The Philadelphia triumverate of Pat Croce, Larry Brown, and Billy King (a black man who, as a Duke undergrad, served as an intern for Jesse Helms) have come off patronizing and moralistic in their condemnation of prodigal prodigy Allen Iverson.

What Iverson was arrested for, carrying marijuana and a weapon in his own car, may be considered illegal by the statist mores of the day. But, historically speaking, we would be remiss to call his actions "wrong". English philospher John Locke, in his Second Treatise (the work which our Declaration of Independence is founded on), says that freedom and property preceed government. Guns, dope, they ain't nothing but property. The government has no right to deprive Allen Iverson, or any other American citizen, the right to property. To do so would violate the trust established with the creation of government, which requires it to uphold civil socity through the protection of property.

And let's be honest, the reason Ive is catching so much grief is that he represents the kids, myself included, the Hip-Hop Generation. C'mon, NBA players get busted for weed all the time: The Chief, Mookie, Larry Krystowiak. There's a readon the NBA doesn't have any rules regarding marijuana: if they tested for it there'd only be six or seven guys left, all of them Mormons and Muslims.

But now this crazy kid with the braids and the posse, that disprespecter of Der Jordan, when he smokes a joint or exercises his Second Amendment rights, Pat Croce and Friends act as if he'd shaved points or something. Hey, old man, if you don't like it, why don't you trade him?

Peace to Ive. Like KRS said almost ten years ago, "Hip-hop rules, Hip-Hop rules, and these other industries out here can't take it."