Kerry is getting blasted by Republicans, mostly out of context, for referring to terrorism as a nuisance.
“We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives but they’re a nuisance,”
“As a former law enforcement person, I know we’re never going to end prostitution. We’re never going to end illegal gambling,”
Now, I really don’t think Kerry is referring to terrorism as a “nuisance” right now. I think it’s clear that what he’s saying that he’d like to supress terrorism completely, but is conceeding that it will probably never totally disappear.
My main issue is that he’s comparing this stuff to gambling and prostitution. So, we have no social liberals running for office? As a social liberal myself, I want to see gambling and prostitution made f’n legal. Apparently the supposed liberal candidate thinks they’re a nuisance – on the order of terrorism going forward, I guess.
I’m not convinced any presidential candidate could come out in favor of prostitution or “illegal” gambling and take the presidency. Sad.
I’ve never really seen the Democrats as social liberals, at least not while I’ve been old enough to follow politics. Yeah, they tend to be for gay rights, etc. But they’re often on the PC end of the spectrum (squashing things that might offend) which seems fairly socially conservative to me.
This election really is terrible for Libertarians.
I agree that we won’t likely see anyone like that take the presidency.
I’m not sure it’s possible to articulate the difference between something being legal, and something society should encourage and support, in a simplistic enough way that the American voter can grasp it.
For example, it’s difficult to argue pot should be decriminalized without people assuming you’re also advocating drug use.
The NRA spends a lot of time trying to argue a related point (that legal does not mean encouraged), but it’s not a 100% analog.
What surprises me actually is the opposite side — things that remain legal even though they have bad side effects or are unpopular (smoking and alcohol are the top two that come to mind). I guess the popularity (and money) behind these two carries enough weight to resist the political pressure.
So my best guess is that Marijuana, Prostitution, etc will remain illegal until they reach the tier of popularity enjoyed by our “Legal” drugs.
That’s an interesting point. If only Marijuana were as addictive as nicotine, maybe then it would gain enough popularity to be decriminalized! Alcohol already had it’s shot at being made illegal, and remains the most embarrasing part of our constitution.
One of the worst parts of all of these illegal activites are the societal side effects of enforcing the laws, but that’s a whole other topic onto itself.