I went to the first meeting of the advisory group charged with crafting a new cultivation ordinance to be approved by the BOS. Good diversified group. Also it was a well managed meeting.

[George Rebane]

PaulE 1022am - Paul, any early sense of the direction CAG wants to take on the ordinance?

[Paul Emery]

This was kind of an introductory meeting George with little time for discussion. My general impression is that it's a pretty reasonable group dedicated to coming up with a good plan for Nevada County. An appraisal of the economic impact of cultivation was a top priority in the presentation by the facilitators.

There was a round of discussion that gave everyone a chance to speak to their concerns and there was nothing new except what I sensed was a general interest to come up with a good solution. Nobody was talking Measure W type grow bans and a desire for regulations was discussed by some that would include as many current growers as possible to mitigate problems that have occurred because of unregulated cultivation. All and all I'm optimistic about this process.

[Pauline Makenzie]

fakenewsman are there because we show interest in listening then.