Punch A Hippie Moment #2,938

by dday

So I was on NPR’s Marketplace this morning, and when we taped the interview yesterday I was asked what kind of questions are likely to come from the online audience at the President’s Open For Questions town hall. And immediately the question on the legalization of marijuana came to mind, and I thought “If I say this, the impression will be that everyone online is a pot-smoking dirty hippie,” so I talked about bread-and-butter issues like health care and jobs, and then at the end I said “you’ll see questions that are totally off limits to the traditional media, like the legalization of marijuana.” It just slipped out.

Of course, that’s what NPR used.

And the question was indeed asked at Obama’s online town hall, and while I didn’t see it, the President apparently snickered, along with his snickering staff, made a crack like “This is a very popular question to you online folks,” (did he mime taking a hit off a doobie at this point?) and then categorically said no, that it wouldn’t grow the economy, and moved on. Thus insulting the audience about their very popular question and giving it little respect.

Here’s how the liveblog at TechPresident discussed it, and I basically agree:

12:10
[Comment From Karen]
Not sure making fun of the “online audience” for asking is the best way to have handled that.

12:11
[Comment From Josh]
Probably not, he turned the question into a joke

12:11
[Comment From Andy]
Only good way to deal with it if you don’t want to deal with it.

12:11
[Comment From Gene]
Is that going to feed the trolls or placate them

12:11
Matthew Burton: Too bad that he laughed off the most popular topic

12:11
[Comment From Josh]
feeds the trolls

12:11
Matthew Burton: Josh is right. There will be blowback from this.

12:12
[Comment From Karen]
Now how many million people feel that they weren’t taken seriously? Frustrating. At least the room approved.

12:13
[Comment From Gene]
Blowback from a relevant segment of the audience?

12:13
Matthew Burton: He made it even more likely that the most popular questions in future town halls will be about marijuana

12:13
[Comment From Josh]
The fact that he made light of one of the most popular questions being asked does not say a whole lot for mr. obama

12:13
Joan McCarter: It was a simplistic response on the pot question, particularly in light of the border violence that Napolitano talked about yesterday. There’s a connection he could have drawn to give a serious answer.

There are two issues here. First, legalization actually does deserve a serious response. You don’t have to agree with it – I’m not certain that I do – but you ought to engage with it. The war on drugs has utterly failed, so it’s not like the status quo is any less silly. But the second issue is even more damaging. Obama’s Administration wants to bypass the media filter and open the tools of communication to a much larger community. And then a non-Village approved question gets asked and he snickers about it? For a real community interaction to work there has to be a certain level of respect, and that was apparently sorely lacking.

Then again, the only caucus Obama has not met with on Capitol Hill is the Progressive Caucus, so this is not surprising. In Washington, every day is Punch a Hippie Day.

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