MSNBC Discovers Drug Wars Are Bad, Ignores US History of Them
While MSNBC laments the potential 'militarization' of drug interdiction, they omit that the US 'War on Drugs' has been a four-decade-plus, multi-trillion-dollar boondoggle. Begun by Nixon, aggressively expanded by Reagan and Clinton, this war has consistently targeted marginalized communities, disproportionately incarcerated Black and Latino individuals, and destabilized entire regions without
ever actually winning. The article criticizes Trump's rhetoric and potential troop deployment to Mexico, an escalation of tactics already employed by previous administrations in Latin America. It's almost as if the 'War on Drugs' only becomes a human rights concern when the 'wrong' president is prosecuting it. One might wonder if MSNBC’s sudden moral awakening on drug policy will extend to
examining the systemic failures and racial disparities inherent in every iteration of this 'war' since its inception. Or is this just another election-year 'concern' conveniently tied to demonizing a specific political figure, rather than interrogating the bipartisan disaster that is US drug policy? Perhaps, like clockwork, the outrage only lasts until the next Democrat takes office and continues
the exact same policies under a different veneer.