From softballs to snowballs:
Obama talks pot, politics and climate change
Alan: I will "bet the farm" -- the whole farm down to the last farthing -- that Obama is right when he guarantees that "The Republican Party will have to change its approach to climate change."
This change is as inevitable as future tax hikes.
However, the overarching tragedy of the GOP is that when shifting circumstances finally force the change Republicans will not acknowledge that the world would be a better place had they embraced change sooner.
Instead, Republicans will do what they always do; find some other "already lost cause" to promote - via emotional conflagration - until they've milked their next falsehood for all the pragmatic value it's worth.
“This is a fun job,” President Obama tells VICE Media founder Shane Smith at the top of an 18-minute interview released Monday afternoon, responding to a softball question about the difficulties associated with the presidency.
But what follows aren’t all softballs.
“Throwing a snowball would be funny,” Smith says, referring to Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma’s Feb. 26 stunt on the Senate floor, “if it weren’t for the fact that’s he’s chairman of the Senate committee on the environment.”
“That’s disturbing,” the president responds, adding, “I guarantee you that the Republican Party will have to change its approach to climate change because voters will insist upon it.”
On the subject of governmental dysfunction – specifically, the recent showdown over funding the Department of Homeland Security – the president says despite how it might appear from from the outside, it’s not simply a matter of both parties “being partisan.”
Obama stressed the importance of voting as a means by which to combat political gridlock, citing poor voter turnout in the 2014 midterms. “The minute you withdraw in that way from the process of politics, well, then you’re destined to have the existing power structures call the shots,” he argues.
Is federal marijuana legalization inevitable, Smith asks, citing it as “our no. 1 question.” First, Obama wants “young people” to know that it shouldn’t be their top concern; climate change is more important, he says, before condemning the “criminal justice system, generally” for “cracking down on non-violent drug offenders.” “We may actually be able to make some progress on the decriminalization side,” he says.
Still, the president stops short of endorsing legalization, saying, “[T]here is a legitimate concern about the overall effects [substance abuse] has on society.”
THE ED SHOW, 3/13/15, 7:05 PM ET
McCain blames snowstorm for letter to Iran
Turning to the now-infamous letter to Iran endorsed by 47 GOP senators, Obama says, “I’m embarrassed for them because it’s not how America does business.”
What should they have done instead? “I think it’s entirely legitimate,” he suggests “for my friends in the Senate who signed that letter to ask very hard questions about how can we assure Iran’s not getting a nuclear weapon. Why would we lift sanctions now given how they’re causing problems in other parts of the world? … How can we even negotiate with them? … We can have that debate.”
But what they did, Obama calls “close to unprecedented,” saying, “It damages the country; it damages our standing; it’s not productive. In this day and age, where we’ve got such big issues, we can’t afford it.”
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