But that’s not the famous quotation. Nor is it the last line of all four stanzas of the Star-Spangled Banner (which is “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave”). Although many people have used the words, “land of the free because of the brave,” they are not really attributable to any particular personage.

Indeed, America is the land of the free because of the brave and we must never forget the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform as their bravery has helped to keep us free.

However, America is the land of the free and the home of the brave because it takes real courage to live as freely as we do — even if we haven’t yet grown enough guts to stop outlawing temptation so that we can be truly free (as well as sincerely repentant) — and because every right our brave soldiers have fought to secure, protect and defend comes with awesome responsibilities.

Chew on that one, LINOs!

What I am referring to is the other meaning of 420, or 4/20, or 4:20, or April 20th and how an Associated Press-CNBC poll on the medical and recreational use of marijuana was released today, April 20, 2010. (Y’all think that mighta been on purpose?)

Anyways, it seems that Americans are demographically similar on marijuana and same-sex marriage in that people under the age of 30 have the right idea, while the old fuddy duddies are, once again, letting the world leave them behind.

Overall, 33% are in favor of legalization, and 55% are against it. But, the under-30 crowd sees things differently, with 54% in favor of sensible marijuana policy. Meanwhile, folks 65 and older are 73% opposed.

Oddly enough, you can swap out “marijuana” for “same-sex marriage” and the poll numbers for/against are about the same.

We have a strange attitude toward recreational drugs in the US. Many polls show that 70% or more of the American people believe that the drug war has failed, yet only 30-40% are in favor of meaningful drug policy reform.

Those of you who know me understand that I am not a real writer (yes, I know I can string words and sentences together in a coherent fashion that is sometimes entertaining) because writers are compelled to write, whether or not they’re any good at it, and I am not.

I have numerous interests and I don’t really have an inclination to write about all of them. The vast majority of my writing is about drug prohibition because that is a subject about which I feel passionately, even if such discussions are out of style in light of the progress of our war in Iraq, the war on terrorism, and the trials and tribulations of this contemporary era in history — especially the antics of our current elected government.

My “drug war rants” toward prohibitionists (as well as the folks who think melodramatic assertions of the peoples’ right to get high on whatever substances we please will win friends and influence people for the drug policy reform movement) won’t stop until the American people come to their senses about this boondoggle that has found more success masquerading as a solution to itself than actually accomplishing its “mission,” which has something to do either with protecting the people from themselves, or the potentially disruptive economic ramifications of converting a $500 billion per year underground industry into a legal and regulated enterprise that labels its products and pays its taxes — more to come on that later.

Right now, I am interested in making videos and I am learning how to use non-linear video editing software, which is pretty easy because it’s all drag and drop. Of course, deciding which clips to drag from the collections and drop onto the timeline is somewhat more challenging. I now understand how some Hollywood directors wind up producing three-hour long epics that put movie audiences to sleep.

Then there is that age-old question of subject matter. Do I really want to just spew my unpopular opinions and peculiar notions to a camera? Who would want to watch that?

Since I have no hope of avoiding the multitudes that surround me almost 24 hours per day, I thought of making them a part of the project, too. I’ve never been really big on watching “reality television,” but it might be fun to produce — and it might even catch on.

Nonetheless and either way, I appreciate all your feedback, even if it is negative, because anything is better than living in a vacuum that needs vacuuming every day.