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Republican politicians are getting ready for the primary debate scheduled for Aug. 23. One debate topic might focus on how to address drug addiction and the growing fentanyl crisis in the United States. Legislation in the House provides law enforcement with the necessary resources to tackle the increasing danger of this lethal drug.
Straight Arrow News contributor Ruben Navarrette argues that some GOP presidential candidates, like Chris Christie, actually seem sympathetic to helping addicts, rather than throwing them behind bars.
Christie said he still planned to try to stop fentanyl from coming across the border from Mexico and to continue to lock up drug dealers who profit from the misery of others. That’s what you’d expect from a former federal prosecutor with a reputation as a straight-talking tough guy. But the candidate was also surprisingly sympathetic to those who, as he put it “make a bad judgment in their lives” and who don’t need to be locked up or punished but deserve what he called a shot at “redemption.”
When was the last time you heard a Republican — or for that matter, even a Democrat — running for office talking about offering “redemption” to an illegal immigrant from El Salvador? Or a Black teenager from the inner city who made a “bad judgment” and committing a crime? Right. Never.
You see, for politicians, there are good victims and bad victims. And they are a lot more compassionate and understanding when dealing with what they consider the good ones.
