Stories from the week of June 3, 2011

COPs on the Hill

Your Voice in the United States Congress

Thrown off the horse?   Get back on!  Recall that my last full day in the House before vacation, I struck out in some 54 offices, except one.   It was absolutely discouraging..  Was I or my message losing its touch?   Going door to door is a tough path, but it had always yielded close to my max of seven (7) presentations per work day.  (note: doing more than seven = my brain could not remember what I had said to an aide= sounding foolish)

My first day back scored 6 presentations, all excellent and I took a shot of Crown Royal tonight to celebrate. 

 Rubbing elbows with VIPs:  Two years of attending Grover Norquist’s brunch continues to pay dividends.   This week I asked a member of the Republican National Committee to help me with messaging for the LULAC conference (League of United Latin American Citizens) later this month in Cincinnati.  We chatted in Spanish for five minutes.  He agreed with the messages I had going in: 1) Drugs are too dangerous to leave in the hands of criminals. 2) To protect teens, they should not have the job option to sell drugs. 3) Kids will have better educational opportunities and scholarships, when we don’t waste money on MJ. 4) Arrest more bad guys who hurt children by not wasting time on adults using MJ…..He liked those four and gave me this one: Too many Latinos lose their right to vote, due to a drug conviction.

 Not only did I receive a new nugget* and positive feedback, the chat probably reminded him that this topic needs to be addressed.  NOTE:  I have been a bit surprised that the four Latinos from whom I have asked for messaging help, none have mentioned the horror of Mexican deaths.

 Will it make any difference?:  This week the Global Commission on Drug Policy published a 24 page report of their findings.   The executive summary starts out:  “The global war on drugs has failed…..”   Heavy hitters were on the commission including Paul Volcker (ex Federal Reserve Chairman), George Schultz (ex Secretary of State under Reagan), John Whitehead (ex Dep. Secretary of State under Reagan), ex-presidents of three countries –plus-the current president of Greece & more.  Will such voices make current politicians move off the dime?*  Previous panels like this have had little to zero impact.  Full report:   http://globalcommissionondrugs.org/Report

 *nugget = gute Idee

*move off the dime = eine neue Politk einführen

 COPs 2nd year stats to date:

 137  presentations to Congressional staffers:  6 this week

TV appearances: 11 (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX, cable) 

Newspaper stories: 7 dailes, 3 weeklies

Radio appearances: 8 ( this week)

Published LTE: 14 (this week)

Other media (bloggers, cable TV, minor publications, etc): 12 ( this week)

 (Member of Congress) contacts:      this week

5 other VIP (MD state Senator & Rep):   

Consider being a member of COP at $30.00 or more per year.   All contributions are tax-deductible.   Your support keeps the COP voice loud and strong in the halls of the United States Congress.   We agree that Modern Prohibition/War on Drugs is the most destructive, dysfunctional and immoral policy since slavery & Jim Crow.  Go to: www.CitizensOpposingProhibition.org and click on Donate/Join – by credit card or send a check to:

COP

POB 772

Buckeystown, MD  21717