I don’t smoke pot. Never did (OK, five times—literally). So I don’t have (much) skin in the debate over legalizing marijuana. But I have been thinking about questions that could guide the debate. These questions aren’t about drug control, per se, but about the proper role of the government in regulating trade, morality and public health.
John Stoehr
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The ‘open carry’ debate is about privacy, not guns
Granting police the power to ask to see open carry permits from gun owners may not violate the Second Amendment, but it might violate the Fourth Amendment, the right to privacy. You have the right to conduct business without agents of the government asking to see your papers.
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Justifiable anger over gun permit fee hike — unjustifiable reasoning
Connecticut handgun owners are peeved, and even opponents of handgun ownership can understand why. Gov. Dannel Malloy wants to raise the price of pistol permits from $75 to $300. It’s a universal law that people don’t want to pay more than they believe they should. Paying more feels bad. All of us can sympathize. But that’s where the sympathy should end. Raising the cost of pistol permits is not backdoor gun control.
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GOP lust to defund Planned Parenthood could exact heavy price
With the election of a Republican president and control of the U.S. Congress by Republicans, you’d think Planned Parenthood is in trouble. Defunding the reproductive health organization has been for years a rallying cry among Republicans, especially Christian conservatives opposed to abortion. With the GOP now in power, it would seem the tide has finally turned. It hasn’t. In fact, Planned Parenthood has the advantage.
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The sanctuary cities debate is about to get crazier
When I saw the news, the first thing that came to mind was: Oh, great. Here come the raging maniacs who know nothing about sanctuary cities but nonetheless demand that President Trump do something about them.
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The unthinkable is happening. What now?
The United States is poised to round up and deport as many as 11 million hard-working, tax-paying, property-owning, and child-rearing immigrants who happen to be undocumented. Before the election, I was told I was fear-mongering. Candidate Donald Trump would never do such a thing. He was just campaigning, not governing. The Republicans would never allow it. They would lose their foothold on Hispanic voters. Agribusiness would object. Who’d to pick the crops? Rural towns would resist. Deportation would decimate their tax bases. Well, it is happening.
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Tribalism runs deep among Republicans here and in D.C.
Tribalism runs deep among Republicans, even in our Land of Steady Habits. For evidence, look no further than the flap between Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Donald Trump. It is a story about how Republicans take Democrats to the wall when Democrats do wrong. But if Republicans do wrong, well, it can’t be that bad. After all, they’re Republicans.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Coastal elites are reclaiming the mantle of God and country
Since Election Day, a story has been told about those of us who live in Connecticut or along the coasts or who voted for the Democrat. We are told that we don’t get it. We don’t understand the working class or rural culture — the Real America. We are “coastal elites,” we are told. Obsessed with “trigger warnings” and political correctness, we have lost touch with America’s fundamental values. I’m so done with this story.
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Conservative jurisprudence will stymie Trump’s immigration order
The day after the election of Donald Trump, I heard news reports around the state of panicked schoolchildren. These sons and daughters of undocumented immigrants believed mistakenly that with the rise of Trump came the imminent deportation of their parents. It was awful to hear. I felt a personal failing. We in the media are charged with informing the citizenry so the citizenry can chose the best leader. We failed at that, clearly, but we also failed to explain how government works. What these panicked youth did not understand is that the president is not a king.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
What ‘hate’ means to Yale’s most famous living white supremacist
In 2011, when I was the editor of the old New Haven Advocate, I came across an oddity in the Yale Alumni Magazine. It was a note from a man named Sam Taylor (Timothy Dwight, 1973). With apparent glee, he said: “Did you know that one of your classmates is officially considered a ‘hate-monger’ by the Southern Poverty Law Center? I believe this is a first for Yale.” Under the alias “Jared Taylor,” he had published “White Identity: Racial Consciousness in the 21st Century.”