This gem from Matt Taibbi (and the announcement that the Dept. of Justice chose not to criminally prosecute a British bank that admitted to laundering billions for drug cartels) slipped by me in December.
Wherever our opinions fall regarding the issue of the "War on Drugs," we ought to pay attention to the implication of the DOJ's decision to treat as a civil offense these bankers' cartel-coddling, while possessing even a seed of marijuana could mean years in prison for you or me. The upshot?
"They're now saying that if you're not an important cog in the global financial system, you can't get away with anything, not even simple possession. You will be jailed and whatever cash they find on you they'll seize on the spot, and convert into new cruisers or toys for your local SWAT team, which will be deployed to kick in the doors of houses where more such inessential economic cogs as you live. If you don't have a systemically important job, in other words, the government's position is that your assets may be used to finance your own political disenfranchisement." -Matt TaibbiRead on, cogs...
