This Christian Science Monitor editorial positively reeks of desperation. You've got to give the prohibitionists at CSM some credit for seeing the writing on the wall, but their silver-bullet strategy for beating back the movement for marijuana legalization is a little less than intimidating:

What is needed is a dominant voice with a convincing, simple message to act as a counterweight to a legalization lobby that is run by a handful of savvy, persistent, and well-coordinated organizations and donors.



Who might take on that job?



President Obama, as a father and political leader, must use the bully pulpit for this issue. His administration must act preemptively and be explicit about federal action against any state that moves to make pot legal. It should not wait to reveal its plan of attack until a state referendum finally passes or a legislature succumbs.

…

The culture of pot acceptance must be reversed in America. It was turned back after 1979, and that can happen again. But the drug czar can’t do it alone. We need the man at the top, and all of the relevant administration players, saying the same thing, and saying it often. What’s good for the president’s children is good for the country. He must tell us so.

Tell us what, exactly? That millions of us belong in jail? I can think of nothing more massively ugly and pointless than an Obama-led assault on an issue that ignites his own base. Really, if Obama wants to send shockwaves through the block of young voters that helped put him in office last time around, then he should just go ahead and let the CSM editorial board write up his drug policy platform.