Don't you feel safer knowing that Border Patrol checkpoints are catching septuagenarian music stars with pot? I'd like to meet the genius investigator who figured out there might be marijuana in Willie Nelson's tour bus. Perhaps he thinks this will teach Shotgun Willie a lesson and henceforth he'll abstain?
Drug cartels are all but running parts of Mexico, while large quantities of drugs continue to successfully make their way north, with guns flowing south. None of these checkpoints, unmanned drones or other over-hyped tactics seem to make a dent in that problem, but at least they caught Willie, making him wait a few hours, perhaps crooning "In the Jailhouse Now," before posting bond and heading on his way.
So which of his songs do you think Willie was singing after he left the Hudspeth County Jail? A few offhand guesses: "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette)"? "I'm a Worried Man"? "No Alibi"? "Nobody's Fault But Mine"? "Last Thing I Needed First Thing This Morning"? "Nothing I Can Do About It Now"? Or maybe just, "On the Road Again"?
Willie seems like a laid back guy and I'm sure he doesn't hold a grudge. When he got back to Austin, I've little doubt he took his own advice from his funny (if mildly heretical) marijuana themed Christmas tune on a 2008 Stephen Colbert special:
And the Wise Men started tokin'Sleep well tonight, Texans. The Red-Headed Stranger has been apprehended and will be sternly dealt with. We are all safer now.
And Yea, the bud was kind
It was salvation they were smokin'
And His forgiveness blew their minds ...
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25 comments:
I wonder how many meth transports got through while they were busting ole Willie?
I really like the views that you express. This country needs to change its stance on so many issues. Marijuana is a good example. Wow, they got $2500 in bail money from the arrest and made a bunch of people smile and say, "Haha! Willie needs to make another movie like the 'Cheech and Chong' series. That would be funny. Let's smoke one for Willie." No one is going to be deterred from taking a hit. They might say to themselves, "Look at this old guy. He's still smoking it. Nothing's wrong with him. He's still very successful. What's wrong with pot anyway?"
Another big point to be made, how much money could have been saved by letting those officers on Willie's scene take care of other priorities? I'm sure that this was not a quick bust, and many cops attentions were diverted for extended periods of time. Also, how much more money could the government have collected through taxes if they had just let Willie go about his normal activities? His normal routine was surely interrupted, and it is one that pulls in a lot of money. Let's think of sales tax on tickets to his shows and income tax for Willie. A much larger effect can be attributed to the economic effect that Willie's presence can bring to an area. He draws crowds of people and, with those crowds of people, comes demand for goods and services.
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Hello Walls..one of my favorite come to mind
They will never legalize pot because you can grow it in your backyard. They could never tax it. They will never legalize meth because you can make it in a bath-tub. No way to tax it.
Although you can grow it in your back yard it is few that can raise
excellent marijuana and if the commercial growers produce a good product it will be taxed and people
will buy it.
You can produce beer in a trash can but people still buy their beer because it is ready and easy to find.
And as far as meth goes,who cares?
But there again,meth produced with proper chemicals instead of cold tablets is so much better than the garbage people are killing themselves with and with a lot less harm in the drug when it is produced under regulated,laboratory conditions
rather than in a plastic bottle
with all kinds of trash in the mix.
60% of the harm caused by illicit drugs is because the criminals are making them in unsanitary conditions using substances that add harm to the mix.
If they were to legalize drugs and have them produced by manufacturers
,instead of criminals most of the harm would be removed.
Our drug policies have caused more harm to our society than all the harm done by the drugs themselves and are the reason we have 30,000
dead in Mexico,and counting.
Our prisons are full with no money to build more and our court systems are log jammed with drug cases with convicted/sentenced felons walking our streets,waiting for an empty bed in the industrialized jails so they can wait there for an empty prison bed.
And our drug czar just wants another trillion dollars to spend doing the same thing.
Yes, Willie has been sternly dealt with over the years.
This causes me to be embarrassed that I am an American -- and a Texan. Makes me wanna go smoke a fatty on Congress Avenue just for Willie.
Is this the same Federal government that brought down the Tommy Chong bong cartel?
Hope they lost of photos and autographs.
Willie and his weed--not just an infatuation but a life-long love affair. We all search for a life of meaning and commitment--he found his in his bong.
But while it is still illegal, the police did the right thing.
You can't pick and choose the laws you are going to observe and the ones you are going to ignore, and expect no consequences.
Whether it *should* be illegal is a different matter.
So, we should just give Willie a pass because he's a big-time star? OK, so we do this, and the cartels learn that all they have to do to get their product across the border is pack it into big buses and paint the name of some big-time star across each side. Excellent idea!
It's not about letting people get away with it, it's about the wasted resources that could have been put to better use...Perhaps protecting our border.
I don't smoke and never will, but I seriously think the government needs to reevaluate how much time we waste on marijuana busts for what amounts to personal stashes.
I'm not saying we should not arrest someone that is traveling with an amount that indicates it is not simply for personal use (wow this guy has 10lbs of pot, wonder if it's for personal use?)
I would really like for someone to calculate just how much we have spent in wasted manpower and tax dollars busting people for personal stashes.
According to Hillary Clinton we have insurgent on the border, yet we spend time busting Willie. Our tax dollars at waist. This president makes the last one look like a genius.
Another thing to note is that he was heading to Austin from California. Now, unless we think he was visiting the warzone known as Juarez on the way to Austin (which I seriously doubt) then this "bust" had to happen at one of these "interior" checkpoints that the Border Patrols sets up that is well inland from the border, and targeted mainly at American citizens.
I don't levy that charge lightly, but when the stop doesn't start and end with "proof of citizenship", then it's a naked 4th Amendment violation under the color of law.
i'm with you phelps i think this was a completley Illegal stop by a bunch of idiot border patrol agents WELL out of their jurisdiction....which legally would be what? THE BORDER! not 100 Miles INSIDE one!
With all that is going on the border the leo’s are busting Willie for weed. I hope this turns into a public relations nightmare for the federal government. Governor Perry is asking for troops to crush the insurgency on the border and in response our federal troops busted a Texas icon for weed.
Sheldon
They shouldn't arrest Willie!
We can't bash the street-level officers for doing their jobs. Willie was stopped at a checkpoint, just like thousands of other people, and he was found to have committed a crime. Had these officers looked the other way there would be outrage that they had given Willie preferential treatment. We can debate the need or desire to change laws, but we shouldn't bash people for doing their jobs as they are mandated to do under their sworn oath of office and the law.
hmm
"A Texas PO said...
We can't bash the street-level officers for doing their jobs. Willie was stopped at a checkpoint, just like thousands of other people, and he was found to have committed a crime. Had these officers looked the other way there would be outrage that they had given Willie preferential treatment. We can debate the need or desire to change laws, but we shouldn't bash people for doing their jobs as they are mandated to do under their sworn oath of office and the law."
SURE WE CAN! The U.S. Itself killed for all time during the war crimes trials of german officals the excuse "I was just following orders"
If you know or SHOULD have know the order was illegal and you follow it...YOUR just as guilty as the criminal who gave the order!
and it dont' take a rocket scientist or a politician to know that telling a BORDER GUARD to setup security checkpoints MILES INSIDE the border is Compltely outside their juristiction! Not the mention considing the u.s supreme court has upheld over and over again all americans have the right to move from one state to the other without interference....it would be compltely illegal NO MATTER who was running it!
rodsmith:
The problem with your comment is that border patrol checkpoints are legal, and the actions of the border patrol agents and the Hudspeth County Sheriff were legal, and not at all immoral. Comparing drug possession arrests to murder is a bit far-fetched.
Besides, checkpoints do not hinder interstate transportation for anyone except those violating federal and state laws. They would be illegal if everyone crossing a state line was apprehended and jailed for that action.
They arrested Willie. Who's next - Cheech and Chong?
hmm the way you twist words you must be a POLITICIAN!
"A Texas PO said...
rodsmith:
The problem with your comment is that border patrol checkpoints are legal, and the actions of the border patrol agents and the Hudspeth County Sheriff were legal,"
i did NOT say border searches or checkpoints are illegal. What i said was the are ONLY LEGAL ON THE BORDER! not 25-50-100 MILES INSIDE IT! that is out of their jurisdiction. just like a texas country sheriff trying to stop and search cards in another country besides his own!
TexasPO, why are border patrol checkpoints legal? Where in the 4th Amendment does it say it is ok to pull over a car without any reason to believe its occupants are engaged in illegal activity?
We can't bash the street-level officers for doing their jobs.
When you are stopping and searching everyone in violation of the 4th Amendment, (even going well beyond Terry stops) then you are no longer doing your job.
Let Willie go.
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