The Only Concern Troll In The Room: Obama Poohs Poohs Pot Legalization And Wags Finger At Young Americans

Probably one of the most obnoxious things about Barack Obama is his constant posturing as a voice of moderation and reason in a nation gone mad, forced to reign in the insanity of both hysterical conservatives hell-bent on obstructing his agenda and ungrateful left-wingers who, for whatever reason, believed he would be the transformative figure he campaigned as in 2008. This meme is referred to by drooling liberals affectionately as "The Only Adult In The Room". What kind of adult we are never told, although given his penchant for NSA surveillance and indefinite detention, it's likely the Big Brother sort.

The Only Adult In Winston's Room.

To find an example of this annoying persona, one need look no further than his recent interview with Shane Smith for Vice News. Although the two cover a number of issues, it is the last one they discuss that makes Obama go Full Concern Troll. When Smith tells Obama that he will be fondly remembered by young people if he legalizes marijuana, he indignantly responds that "it shouldn't be young people's biggest priority." Instead, he thinks they would be better off "thinking about climate change, the economy, jobs, war and peace. Maybe way at the bottom you should be thinking about marijuana." It doesn't seem to occur to him that it might be a bit hard for young people to get jobs when many of them have convictions for drug-related offenses or that legalizing pot will open up a vast, untapped market that will greatly stimulate the economy, but hey, those aren't his priorities, are they?

After this tiresome finger-wagging, Obama, as per the course, covers his bases for those still impressionable enough to judge him by his words instead of his actions, by adding that he would "separate out the issue of decriminalization of marijuana from encouraging it's use," without seeming to realize that he has actually exposed said bases. He goes on about the well-documented excesses of the War on Drugs, how it has been "heavily skewed towards cracking down on non-violent drug offenders," how it has had a "terrible effect on many communities, particularly communities of color," how it "render[s] a lot of folks unemployable because they got felony records," (hey, so it did occur to him after all!), how it leads to "disproportionate prison sentences," and how it "costs a huge amount of money to the states."

Wow, and if I were to simply go by what he said before, I woulda thought they were all just a bunch of indolent stoners who didn't want to do anything but get blazed and watch Altered States! I mean, what is all this bullshit about separating "decriminalization of marijuana from encouraging it's use"? When did the current debate surrounding the drug war, in which people are imprisoned en masse for doing something that hurts no one but themselves, become a referendum about collectively affirming as a society the recreational usage of marijuana? Is there some bill being pushed as we speak through the House of Representatives and Senate that would make Cannabis sativa the national plant of the United States?

No, this is concern trolling, plain and simple, by The Only Adult In The Room. He purports to understand and even agree with those who support decriminalization of pot, yet belittles them for working actively towards that because there are Very Serious Issues like war and peace (by the way, isn't this the same guy dropping bombs on Syria and Iraq right now and who dropped some on Libya a couple years back?) they should be more concerned with. Don't think this is because he plans to have one of his sudden changes of heart, wave his magic pen, and make it legal, because he passes the buck onto the states and Congress, suggesting that if enough of them "end up decriminalizing, then Congress may then, you know, reschedule marijuana." Never mind the fact that he has the authority to do this on his own but for shallow political reasons refuses to do so, as Eric Holder, a concern troll in his own right, helpfully pointed out. Nope, he'd rather talk big about enacting sweeping changes and then, in classic Obama fashion, do nothing and blame it all on a do-nothing Congress, like he always does. What a strange state of affairs that when it comes to something as sensible as marijuana legalization, The Only Adult In The Room behaves like the petulant child who insists he enjoys the game the other kids are playing even as he sits in the corner by himself and mocks them for partaking in such a trivial activity.

You know it's bad when Tumblr is making valid political observations.