If it’s fun, it’s illegal—a common conviction of my youth. Often said in jest, in the 1950s as I grew up it was folk wisdom. My parents were 11 years old when Prohibition took full effect in 1922 and drank in their teens illegally and with glee. Hence the folk saying if it’s fun, it’s…

There is nothing as unconvincing, as unbelievable as the assumption that a drug user, a sex worker, a gambler, or a drinker is a bad guy who lies or steals. In truth, you know nothing about a person when you learn they take drugs or do sex for money. These falsehoods are pure prejudice. It…

Supporting freedom offers advantages that make it a wise policy choice. The most obvious: it keeps people out of jail. If we can buy safe drugs legally, then the Mexican drug cartel suffers a disastrous defeat. The United States buyers stop sending millions of dollars to the violent groups that supply drugs north of the…

July 4th was a significant news day. Finally, there was hard news about who won the Israel-Iran War. Seymour Hersch, who has a distinguished record writing about the U.S. military, had just made an extraordinary journalistic  prediction. On the Friday before Israel attacked Iran, that is, the day before the attack began, Hersch, in his…

When I lived in Albany in the 1980’s, I went to a NYC Pride march with a young man from Schenectady, a neighboring city but less cosmopolitan than the state capital. He was amazed. He muttered, “I never knew there were so many gay people.” That daytrip was special; it gave him a glow of…

Does Make America Great Again mean Make Trump Great? Trump ended the Iranian Israeli war quickly and one expects the warring nations sighed with relief. “During the conflict, Israeli cities sustained several hits from Iranian ballistic missiles, and Iranian military targets were subjected to widespread bombing. Neither side wanted the war to go on much…

As we search for an enterprising person to get the Freedom Democrats started, imagine what their job would be. Already, with a readership of less than 200 persons, legalize.blog has been banned from X. When I try to use it, this message appears: “SUSPICIOUS LOGIN PREVENTED. We blocked an attempt to access your account because…

The most urgent need is the search for who will leave their mark on history. This blog calls for political change, dramatic change on behalf of the millions who do drugs, gamble, watch porn, accept LGBTQ+ people, buy and rent sex, and want to say, “Enough already; stop assuming we are weak, immoral, even sick.…

Pollsters tell us the #2 guy seeking the New York City Mayor nomination is a Muslim, a socialist, and, in this writer’s opinion, using the best political commercials in decades. Nobody calls Zohran Mamdani a fringe candidate. Simply put, he is #2 in the polls because he’s smart, and the New York City system of…

I will not pick one candidate for NYC Mayor: Andrew Cuomo. He makes life difficult for everyone else. When he rejects an idea, he frequently leaves people furious. They had spent hours responding to his detailed questions and end up feeling used. They became convinced Governor Cuomo never supported the idea and did not ask…

Freedom Democrats reach a cross section of America among  them are viewers of porn and its performers , are close to the LGBTQ+ community, sex workers and their clients, and drug users. They number in the millions and respect each other’s habits and do not tell other people how they should live their lives. Political…

Freedom is tied to the discovery of new ideas, what we often call “truth.” Freedom in the United States is a constant struggle. The most famous and obvious is slavery. Slavery was practiced all over the world, long before it was used to make sugar or grow tobacco. Slaves are a constant backdrop in the…

All too often, people vote the way their friends and colleagues vote. When unions were strong and union halls were social gathering places, people voted Democratic and for unions. Unions, of course, have declined, and the union halls play a smaller role in reaching voters. The kinds of people that join unions has changed over…

It doesn’t matter if you’re a cosmopolitan sipping a martini after a day at the office or a gourmet tasting only half a serving of dessert, you must exercise self-control. Adults can’t stuff their face without getting fat, and an adult can’t spend an evening chugging beer without getting drunk. Self-control is a critical component…

Since World War II, caring people have rejected stigma, recognizing its cruelty. Freedom Democrats enthusiastically join in the fight against stigma. The latest group to hold its head high and say, “We are doing nothing wrong,” is drug users. It has become increasingly difficult to accept the stigma that using hard and psychedelic drugs is…

The Republicans are still strong in Florida, but electing the Democrat for the Wisconsin Supreme Court is an unequivocal victory. While it is true that Democrats picked up votes in Florida, the Republicans still won in a landslide. That they had less votes than last year proves nothing. Last year, Donald Trump was at the…

Freedom Democrats offer alternatives to many Democratic planks. Legalizing sex work, drugs, and respecting the transgendered and LGBTQ+ community are promises that these planks will be priorities for Freedom Democrats. Freedom is a core value in the United States, and Freedom Democrats are identifying areas where liberty is limited. Sometimes this is a result of…

On Wednesday (March 26), Donald Trump, as part of his blizzard of new ideas and executive orders, announced that all foreign cars will have a 25% tariff. Presumably the three American manufacturers should be happy. Curious, I looked for the American automobile manufacturers’ reactions. After saying they support President Trump, American Automakers, the trade association…

I certainly don’t know when the Ukrainian war will end. The ignominious end of the 30-day ceasefire proposal reminds us that the Iron Curtain still separates the West and Russia. It is not going away. But we do know how one war ended. In the United States, Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy, never…

One of the strangest promises Donald Trump has made is stopping fentanyl. The notion that being mean will stop drugs has never worked. Freedom Democrats would be familiar with the iron law of prohibition: a more aggressive enforcement brings even more dangerous drugs to the market. When oxycodone was widely available, its safety had been…

Trump is making everybody nervous. His latest proposal for a 30-day ceasefire threatens his plans to establish normal relations with Russia. Russia will only accept a ceasefire if Ukraine demobilizes its armed forces. Putin won’t allow Ukraine to rearm during a ceasefire, and so far he is winning this war. At the same time, Putin…

The need for creating Freedom Democrats has never been greater. As this blog is being written, Trump continues his effort to negotiate with Russia on a wide range of issues: nuclear weapons, European boundaries, and creating normal relations between Russia and the United States. While Trump’s plans for Europe and Russia might end the Cold…

I am not pro Trump, but early indications offer convincing evidence that he is not a clown. His upheaval suggests he wants to change history and put the United States on a new path. His policies may have their roots in isolationism. I am not a student of U.S. foreign policy, so I have no…

The nightmare of Trump joining Putin in damning Ukrainian President Zelensky signals the end of NATO and the unraveling of a world order, bringing a proliferation of atomic weapons as nations seek protection. Wars will break out all over the world. Concerns like these animate international affairs. Israel with U.S. support will attack Iran while…

Trump has broken with the Democrats and their devotion to Ukraine. In a perceptive piece, Peter Baker writes “President Trump made clear that the days of isolating Russia are over and suggested that Ukraine was to blame for being invaded.” Blame is an odd word for the harsh realities of internation relations. In Baker’s reporting…