From the book 'Aftermath'
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Extract below
The David Pullman Show
“Well, Delores, how are the record sales going?”
“Why do you ask, David?” said Delores sharply, she’d never liked him or his show.
“Oh, come on, Delores, we all know this whole ‘40 days and 40 nights’ thing and all the sudden political comments are just part of some huge publicity machine you’ve got working for you, though for the life of me I’m not sure how they’re meant to help you, I mean denigrating men, the church, talent shows, the markets and…..”
“I merely described how things appear to me.” interrupted Delores,
“Well, that must be a really crazy mixed up mind you’ve got there, Delores,” said David, “drug induced, no doubt.”
“Actually David, that might be slanderous, defamation of character at least,” said Delores, seriously “I’ve never taken drugs, in fact; I don’t even drink or smoke.”
“Right,” said David knowingly.
“I mean it, David,” said Delores, “I don’t do drugs, alcohol or cigarettes.”
“Any reason for that?” asked David, “though I find it strange that you lump those things together...”
“Oh David, don’t be silly, everybody knows that alcohol and cigarettes are just as addictive as drugs.”
“They might be addictive but they’re not illegal substances,” said David,
“Well, perhaps they should be, David, but that said, just because I don’t drink or smoke or do drugs doesn’t mean I’m against any of them.”
“Really,” said David, “not against drugs? Not anti one of the most insidious evils filtering into and destroying society today?”
“I don’t think it’s filtering in,” said Delores, “and seriously, do you?”
“Well, how else does it get to the street?” demanded David.
“It’s sanctioned, of course,” said Delores.
“Sanctioned?” said David, “by whom?”
“By the Government.”
“Er, that’s crazy talk, Delores. Everyone knows that
there’s an ongoing drugs war being waged with huge amounts of money being expended….”
“Don’t be silly, David,” said Delores, “we’re not stupid.”
“Come on, Delores,” said David, “what are you suggesting?”
“I’m not suggesting anything, I’m stating it clearly. If the Government wanted to stamp out drug distribution on our streets then it could be done very easily, they just don’t want to, that’s all.”
“I disagree, Delores. Firstly, I think prohibition proved you can’t stop things getting to the streets and secondly, why on earth would the Government want drugs on our streets bearing in mind the amount of drug related crime that’s engulfing our society today?”
“Now you’re being ridiculous, David,” said Delores.
“What does that mean? Delores, you can’t just make rash and ill thought out statements like that without having some argument to back them up.”
“But I can back them up, David,” said Delores, “but we both know you won’t allow me the time or space to do that.”
“Of course I will,” said David, “if you have a valid argument that is, obviously I won’t just sit here if you put up some of your weird, flakey ideas.”
“Now, see how prejudiced you are, you just described me as weird and flakey.”
“No, I didn’t,” corrected David, “I said your ideas were weird and flakey; probably due to all of those drugs you claim not to have taken.”
“I don’t do mind affecting substances,” said Delores, “including alcohol.”
“You don’t drink,” questioned David, “or you have not drunk alcohol ever?”
“I didn’t say that, naturally I’ve drunk alcohol, I just don’t drink it much nowadays.”
“Much?” pressed David, “much isn’t ‘don’t drink’, Delores, so how much d’you drink?”
“Well, naturally I’ll have a drink at Christmas and parties or social gatherings,”
“So you do drink then?” said David.
“But I’ll usually only have the one,” added Delores.
“Hmmm,” said David leaning back in his chair, “where were we? What was I going to ask
you?”
“Why I, and a great many others I might add, think that the Government sanctions the drug trade,” said Delores smiling equably.
“Oh, that’s right,” said David, “well, please continue.”
“It’s really quite simple, Governments have the power and the resources to stop or crush anything they want, so if they don’t, it generally means they are reaping some form of reward from the process.”
“Come on, Delores, that’s a weak argument, a cheap argument, in fact. ‘They could if they wanted to but because they haven’t succeeded they must want them on the streets’… that’s just crazy thinking.”
“I don’t agree, David.”
“Delores, the Government spends millions on drug enforcement policies and they have committed huge resources to winning this war.”
“Really?” questioned Delores, “because when Governments commit huge resources to winning a war we’re usually talking in the region of billions, not millions and let’s be clear here, we’re talking only a few million.”
“What does that mean, Delores?” demanded David.
“It means if the Government was really committed to a war on drugs then it would spend war sized money but it isn’t. So you have to ask ‘why not’ and I think the answer is fairly obvious, don’t you? Or at least it is to me and a vast number of other people out there, including your audiences, David.”
“Oh yeah, so what is this obvious answer?”
“Divide and rule, David,” said Delores.
“Divide and rule. You’ve been using that phrase a lot in your interviews.” Delores nodded, unperturbed, “but that’s ridiculous, the Government represents the will of the people, is voted for by the people. The people elected this Government, we live in a democracy. So all this clap trap that you’ve been coming out with is mindless rubbish, hippy rubbish” he hissed, “dare I say even ‘junkie’ rubbish?”
“Clearly you may dare, since you just did it. However I feel bound to remind you of the laws on slander or actually, libel since we’re ‘ON AIR’.” She admonished him with an upraised, wagging finger, “and I do have to say, David …just because you’ve had an excitable outburst, it doesn’t make what I’ve been saying any less accurate.”
David turned to his audience and raised his hands in despair. They were strangely quiet and he turned away quickly.
“If you’re willing to listen, David,” said Delores, “I will explain.”
“By all means, Delores,” said David, rubbing his brow.
“Well, I think it has been fairly clear to the powers that be….”
“Powers that be?” questioned David, “Who are we talking about here, Delores?”
“Let her talk,” shouted a male voice in the audience.
“I am letting her talk,” a defensive snap back, “No heckling please, let Delores have her say.”
“I don’t think he was heckling me, David,” said Delores, with a small smile, “so as I was saying, the powers that be identified early in the 20th century that the world was going to change rapidly, and that empires would be no longer required.”
“I thought that people in the dominions of Empire gained their liberty helping to fight the Axis powers,” said David, pompously, “and some of the empires had to be reclaimed with violence.”
“The imperial powers still managed to gain control of the rebellions before they left, leaving compliant governments in place. It’s all very complicated, David, but all we really need to recognise is that the empires existed only to facilitate trade but once trade could be achieved without military protection then the empires were doomed.”
“And this has what to do with the war on drugs exactly?”
“Well, along with the running down of the empires and the growing investments in so called emerging markets, governments in the west had to find ways of splintering the masses… otherwise there would’ve been several revolutions by now.”
David sat back in his chair and threw his hands up, “Oh that’s rubbish; you don’t have any idea what you’re talking about, Delores. I’m sorry, I’m not being cruel but let’s face it you’re just a singer, aren’t you and not a very good one at that.” There were a few loud boos and calls of ‘shame’, David shifted a little in his chair, “I’m sorry,” he said addressing the audience, “but I have to say it how I see it and quite honestly, this is bunkum.”
“David, do you believe that drugs on our streets fracture society?”
“Yes I do,” said David, “obviously I do. I believe I referred to drugs as one of the most insidious evils filtering into and destroying society today.”
“Yes, quite… and do you believe also that it’s method of distribution and attached costs lead to a massive amount of crime on our streets?” pressed Delores.
“Of course.” said David.
“Then bearing in mind the amount of money the Government has at its disposal…”
“The Government has to ration out its money; it can’t just commit vast sums to fighting drug crime no matter how simple it might seem to you, Delores.”
“Yet it spends billions on nuclear weapons we’re never going to fire, and not only that, but we’ll have to spend millions more on disposing of those weapons when they get old…so don’t say the money doesn’t exist, David.”
“So what are you saying?” pressed David, “that we should get rid of our nuclear arsenal and leave the UK open to nuclear attack?”
“Attack from whom, David?”
“Attack from the Russians or Middle Eastern terrorist groups like al-Qaeda.”
Delores laughed, composedly, “You are an idiot, David. Do you know how many missiles we have? Something like 30? I don’t know, exactly but come on; Russia has hundreds and is an absolutely huge country, massive by comparison to the UK. Do you really think that our few missiles are going to give the Russians pause?”
“They’re part of the NATO nuclear deterrent,” said David.
“David, America is the NATO nuclear deterrent and has enough nuclear weapons to destroy the entire world a hundred times over. Believe me, we have nothing to fear from Russia and even if we did our nuclear response is so pathetic it would merely lead to the complete obliteration of us as a nation state whilst causing minimal damage to a very tiny part of Russia.”
“Well, there’s always the terrorist….” began David.
“Ah yes, these elusive terrorists that modern politicians like to dangle before us. OK, for argument’s sake, let’s say a terrorist group did detonate a nuclear bomb in a major city, and let’s be clear here, they would have to walk it into the country because only America and Russia have the ability to strike from a distance, on whom would you launch a defensive strike?”
There was a muttered response from the audience. “Did she say ‘walk it in’?”
David spoke firmly, “Whatever country they came from.”
“Oh I see,” said Delores, nodding “a small group of religious fanatics detonate a nuclear device in a major city and your response would be to ‘nuke’ the country you think these people came from.” She looked at him, shaking her head, playing to the audience, “That makes sense David, go and kill several million innocent civilians, good idea, that’ll sort things out and stop any nuclear proliferation. And it doesn’t work at all against the home-grown terrorist.”
This gained her a smattering of applause and David rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. “That’s all very interesting Delores, but I’m aware we’re running out of time, so…what’s this to do with the war on drugs?”
“Well, to be honest,” she murmured, “I think we’re arguing the wrong point but I will answer your question… if the Government committed enough money they would win … but I think there is a more reasonable and cheaper way to go.”
“Oh yes?” asked David, “and what’s that?”
“Legalise drugs.”
“Legalise drugs?” spluttered David, “but just now you were willing to sacrifice our nuclear deterrent to fight the war on drugs.”
“No, that’s not what I said,” corrected Delores, “You were the one who raised the issue of the war on drugs; I merely observed that if the Government was really committed to winning it then it would spend the commensurate amount of money.”
“So now you are pro allowing our kids access to limitless supplies of cannabis and crack cocaine …” said David.
There were several angry murmurs from the audience.
“No, David, that’s not what I’m saying, not at all. Although society’s main problem with drugs is the related crime; not the fact that there are addicts but that these addicts resort to crime to feed their habit. The exorbitant cost of drugs is linked to the scarcity of supply and the criminality that surrounds its production and distribution.”
She leaned forward, still hoping to reach him, “This alternative idea, and it’s not just me saying it, there are other more knowledgeable proponents of this idea, is that if drugs were commercially distributed thorough legalised outlets with fixed pricing and adequate social support structures drugs related crime would go down and quite a few drug addicts might even wean themselves off the product.”
“Drug dens?” said David, “you want drug dens?”
“No,” said Delores, “You’re being dramatic, I just think that it makes more sense to control the flow of drugs, make them cheaper and provide more social supports.”
“Well, we’ll have to leave it there” said David, “we’re out of time. I’d like to thank my studio guest, the always controversial Del… ”
“It’s certainly cheaper and more effective than a weak willed war on drugs,” Delores had the last word.
Hope you have a good week
Cheers
Arun
Amazon.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aftermath-Ar...
Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/Aftermath-Arun...
Amazon.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aftermath-Ar...
Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/Aftermath-Arun...
Extract below
The David Pullman Show
“Well, Delores, how are the record sales going?”
“Why do you ask, David?” said Delores sharply, she’d never liked him or his show.
“Oh, come on, Delores, we all know this whole ‘40 days and 40 nights’ thing and all the sudden political comments are just part of some huge publicity machine you’ve got working for you, though for the life of me I’m not sure how they’re meant to help you, I mean denigrating men, the church, talent shows, the markets and…..”
“I merely described how things appear to me.” interrupted Delores,
“Well, that must be a really crazy mixed up mind you’ve got there, Delores,” said David, “drug induced, no doubt.”
“Actually David, that might be slanderous, defamation of character at least,” said Delores, seriously “I’ve never taken drugs, in fact; I don’t even drink or smoke.”
“Right,” said David knowingly.
“I mean it, David,” said Delores, “I don’t do drugs, alcohol or cigarettes.”
“Any reason for that?” asked David, “though I find it strange that you lump those things together...”
“Oh David, don’t be silly, everybody knows that alcohol and cigarettes are just as addictive as drugs.”
“They might be addictive but they’re not illegal substances,” said David,
“Well, perhaps they should be, David, but that said, just because I don’t drink or smoke or do drugs doesn’t mean I’m against any of them.”
“Really,” said David, “not against drugs? Not anti one of the most insidious evils filtering into and destroying society today?”
“I don’t think it’s filtering in,” said Delores, “and seriously, do you?”
“Well, how else does it get to the street?” demanded David.
“It’s sanctioned, of course,” said Delores.
“Sanctioned?” said David, “by whom?”
“By the Government.”
“Er, that’s crazy talk, Delores. Everyone knows that
there’s an ongoing drugs war being waged with huge amounts of money being expended….”
“Don’t be silly, David,” said Delores, “we’re not stupid.”
“Come on, Delores,” said David, “what are you suggesting?”
“I’m not suggesting anything, I’m stating it clearly. If the Government wanted to stamp out drug distribution on our streets then it could be done very easily, they just don’t want to, that’s all.”
“I disagree, Delores. Firstly, I think prohibition proved you can’t stop things getting to the streets and secondly, why on earth would the Government want drugs on our streets bearing in mind the amount of drug related crime that’s engulfing our society today?”
“Now you’re being ridiculous, David,” said Delores.
“What does that mean? Delores, you can’t just make rash and ill thought out statements like that without having some argument to back them up.”
“But I can back them up, David,” said Delores, “but we both know you won’t allow me the time or space to do that.”
“Of course I will,” said David, “if you have a valid argument that is, obviously I won’t just sit here if you put up some of your weird, flakey ideas.”
“Now, see how prejudiced you are, you just described me as weird and flakey.”
“No, I didn’t,” corrected David, “I said your ideas were weird and flakey; probably due to all of those drugs you claim not to have taken.”
“I don’t do mind affecting substances,” said Delores, “including alcohol.”
“You don’t drink,” questioned David, “or you have not drunk alcohol ever?”
“I didn’t say that, naturally I’ve drunk alcohol, I just don’t drink it much nowadays.”
“Much?” pressed David, “much isn’t ‘don’t drink’, Delores, so how much d’you drink?”
“Well, naturally I’ll have a drink at Christmas and parties or social gatherings,”
“So you do drink then?” said David.
“But I’ll usually only have the one,” added Delores.
“Hmmm,” said David leaning back in his chair, “where were we? What was I going to ask
you?”
“Why I, and a great many others I might add, think that the Government sanctions the drug trade,” said Delores smiling equably.
“Oh, that’s right,” said David, “well, please continue.”
“It’s really quite simple, Governments have the power and the resources to stop or crush anything they want, so if they don’t, it generally means they are reaping some form of reward from the process.”
“Come on, Delores, that’s a weak argument, a cheap argument, in fact. ‘They could if they wanted to but because they haven’t succeeded they must want them on the streets’… that’s just crazy thinking.”
“I don’t agree, David.”
“Delores, the Government spends millions on drug enforcement policies and they have committed huge resources to winning this war.”
“Really?” questioned Delores, “because when Governments commit huge resources to winning a war we’re usually talking in the region of billions, not millions and let’s be clear here, we’re talking only a few million.”
“What does that mean, Delores?” demanded David.
“It means if the Government was really committed to a war on drugs then it would spend war sized money but it isn’t. So you have to ask ‘why not’ and I think the answer is fairly obvious, don’t you? Or at least it is to me and a vast number of other people out there, including your audiences, David.”
“Oh yeah, so what is this obvious answer?”
“Divide and rule, David,” said Delores.
“Divide and rule. You’ve been using that phrase a lot in your interviews.” Delores nodded, unperturbed, “but that’s ridiculous, the Government represents the will of the people, is voted for by the people. The people elected this Government, we live in a democracy. So all this clap trap that you’ve been coming out with is mindless rubbish, hippy rubbish” he hissed, “dare I say even ‘junkie’ rubbish?”
“Clearly you may dare, since you just did it. However I feel bound to remind you of the laws on slander or actually, libel since we’re ‘ON AIR’.” She admonished him with an upraised, wagging finger, “and I do have to say, David …just because you’ve had an excitable outburst, it doesn’t make what I’ve been saying any less accurate.”
David turned to his audience and raised his hands in despair. They were strangely quiet and he turned away quickly.
“If you’re willing to listen, David,” said Delores, “I will explain.”
“By all means, Delores,” said David, rubbing his brow.
“Well, I think it has been fairly clear to the powers that be….”
“Powers that be?” questioned David, “Who are we talking about here, Delores?”
“Let her talk,” shouted a male voice in the audience.
“I am letting her talk,” a defensive snap back, “No heckling please, let Delores have her say.”
“I don’t think he was heckling me, David,” said Delores, with a small smile, “so as I was saying, the powers that be identified early in the 20th century that the world was going to change rapidly, and that empires would be no longer required.”
“I thought that people in the dominions of Empire gained their liberty helping to fight the Axis powers,” said David, pompously, “and some of the empires had to be reclaimed with violence.”
“The imperial powers still managed to gain control of the rebellions before they left, leaving compliant governments in place. It’s all very complicated, David, but all we really need to recognise is that the empires existed only to facilitate trade but once trade could be achieved without military protection then the empires were doomed.”
“And this has what to do with the war on drugs exactly?”
“Well, along with the running down of the empires and the growing investments in so called emerging markets, governments in the west had to find ways of splintering the masses… otherwise there would’ve been several revolutions by now.”
David sat back in his chair and threw his hands up, “Oh that’s rubbish; you don’t have any idea what you’re talking about, Delores. I’m sorry, I’m not being cruel but let’s face it you’re just a singer, aren’t you and not a very good one at that.” There were a few loud boos and calls of ‘shame’, David shifted a little in his chair, “I’m sorry,” he said addressing the audience, “but I have to say it how I see it and quite honestly, this is bunkum.”
“David, do you believe that drugs on our streets fracture society?”
“Yes I do,” said David, “obviously I do. I believe I referred to drugs as one of the most insidious evils filtering into and destroying society today.”
“Yes, quite… and do you believe also that it’s method of distribution and attached costs lead to a massive amount of crime on our streets?” pressed Delores.
“Of course.” said David.
“Then bearing in mind the amount of money the Government has at its disposal…”
“The Government has to ration out its money; it can’t just commit vast sums to fighting drug crime no matter how simple it might seem to you, Delores.”
“Yet it spends billions on nuclear weapons we’re never going to fire, and not only that, but we’ll have to spend millions more on disposing of those weapons when they get old…so don’t say the money doesn’t exist, David.”
“So what are you saying?” pressed David, “that we should get rid of our nuclear arsenal and leave the UK open to nuclear attack?”
“Attack from whom, David?”
“Attack from the Russians or Middle Eastern terrorist groups like al-Qaeda.”
Delores laughed, composedly, “You are an idiot, David. Do you know how many missiles we have? Something like 30? I don’t know, exactly but come on; Russia has hundreds and is an absolutely huge country, massive by comparison to the UK. Do you really think that our few missiles are going to give the Russians pause?”
“They’re part of the NATO nuclear deterrent,” said David.
“David, America is the NATO nuclear deterrent and has enough nuclear weapons to destroy the entire world a hundred times over. Believe me, we have nothing to fear from Russia and even if we did our nuclear response is so pathetic it would merely lead to the complete obliteration of us as a nation state whilst causing minimal damage to a very tiny part of Russia.”
“Well, there’s always the terrorist….” began David.
“Ah yes, these elusive terrorists that modern politicians like to dangle before us. OK, for argument’s sake, let’s say a terrorist group did detonate a nuclear bomb in a major city, and let’s be clear here, they would have to walk it into the country because only America and Russia have the ability to strike from a distance, on whom would you launch a defensive strike?”
There was a muttered response from the audience. “Did she say ‘walk it in’?”
David spoke firmly, “Whatever country they came from.”
“Oh I see,” said Delores, nodding “a small group of religious fanatics detonate a nuclear device in a major city and your response would be to ‘nuke’ the country you think these people came from.” She looked at him, shaking her head, playing to the audience, “That makes sense David, go and kill several million innocent civilians, good idea, that’ll sort things out and stop any nuclear proliferation. And it doesn’t work at all against the home-grown terrorist.”
This gained her a smattering of applause and David rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. “That’s all very interesting Delores, but I’m aware we’re running out of time, so…what’s this to do with the war on drugs?”
“Well, to be honest,” she murmured, “I think we’re arguing the wrong point but I will answer your question… if the Government committed enough money they would win … but I think there is a more reasonable and cheaper way to go.”
“Oh yes?” asked David, “and what’s that?”
“Legalise drugs.”
“Legalise drugs?” spluttered David, “but just now you were willing to sacrifice our nuclear deterrent to fight the war on drugs.”
“No, that’s not what I said,” corrected Delores, “You were the one who raised the issue of the war on drugs; I merely observed that if the Government was really committed to winning it then it would spend the commensurate amount of money.”
“So now you are pro allowing our kids access to limitless supplies of cannabis and crack cocaine …” said David.
There were several angry murmurs from the audience.
“No, David, that’s not what I’m saying, not at all. Although society’s main problem with drugs is the related crime; not the fact that there are addicts but that these addicts resort to crime to feed their habit. The exorbitant cost of drugs is linked to the scarcity of supply and the criminality that surrounds its production and distribution.”
She leaned forward, still hoping to reach him, “This alternative idea, and it’s not just me saying it, there are other more knowledgeable proponents of this idea, is that if drugs were commercially distributed thorough legalised outlets with fixed pricing and adequate social support structures drugs related crime would go down and quite a few drug addicts might even wean themselves off the product.”
“Drug dens?” said David, “you want drug dens?”
“No,” said Delores, “You’re being dramatic, I just think that it makes more sense to control the flow of drugs, make them cheaper and provide more social supports.”
“Well, we’ll have to leave it there” said David, “we’re out of time. I’d like to thank my studio guest, the always controversial Del… ”
“It’s certainly cheaper and more effective than a weak willed war on drugs,” Delores had the last word.
Hope you have a good week
Cheers
Arun
Amazon.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Aftermath-Ar...
Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/Aftermath-Arun...
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