Denver decriminalizes 'shrooms! And a profile in perniciousness.
The city of Denver became the first to decriminalize psilocybin (a psychedelic drug with both therapeutic and psychonautic uses) after a last-minute reversal of fortunes for a ballot initiative this afternoon. Tuesday night, it looked like the referendum had failed, but it overcame a 7,000-vote gap and is now headed for victory. Denver uses vote-by-mail, and young people tend to procrastinate turning in their ballots, which likely accounts for the stunning turnaround. ‘Shrooms are still illegal in Denver, but the measure instructs police to make it their lowest possible priority. This comes after the psychedelic drug won a battle at the FDA, moving it closer to approval for use in therapeutic treatment. It and other psychedelics have been shown to be beneficial for a variety of disorders, from PTSD to addiction to depression and anxiety. It’s inhumane that we keep this from people. It’s nice to see a small step in the right direction, and California and Oregon are also looking at similar initiatives.
On the congressional front:
Imagine that you’re Rashida Tlaib. You’re new to Congress, and you’re one of just two Muslim women ever to serve. You show up to a meeting with your Democratic colleague from New Jersey, Josh Gottheimer, and he pulls out a white binder, filled with highlighted sheets of paper -- all about you and the other Muslim woman in Congress. And none of it is good. In the movie Mean Girls, it was called a Burn Book. Gottheimer, who is only in his second term, is carving out a unique role in the Democratic caucus as the most strident antagonist fighting back against the rising new progressive energy in the party. I published a profile-of-sorts of Gottheimer this morning, and since have been hearing from former staffers of his looking to share stories of what it was like to work for him. If you were one of them, shoot me a note. The story is here and below.
Book update: We’ve Got People is now available for pre-order as an ebook and paperback. Audio still in the works. Publication date is May 28.
The Democratic Counter-Revolution has a Self-Appointed Leader: Josh Gottheimer
Not long after Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar were sworn into Congress, they began hearing from their new colleagues that one member of the House Democratic caucus, Josh Gottheimer, had particularly strong views about each of them. Gottheimer, a second-term representative from New Jersey, has deep ties to the lobbies for Saudi Arabia and Israel, while Tlaib and Omar are often critical of both Mideast governments.
So when Gottheimer reached out to meet with Tlaib, she was eager to take it, hoping that a personal connection would help bridge their differences. On the day of the meeting, February 6, Gottheimer arrived with a colleague, freshman Elaine Luria from Virginia — and a white binder. Luria began by saying that she had met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu six weeks earlier, and Tlaib tried to break the ice with a joke: “How’s the two-state solution going?”
The joke fell flat. Gottheimer pulled out the binder, opening it to show Tlaib the contents. It was a collection of printed-out articles, with quotes and other lines highlighted. “He goes through them, ‘you said this, you said that,’ confusing me with other colleagues,” Tlaib said.
Gottheimer, through a spokesperson, confirmed the encounter, but claimed that he had reached out to Tlaib “at the behest of Democratic leadership.” He and Luria “sat down with Congresswoman Tlaib to have an open, honest discussion about anti-Semitic comments on dual loyalty and other anti-Semitic tropes that the Congressman and many other members of Congress found deeply disturbing. As requested by leadership, the Congressman brought copies of statements that he found disturbingly anti-Semitic. The Congressman shared them with Congresswoman Tlaib and had what he believed, at the time, was a mutually productive conversation,” spokesperson James Adams wrote in an email. “The Congressman shared a document with a list of deeply disturbing, anti-Semitic tropes uttered by certain members of Congress.”
Tlaib said she tried to reach Gottheimer on a personal level, telling him about her grandmother, who lives in occupied Ramallah. He wasn’t interested. “He was using a very stern tone, like a father to a child. At that moment, I realized he’s a bully,” said Tlaib. “He had a goal of breaking me down. I left feeling exactly that way.”
Breaking down Tlaib, Omar, and their allies on the left has been one of Gottheimer’s primary goals since the November elections. He has worked assiduously to carve out a role in the Democratic caucus as something of an avenger, a centrist proud of his centrism and willing to take the fight directly to the squad of freshmen trying to push the party in a progressive direction. He even has a name for his handpicked adversaries: “the herbal tea party.”