So I'm a Libertarian kind of guy

The kind of guy who believes in the right to bear arms (I spent my lunch hour looking at shotguns in a pawnshop today, which is odd because I don't own a single firearm), limited government, the abolitition of the Internal Revenue Service and the freedom to make your own choices in life. I don't like the nanny state, whether its banning smoking in bars (I'm a nonsmoker but think that the market should be allowed to decide such things), mandating motorcyle helmets and seatbelt laws or any other restrictive laws. I think its laughable that politicians, the same people who brought you the Department of Motor Vehicles and never run government on a budget now want to step in and run our private enterprise system. Thats why today is an important day in our history. Today is the 75th anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition, or as some of us celebrate it today, Repeal Day.

So why is Repeal Day important? Well, for one, its the only time in American history that one constitutional amendment has been repealed by another constitutional amendment. But more importantly, the great experiment with Prohibition didn't work. Instead, it created a criminal class to meet Americans thirst. It took the choice to have a cold beer or a glass of wine or a martini away from us as citizens and we let the government make this decision (and more importantly enforce this decision) for us. It almost sounds like the current War on Drugs doesn't it? If you want more information from a source that I support on that, please click here.

Where are we 75 years later? Is our right to choose an intoxicating beverage still at risk or has the passage of time strenghened our right to drink alcohol? Its surprising, but there are still temperance movements active in the United States, although some are much more subtle about it now than they were prior to Prohibition.
In fact, the third oldest active political party in the United States is the Prohibition Party. They still oppose all forms of alcohol as they say that the Bible is against consuming alcohol.It kills me that they (the Prohibition Party) try to misinterpret the word "wine" in the Bible as "juice". Wine contains alcohol, which kills pathogens. Jesus drank wine and beer or he wouldn't have made it to his 30s, its as simple as that. Making wine and beer was essential to peoples survival before modern sanitation, and no amount of twisting facts is going to change that.

So of course, we have the nuts over at the Prohibition Party still trying to relive the glory days of Carrie Nation swinging her axe, but what other groups have neo-Prohibitionist tendencies in 2008's America? How about MADD? MADD seems like a decent enough group right? Or have they turned into the modern equivalent of the Womens Christian Temperance Movement? Who could be against Mothers Against Drunk Driving? Well, how about the founder of MADD herself, Candy Lightner? Candy has stated, ""It has become far more neo-prohibitionist than I ever wanted or envisioned... I didn't start MADD to deal with alcohol. I started MADD to deal with the issue of drunk driving." David J. Hansen has a great article about MADD. We need to be aware that even today, December 6th 2008, there are people and elements in our society that want to take away our right to drink or restrict it to such a point that it becomes burdensome to exercise that right.

75 years is a long time. I hope that it continues and that it doesn't go the way of smoking which is all but illegal in a number of places. Tonight, I'm going to celebrate Repeal Day the best way that I know how- by preparing some classic Pre-prohibition cocktails for some of my fellow citizens who are choosing to excercise their right to consume alcohol. We live in a time of expanding government and decreasing individual liberties. Perhaps a little reflection on some of this will allow some of us to savor tonights libations just a bit more and hold onto our mugs a little more tightly. CHEERS!