Political Quotes

“40 years ago this month, President Nixon launched the war on drugs. Four decades later, I've asked through New Media for Americans to share with me their thoughts on what I believe to be a major public policy failure. Just listen to this story of Neil from Baltimore that Law Enforcement Against Prohibition shared with me. Late in the evening on October 30, 2000, Neil was awoken by the ringing of a telephone. As the commander of training for the Baltimore Police Department, late night calls were not unusual, but this call was different. He was told that one of his officers had been shot and taken to the hospital. The officer was a corporal and a 15-year veteran and undercover narcotics agent for the Maryland State Police. He was assigned to a drug enforcement task force and on that night was making his final drug buy in Washington, D.C., from a mid-level drug dealer when the dealer decided he wanted both the drugs and the money for himself. He returned to the car the officer was driving, paused for a moment, and shot the police officer at point-blank range in the side of the head. Arriving at the hospital among the scores of family and friends, Neil was guided into the room where the officer laid with his head bandaged and bloodied. Neil had to face the officer's wife and children and explain why their caretaker was no longer with him. Neil finished his story by writing, ``When the people are gone and quiet comes, so does the question: Why?…”