Reason Magazine - Topics > Drew Carey

Now Playing at Reason.tv: Mississippi Drug War Blues—The Case of Cory Maye

Thu, 08 May 2008 07:00:00 EDT

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Kevin Bacon, Thou Art Avenged: Dance the Night Away (Finally) at Arizona's San Tan Flat!

gillespie@reason.com (Nick Gillespie) — Wed, 07 May 2008 15:58:00 EDT

When we last checked in at San Tan Flat, a family restaurant in Pinal County, Arizona, county officials had invoked an anachronistic ordinance to ban outddor dancing at the popular steak joint.

It was the subject of this Drew Carey Project video at reason.tv, dubbed Dance Ban: Footloose in Arizona:

Well, here's some great news, via The Arizona Republic:

Pinal County Superior Court Judge William O'Neil overturned a decision from the county Board of Supervisors that said the country-Western-themed restaurant was operating an illegal dance hall by allowing patrons to dance to live music on its back patio....
The saga of San Tan Flat drew national attention, prompting commentary from actor Drew Carey and conservative Washington Post columnist George Will. The case also received several comparisons to the 1984 Kevin Bacon film Footloose, in which a small town bans rock music and dancing.

More here.

At the time we released the video, one of the owners of San Tan Flat told the East Valley Tribune, "'This adds one more voice, and I think Drew Carey has a credible voice and he speaks with some degree of credibility to the public,' said Dale Bell, who owns San Tan Flat with his son, Spencer."

All of us at reason are glad to see this incredibly stupid injustice made right—and proud of our role in helping it happen.

Free the Kidneys!

matt.welch@reason.com (Matt Welch) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 08:45:00 EDT

Former reason editor Virgina Postrel talks about her star turn in Drew Carey's latest reason.tv production on creating a market for organ transplants:

The video is excellent, even though all of us look pretty awful. The only thing I'd fault it for is not making the point that--I cannot say this often enough--EVEN IF EVERY SINGLE ELIGIBLE CADAVER KIDNEY WERE DONATED, THERE WOULD NOT BE ENOUGH. This shortage cannot be fixed by changing the law to override families' wishes and turning everyone who hasn't explicitly said no into a deceased donor. All that would do is sow further mistrust of the organ transplant system, particularly among (calling Barack Obama) already-suspicious African Americans.

Whole thing, well worth reading, here.

Senior Editor Kerry Howley asked "Who Owns Your Organs?" in 2006. Contributing Editor Julian Sanchez explored the morality of organ transplants in 2003. Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey made the case for selling human organs in 2001. James DeLong decried the federal government's mishandling of transplants in 1998. (UPDATE: Cato has also published a recent study on the subject.) And by popular demand, once again, here's Drew Carey:

Now Playing at Reason.tv: Drew Carey on Human Organ Markets

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:00:00 EDT

In his most controversial segment yet, reason.tv host Drew Carey offers a startling solution to the critical shortage in kidneys available for transplant: Pay people to donate their kidneys.

Featuring former reason editor—and organ donor—Virginia Postrel.

Click on the image below to watch "Organ Transplants: Kidneys for Sale."

Now Playing at Reason.tv with Drew Carey: Living Large

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 07:00:00 EST

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Drew Carey: The Tavis Smiley Interview

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:00:00 EST

On Monday, January 28, reason.tv host Drew Carey sat down with PBS's Tavis Smiley for a wide-ranging conversation about videojournalism, The Price Is Right, medical marijuana, Barack Obama, and much, much more.

Click on the image below to watch. And below that, read the transcript.

Discuss this story at reason's Hit & Run blog.

Tavis: (Laughter) I'm pleased to - I'm pleased to welcome Drew Carey back to this program. I'm laughing already. The popular and talented comedian and actor can now add game show host to his resume. Last fall he took over for Bob Barker on the long-running show "The Price is Right." He's also the host of the prime time CBS game show "The Power of 10."

And if all that were not enough, since I last saw Drew he's decided to get married. Drew, nice to see you.

Drew Carey: Nice to see you, man, thanks for (unintelligible).

Tavis: You all right, man?

Carey: I'm great, yeah.

Tavis: Congratulations on all this stuff.

Carey: Thank you.

Tavis: Are you at all political? Do you -

Carey: Very, but I don't - well, I do these things for Reason.tv, which is how I got "Power of 10." Because I was doing these - I was kind of retired and I had -
"Reason" magazine has a website and I thought hey, you guys should do video because everything was really wonky and a lot of numbers and big words and stuff. We should just do video.

So the first one we did was about medical marijuana. And the DEA has marijuana listed in the same category as heroin, and they raid these marijuana clinics because of it. I know; it's insane.

Tavis: Wow, that's weird.

Carey: I know, everybody has the same expression on their face when I tell them. They went what? Yeah, it's the highest level you can put it under. And so I'm political that way, but as far as any candidate or another, none of them are speaking out about hey, we've got to do something about these marijuana clinics. They're all good, everybody has good ideas and they're all nice, so.

Tavis: What do you make of the idea, though, that these everyday people who you see every day on "The Price is Right" seem to be charged by this contest, left or right, Republican or Democrat. A lot of energy around this campaign.

Carey: Great, yeah, because it really is. There's a change going on in the world right now and everybody can feel it. Can I tell you a great story?

Tavis: Sure, you can always tell a great story.

Carey: An actress I know was in a movie with a 13-year-old actress. And the 13-year-old sat down at the makeup table and went, just had a realization. She said, "What's that?" This friend of mine's in her thirties. "What's that?" She goes, "I realize that I like to take care of my friends and I like to do things for people, but I have to take care of myself first. And if I don't take care of myself, I can't take care of anybody else."

Tavis: And she's 13.

Carey: Yeah. And my friend said, "You just realized - you're 13 and you realized that? I just realized that last year." (Laughter) About 10 years of therapy brought me around to that. So, like, people today are changing. There's a change going on in the way we're treating people and the way we're treating the world.

In my own life, the last couple year has been a really big change. I've gone through a lot of changes and it's reflected in what people are looking for in a candidate. And I think Obama, without - he's such a great speaker. When he's talking about change and hope, forget policies. Because policies, like, they can get all dropped the minute somebody gets into the office, because you've got to deal with Congress and there's other people you've got to fight with.

But the fact that he always keeps it positive, you know what I mean? And never really bashes anybody, doesn't go into numbers land, which I hate in a speech.

Tavis: I love Obama. I've known him for years. The flip side of that argument, though, which he's now starting to get hit with, is that he's been too vague. That hope and a brighter tomorrow can only take you so far.

Carey: I'd love to see a few - I know it's not that kind of show, but I would love you to bring out a chart of everybody's specifics when they run for office compared to what they do. When you're campaigning, and in my first 100 days I'm going to do this and that, and remember Democrats' first 100 days, when Nancy Pelosi went - that stuff goes out the window once you're in office.

Tavis: No, it is that kind of show, and we're going to be talking about that. As a matter of fact, I've got a couple of books I'm working on; one of my next books is called "Accountability," and I'm doing just that. I'm laying out whoever the two finalists are, I've been tracking everybody.

Carey: Good for you.

Tavis: So the book will come out in February of '09, right after they take office, whoever it is, in January of '09. And the whole point of the book is here's what this candidate said when they were running. And now let's see if as a country we can hold them accountable to what they said. Nobody ever does that.

Carey: Right, and everybody - I've seen people that I think their hearts are in the right place when they're - you do have to make compromises when you're in a political office, because it's just one of those kind of things. I don't put hope in the government and I don't put faith in the government. I think that the most important thing, if you want to make a better world, it's not who you vote for it's how you treat people that you meet with every day.

It's every encounter you have on the street. Every time you meet somebody and encounter somebody, whether it's the guy at the gas station, if it's your family, it's how you treat them and how you interact with them. That's what makes the better world. And the government, I don't know, that's, like, if you're depending on the government for your happiness, well, good luck to you. (Laughter) God help you.

Tavis: God help us all. (Laughter) That's a perfect segue to "The Price is Right," because you're meeting everyday people.

Carey: I love it.

Tavis: Are you loving this already?

Carey: I love "Price is Right." That's the best part about it. The best part about "Price is Right," every other game show, like night time game shows, even "Power of 10," the only thing that kind of - everybody's cast on that show. People send in a tape, there's a casting director, there's a whole big process. "Price is Right," you just show up.

You just show up, and they talk to people on line and if you're halfway awake, if you're lively when you're in line, they put you on the show. And that's all you have to do. When people get in line - oh, there's me on the show.

Tavis: There you are, yeah, yeah. (Laughter) There's you on your show.

Carey: When I talk to people on "Price is Right," I go "What do you do for a living?" "I'm a barber," "I'm a service worker," "I work for a phone company." All regular jobs. Nobody's a lawyer, nobody's a CEO. And they're all just regular jobs.

Tavis: Do you find - I've been dying to ask you this - do you find that it's a perfect platform for Drew Carey's funny to come out, or do you find yourself pulling back on your funny on "The Price is Right?"

Carey: You know what it's perfect for? It's a perfect opportunity for Drew Carey's love to come out. Like, that's the key to the whole show.

Tavis: I like that.

Carey: That's the most - you can't believe how love-infested that - it sounds crazy coming from me, because I'm a comic. But it really is like a spiritual - I used to be a Pentecostal when I was in junior high.

Tavis: We discussed that, I grew up the same way, Pentecostal.

Carey: And I've never seen anything - that's the only kind of energy I've felt.

Tavis: Like a Pentecostal church, yeah.

Carey: Yeah, or a Baptist (unintelligible) fundamentalist church, if anybody knows anything about them, like, people are happy.

Tavis: So if I come down and watch you tape one day a week, I ain't got to go to church on Sunday?

Carey: You don't have to go to church anyway, you can pray - you're supposed to pray in private. (Laughter)

Tavis: I'm not going to church Sunday. Bishop, you ain't going to see me Sunday, I'm going to "The Price is Right" on Friday.

Carey: They got Jesus, he was praying in private. (Laughter) That's all I got to say. Read it yourself. It's amazing -

Tavis: Point well taken.

Carey: - I never forget any of that stuff.

Tavis: You haven't changed much on the show. You're still using the same microphone.

Carey: It's cordless now.

Tavis: The same games. Well it is cordless now, yeah.

Carey: Yeah, Bob didn't trust the cordless. So I got -

Tavis: (Laughs) That's the only change you've made, is the cordless microphone.

Carey: Yeah, and the skinny mic, everybody I thought, wow, why are we using the skinny mic? But then - because you're always poking at somebody's face, and when somebody's not used to being on TV, you get that big microphone in your face, it tightens you up. So this one I could just, like, throw over there and you hardly notice it because it's, like, the smallest mic we could find.

Tavis: I never thought about that, it makes perfect sense, though. You don't intimidate the guests.

Carey: Yeah, and I can hold it low instead of - I don't have to bring it right up to their face. And then this year is the first year "The Price is Right" theme song is in stereo. (Laughter) Can you believe it? Can you believe it? They edit the show in analogue. It's not even digital. Kids at home with an iMac are more technologically advanced -

Tavis: Than "The Price is Right."

Carey: - than "The Price is Right," yeah, right now. (Laughter) And honestly, I don't even know if it frustrates them. Like, that's how they did it when they got the job, that's how they're always going to do it. That's one of the things that's nice about the show. It's like going to Grandma's house. (Laughter) Still got a dial phone, like okay, whatever.

Tavis: Have you figured out which of the games - I have my favorite, but have you figured out which one of the games is your favorite yet?

Carey: I like spinning the wheel.

Tavis: You like spinning the wheel? You know what I like? I like that thing when you drop the thing down there.

Carey: Plinko.

Tavis: Plinko, I love that thing, man.

Carey: Plinko's great. It's based on a Japanese game called pachinko. It's like a Japanese slot machine, and you put in the money and it goes -

Tavis: I love that thing.

Carey: It's everybody's favorite. People wear plinko shirts. I've already a couple of times - so many people wear "I want to play plinko" shirts that have actually - they've got to play plinko. So they have their plinko shirt and I go "Hey, guess what you're doing right now?" "I don't know." "You get to play plinko." And then they just go bananas. (Laughter) They just lose everything and fall down.

Honestly, people do their "I found Jesus" dance when they get - they're so happy they go right into the happiest thing they could find. And everybody at the - I tell this to audiences all the time - find this in another Hollywood place, another TV audience. They're rooting for strangers to do well. They're, like, screaming for them to win the money, helping them out and screaming for, and that's almost like, I found, like, the secret to life right there is, like, wanting strangers to do well.

Tavis: To do well.

Carey: Yeah. And they don't even know them; they've got nothing to do with them, (unintelligible).

Tavis: Well if you're in the audience or if you're at home, like I am, watching, you're living and celebrating vicariously through the person on stage. I like that.

Carey: Glad you bring that up. This is a really smart show; that's why I like coming to this show, and a lot of smart people watch this show. It's really like Carl Jung. It's like all that Joseph Campbell myth stuff. It's the strangers plucked from obscurity and they have to go through trials to get to their reward, and it's any old average person, and that's why everybody watching zones on somebody they relate to for some reason. He reminds me of a buddy of mine, he reminds me of me, whatever it is. And that's who you root for all the way through to the showcase.

Tavis: So why doesn't this work with Hillary and Barack?

Carey: Well, they're a lawyer (laughter) (unintelligible) lawyer.

Tavis: Yeah, they're not rooting for each other.

Carey: Oh, well, they (unintelligible), but that's the thing. When you have - I'm having a real trouble with this now in my stand-up act because I have to do - I'm doing Vegas next weekend. I'm only doing 15 minutes, but so much of my act is, like, attack-oriented, like this guy's an idiot, and this guy's stupid, and she's - and it's from before.

And I don't think like that. I'm getting so far away from that now. But when you're in politics, it's like everybody's telling you you've got to attack that other person, get that other person. It's not a loving; it's not a place of love. It's coming from a place of fear all the time.

Tavis: I totally agree with that. You're telling me - I think I just heard you say that "The Price is Right" is actually forcing you to change your stand-up, even.

Carey: Yeah. It's not just "The Price is Right," it's all this - it happened before "The Price is Right," but "Price is Right" really sealed that. You could see it in action there. It's one thing to have a theory, and then you see it in action and everybody walks out so much happier. And I tell them, I go, "My proof of what I'm saying, that if you want the best for others and treat others with love that it blesses your life, my proof is how good you feel right now and how happy you are when you walk out of the (unintelligible).

Tavis: But is it really the love or the new car?

Carey: It's the love. (Laughter) People in the audience are feeling good. They didn't win a new car. And you don't get the car till the show airs. (Laughter)

Tavis: And the show, like, never airs, right?

Carey: Yeah, we'll just (unintelligible). (Laughter)

Tavis: Before I let you go right quick, so "The Power of 10," how's that?

Carey: They're pulling to off (unintelligible).

Tavis: They're pulling it for the moment but they said they're going to bring it back in the summer, though.

Carey: I think so, yeah, I hope so. That's another really smart show. We ask a lot of tough questions on that show, and get real answers from people.

Tavis: You are Mr. Game Show Guy, man.

Carey: Yeah, I don't mind it. I like giving away other people's money. (Laughter)

Tavis: I've got to come see you.

Carey: Yeah, you do.

Tavis: Drew, I'm proud of you, man.

Carey: Oh, I'm really (unintelligible).

Tavis: Good to see you. I always enjoy our conversation. And congrats on the engagement.

Carey: Thank you, I love being on your show, it's a great show.

Tavis: You come back any time, man.

Carey: Thanks, man.

Tavis: And I'll come on yours if I can play plinko. (Laughter)

Carey: If you just want to come visit -

Tavis: I just want to come - I don't even want to go on air. I want to just come and just play plinko.

Carey: That can be arranged.

Tavis: Could we work that out?

Carey: Absolutely. If you want to bring your family, if you have, like, family visiting and they want to come see the show, we'll let you play plinko backstage.

Tavis: You should not have said that.

Carey: (Unintelligible.)

Tavis: I've got nine brothers and sisters who are all trying to get tickets to L.A. right now.

Carey: No problem.

Tavis: Drew Carey, I love him. "The Price is Right," of course, weekdays on CBS.

New at Reason

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:05:00 EST

In the Arizona desert, Drew Carey discovers a modern-day "Footloose" story. A few years ago, Dale and Spencer Bell built a family oriented steak house with outdoor seating, fire pits, lots of old western style, and live music. But beware if you get the urge to scoot your boots—county officials have invoked an anachronistic ordinance that bans dancing outside.

Reason in Wash Post: Meeting Every "Libertarian-as-Bacchus Fantasy You've Entertained"

gillespie@reason.com (Nick Gillespie) — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 11:46:00 EST

That's Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, agriculture, and the theater, not Jim Backus, a.k.a. Mr. Magoo, James Dean's father in Rebel Without a Cause, and Thurston Howell III.

The Washington Post's Style journeys to the end of the political night with the magazine of Free Minds and Free Markets and files a dispatch, titled "Reason's Libertarians, in Pursuit of Happiness."

Snippets:

Four minutes into Reason magazine's monthly bash at the Big Hunt lounge, and every Libertarian-as-Bacchus fantasy you've entertained plays out before your widening eyes....
"D.C. is a city of young fogies who think the only way to be pious is to wear ill-fitting suits" and obsess over politics, [reason editor Nick] Gillespie, 44, says later. "We're the only people that want to have fun."...
Reason['s] articles rang[e] from the expectedly wonky ("Is Rudy Giuliani a new Barry Goldwater or a new Bobby Kennedy?") to the snarkily cultural ("Say You Love Santa: Pop Culture's War on Secularists"). A recent issue lambasted the District's zero-tolerance drinking and driving policy -- cops can book anyone with a blood alcohol content over .01 -- and postulated that the Onion might be the best newspaper in the country....
Libertarianism is a hard sell for young, majority-Democrat Washington. Its free market philosophy must be carefully tempered with swinging promises: "Yeah, baby, I do oppose the minimum wage, but let's talk about it over an illegal substance or two, hmm? Bring a friend."...
It's not that they don't do politics. Of course they do politics. They are a political magazine. But they want you to know that they do politics far less than the other political magazines do politics. "Too often the conversations here are all about 'Oh, can you believe Al Gore did this?' " says Welch.
Adds Gillespie, "It's such a tedious debate. It's like how many Bill Buckleys can dance on the head of a pin."
To prove they are above all that nonsense, they have parties.
"We want to have interesting conversations about things," says Welch. "We want to drill home that culture matters."...
Several other times each month, Reason brings culture in the form of an afternoon roundtable, or a wine-and-cheese Q&A with Someone Controversial....
Reason's goal in Washington is not to agree with everyone, says Welch, but rather this: "We want to add a new bacteria to the culture."
And are you sure, they ask, that you wouldn't like a drink?

Read the whole thing here. Comment at the Post's site here.

Now Playing at Reason.tv: Drew Carey Exposes Eminent Domain Abuse in Hollywood

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 07:00:00 EST

Reason.tv host Drew Carey revisits the problem of eminent domain abuse following up on his earlier video, National City: Eminent Domain Gone Wild.

The City of Los Angeles used eminent domain to take a popular Hollywood bar and numerous other small businesses so that the city could hand the land over to private developers planning to build a W hotel and million-dollar condos. Fortunately, there's a better way to revitalize neighborhoods. In contrast to Hollywood, nearby Anaheim has found a way to encourage redevelopment by working cooperatively with property owners, without using the power of eminent domain.

Click here to watch Redevelopment: A Tale of Two Cities, now.

Redevelopment: A Tale of Two Cities

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:00:00 EST

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New at Reason: Drew Carey Defends Poker

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 12:49:00 EST

Maybe Dallas wouldn't be ranked as the 34th most dangerous city in America if Dallas police weren't devoting precious resources to raiding friendly poker games played by veterans. In his latest video for Reason.tv, Drew Carey examines a paramilitary-style raid on a poker game at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1837 in Dallas, which has now been forced to close its doors.

"Poker is about as American as baseball and apple pie," Carey says in the Reason.tv video. "It was born here in America. Mark Twain loved it. He's a great American. Until recently, Supreme Court justices had a monthly game. They're great Americans. You'd think playing poker in a VFW hall would be about as American as anything you could do."

"This story highlights the hypocrisy that surrounds gambling in this country," said Nick Gillespie, editor of Reason.tv. "States will gladly take your hard-earned money if you want to play the government's lottery. But if you sit down with some veterans to play Texas hold 'em you may end up with cops, in full riot gear, busting down your door. No one gets hurt when consenting adults sit down for a game of cards. And there's no reason for the government to get involved."

The busted poker players have a court date on December 5, 2007.

Watch the video here.

The Price of Defending Medical Marijuana Seems Right

gillespie@reason.com (Nick Gillespie) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 08:49:00 EDT

Reader Chucklehead sends along this widely reprinted AP story about Drew Carey, Reason.tv, and the reaction of The Price Is Right fans. Snippets:

"Smell that smell," the 49-year-old comedian says as he walks into a Los Angeles medical marijuana dispensary. "That's the smell of freedom."
The video is one of 20 Carey will host for the Reason Foundation, a nonprofit educational group whose ideas "some people call libertarian" and whose mission is to "advance freedom," said president David Nott.
Carey offered to produce brief documentaries on topics ranging from traffic congestion to immigration for the foundation's Web site, Nott said....
Though medical marijuana might be controversial, media experts and fans of "The Price Is Right" said Carey's political punditry will have little, if any, effect on the stalwart show or the comedian's career.
"Twenty years ago, this would have been career suicide," said longtime celebrity publicist Michael Levine. "But in the early part of the 21st century, a guy like Drew Carey can come out with his position, and it will not injure him."...
Since Carey is so new to "Price," he's taking a risk speaking out on such a controversial topic, said Bonnie Diczhazy, who runs a "Price Is Right" fan site. People naturally connect him with the show, said Diczhazy, a 38-year-old artist from Cleveland.
But his outspokenness could also earn him new fans.
"The younger generation could learn something," she said, adding that the medical-marijuana video "doesn't affect whether or not I watch the show at all."
"'Price Is Right' is an icon in and of itself," she said. "I don't think (Carey's videos) would stop people from watching."
Carey's mini-documentaries will appear every two weeks through the end of the year on Reason.tv, Nott said. Future topics include eminent domain, school choice and immigration.
Meanwhile, "The Price Is Right" host will continue to close daily episodes with Barker's traditional spay-and-neuter refrain.

Whole thing here.

Two reactions: I really hope The Price Is Right gets rid of the spay-and-neuter refrain and replaces it with a caution against bogarting that joint. And is there any show more inherently free-market-oriented than The Price Is Right, which teaches more about price theory and the subjective theory of value in an hour than most intro econ courses do in a semester.

Listen to Gillespie on NORML's Audio Stash, Discussing Medical Marijuana

gillespie@reason.com (Nick Gillespie) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 08:35:00 EDT

The good folks over at NORML interviewed me yesterday to talk about Drew Carey, medical marijuana, and possibilities for the drug war's end.

You can listen by going to Audio Stash and clicking on the link for November 1.

Question: Who Is the Meat in that Bizarre Jack Abramoff-David Frum Sandwich? Answer: D...

gillespie@reason.com (Nick Gillespie) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:43:00 EDT

...rew Carey, currently defending medical marijuana at Reason.tv and hosting The Price Is Right and The Power of 10.

The UK's Telegraph has ranked "The most influential U.S. conservatives" and though Drew is not a conservative, there he is riding high in the list. A snippet:

38. JACK ABRAMOFF
Former lobbyist

Currently serving a sentence of five years and 10 months in jail after pleading guilty to charges of corruption and defrauding American-Indian tribes, Abramoff went from being the go-to Republican lobbyist in Washington to "Jack who?" as his former associates sought to deny they knew him.

Ordered to pay restitution of more than $21 million, his case sparked an extensive corruption investigation that led to the conviction of two White House officials, a congressman and nine other lobbyists and congressional aides. The stench of corruption was a key factor in the Republican mid-term elections defeat of 2006. Abramoff's unwelcome - for Republicans - influence will continue into 2008.
39. DREW CAREY
Comedian and actor

A libertarian more than a conservative, Carey, presenter of "Whose Line is it Anyway?", has been coy about any connection to the Republican party -which can be the kiss of death in Hollywood. "Just because I make fun of Democrats doesn't make me a Republican," he quipped recently when asked about his politics.

Has aligned himself with the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank which has started an online series called The Drew Carey Project. Held a "smoke-in" in 1998 to defy anti-smoking laws and has spoken out against the Iraq war. Embracing the libertarian label, he said: ‘You don't know what you are sometimes until someone puts a name to it."
40. DAVID FRUM
Writer

Canadian journalist and former speechwriter to George W Bush who helped craft the "axis of evil" phrase. An ally of the neo-conservative Richard Perle, he has been a prominent support of the war against terror and a convinced hawk on the Middle East. Prolific blogger on National Review Online.

Has just written a book on the future of conservatism, to be published in December, entitled: Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again. An American Enterprise Institute scholar, Frum recently became a foreign policy adviser to Rudy Giuliani and could well return to the White House in a Giuliani administration.

Whole list of cons--and one of liberals, too--here.

For a variation on Drew's quote about not knowing what you are until someone puts a name on it, go to the source--Time--in which he notes:

I never thought I was a libertarian until I picked up Reason magazine and realized I agree with everything they had printed.

More here.

Drew Carey Defends Medical Marijuana

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 06:00:00 EDT

"I think it's clear by now that the federal government needs to reclassify marijuana. People who need it should be able to get it - safely and easily," says The Price Is Right and Power of 10 host Drew Carey in a new Reason.tv video examining medical marijuana and the war on drugs.

One of the most outrageous consequences of the war on drugs is the federal crackdown on medical marijuana, which is used by patients to help treat the effects of cancer, glaucoma, HIV-AIDS, chronic pain and nausea, and other severe symptoms associated with serious illnesses. Medical marijuana prescribed by a physician is legal in 12 states, yet the federal agents are raiding state-approved dispensaries and preventing patients from having safe access to this drug.

In Episode 2 of Reason.tv's Drew Carey Project, Drew takes a look at patients who need and use medical marijuana in California, and how the federal government is making their lives even worse.

Episode 1 of Reason.tv's Drew Carey Project, Gridlock, is here.

Now Playing at Reason.tv: Drew Carey Defends Medical Marijuana

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 05:49:00 EDT

Click on the image to see the full video.

"I think it's clear by now that the federal government needs to reclassify marijuana. People who need it should be able to get it - safely and easily," says The Price Is Right and Power of 10 host Drew Carey in a new reason.tv video examining medical marijuana and the war on drugs.

In Episode 2 of reason.tv's Drew Carey Project, Drew takes a look at patients who need and use medical marijuana in California, and how the federal government is making their lives even worse.

reason on medical marijuana here.