David Brooks inadvertently argues for legal marijuana

Guest post by Ted Leibowitz

(Ed. note: To listen to some great music, check out Ted's BAGeL Radio. For my take on David Brooks's remarkably stupid column on marijuana, see here. -- MJWS)

Okay, so if you haven't yet, you really must read David Brooks recent op-ed in the New York Times, "Weed: Been There. Done That." decrying marijuana legalization. While reading, please replace the words "weed" and "pot" with "alcohol," and the words "high" and "stoned" with "drunk," and you'll get a sense of what a total douchebag Brooks is. Then read the rebuttal, "I Smoked Pot With David Brooks," written and published by an old friend of Brooks' referenced in the op-ed. It is genius, I tell you. GENIUS. Besides exposing Brooks as a self-righteous gasbag, it lays out just how weak and nonsensical the arguments against marijuana legalization really are.

Pardon me, but David Brooks should stick a bong up his ass

By Michael J.W. Stickings

One of the best responses to David Brooks's remarkably stupid column against marijuana legalization comes from The Nation's Michelle Goldberg, who writes this:

Brooks's lament about marijuana legalization is astonishing in its blindness to ruined lives and the human stakes of a serious policy debate. Somehow, he's written a whole column about the drug war that doesn't once contain the words "arrest" or "prison." It's evidence not just of his own writerly weakness but of the way double standards in the war on drugs shield elites from reckoning with its consequences.

And the obvious problem, except to lazy pontificators like Brooks, is that the "war on drugs" highly disproportionately targets non-whites. Rich white guys, or even just most white guys, smoke pot and get away with it. Not so much, say, blacks. And so Brooks's argument that marijuana should remain illegal because it doesn't promote "temperate, prudent, self-governing citizenship" is self-absorbed bullshit. It's the sort of bullshit I used to hear a lot of when I was a Straussian graduate student, when the cult of the ancients prevailed and we would distinguish ourselves from the nihilistic postmodern world around us by aspiring, at least in speech, to what we pretentiously thought of as higher form of citizenship, the sort of which Socrates might approve. (Actually, I thought this was bullshit back then as well, a simplistic perversion of Strauss's teachings, and I recoiled from it.) But I digress...

It's not that I object to "temperate, prudent, self-government citizenship." Liberal democracies require it to some degree, and it's when citizenship is perverted, when, say, we become consumers instead of citizens, that our democratic rights wither and we basically lose the capacity for self-government and indeed of enlightenment generally.

But it's ridiculous to connect this to marijuana use, unless of course Brooks wishes to ban alcohol as well, which is also ridiculous. Our concept of citizenship allows for a great deal of individual choice and freedom, and people in a free society should be allowed to do things that do not harm others and indeed in a free society the burden is on the government, the government of the people, to show that something is harmful and so should not be permitted. Driving 100 mph through a residential area or physically assaulting someone qualifies as something harmful or so potentially harmful that it is in society's interests to try to prevent it. Smoking pot doesn't. Not even close. You can smoke pot and be anything but a threat to others. You can also smoke pot and be a good citizen. But even if you smoke pot and don't vote, which I hardly recommend, so what? It's a free fucking country. No?

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Drunk Republicans?

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Salon:

In a Tuesday interview, Rep. Alan Grayson charged that Republican House members have been literally intoxicated while casting votes on the continuing resolutions that set the stage for today's government shutdown. Noting "a number of public reports that you can smell alcohol on their breath as they're voting gleefully to shut down the government and create chaos," Grayson said that he had personally witnessed GOP colleagues smelling like alcohol. "Many of them seem loaded," said Grayson. The Florida congressman declined to name names, saying, "it's the usual suspects," but that he didn't "really feel like getting that personal with people."

A spokesperson for Speaker John Boehner did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Politico reporter Ginger Gibson tweeted Saturday that she could "smell the booze wafting from members as they walk off the floor."

Grayson said he thinks on-the-job alcohol consumption by GOP House members has "been a problem all year long."

"It's a fact we all have to live with," Grayson told Salon, "and it's making them violent and abusive towards America."

Well, that would explain a lot, but for most people drinking booze doesn't turn them into right-wing extremists. So there are probably other reasons as well:

Grayson also blamed today's shutdown on Republicans' "anarchist ideology" and "blind hatred of government," saying they've become "the Captain Ahabs of 21st century American politics."

Well, it's more fascist than anarchist, but, yes, there is that blind hatred of government, although personally I wouldn't link them in any way to great American literature.

The point is, I don't think Republicans need alcohol to push their far-right agenda, nor to wage their relentless war against government, nor to wage their campaign of terrorism against President Obama, nor to shit all over the American people (other than their beloved plutocracy).

The alcohol probably just makes them even less coherent, and perhaps a little more violent as well.

Minnesota running out of booze, chaos expected

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Things are getting worse in Minnesota:

Hundreds of bars, restaurants and stores across Minnesota are running out of beer and alcohol and others may soon run out of cigarettes -- a subtle and largely unforeseen consequence of a state government shutdown.

In the days leading up to the shutdown, thousands of outlets scrambled to renew their state-issued liquor purchasing cards. Many of them did not make it.

Now, with no end in sight to the shutdown, they face a summer of fast-dwindling alcohol supplies and a bottom line that looks increasingly bleak.

"It's going to cripple our industry," said Frank Ball, executive director of the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association, which represents thousands of liquor retailers in the state.

The Ugly Mug, a popular bar near Target Field, doesn't have enough beer to get through the baseball season.

And how will Minnesotans possibly get through the upcoming Vikings season without beer?

This is the sort of thing that could lead to riots in the streets. One suspects that the first party to bring home the booze will be heralded like Caesar returning from one of his victorious campaigns and handed power for eternity by a rapturous populace.

As Homer Simpson once said, "alcohol is the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems." We don't quite know what to do without it.

And, in Minnesota, it, or rather its absence, may just bring the entire state to its knees.

Sign of the Apocalypse #72: Dead animal beer bottles

By Michael J.W. Stickings

My brother, who lives in the U.K., sent me this BBC article earlier today. I almost wish he hadn't. I'm disgusted:

A beer served in bottles made from stuffed animals has been criticised as "perverse" and "pushing the boundaries of acceptability".

The End of History, made by BrewDog of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, is 55% and £500 a bottle.

The bottles have been made using seven dead stoats, four squirrels and a hare, said to be roadkill.

However, Advocates for Animals and Alcohol Focus Scotland both condemned the marketing.

BrewDog claims the beer is the world's strongest and most expensive.

Its co-founder James Watt said: "We want to show people there is an alternative to monolithic corporate beers, introduce them to a completely new approach to beer and elevate the status of beer in our culture."

I'm all for strong beer, but 55%? And I'm all for alternatives to "monolithic corporate beers" -- I don't drink Bud or Coors or Molson or Labatts and prefer micro-brews -- but come on, seriously? This is ridiculous -- and completely unnecessary, and quite revolting.

"It's just bad thinking about animals, people should learn to respect them, rather than using them for some stupid marketing gimmick," said Libby Anderson of Advocates for Animals. "I think the public would not waste £500 on something so gruesome and just ignore it."

Well, one would hope so, but I have little confidence that "the public" will stay away. Sure, £500 is a lot of money, but someone will splurge, if only for the sheer novelty of drinking stupidly strong beer out of a dead animal.

It's gross, it's disrespectful, and it's SOTA #72.

(I've been remiss with respect to SOTA-blogging, but I'll try to get back to it. For other SOTAs, see the list on the right sidebar or click here.)

Island News: Alcohol, politics, and patronage

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I'm on vacation in PEI, as many of you know, and I thought I'd let you know what is currently the top story at The Guardian (the province's major newspaper -- which, according to its banner, "COVERS PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND LIKE THE DEW") website:

Major shake up coming at P.E.I. liquor commission

As expected, the appointment of a new commissioner, "one of the most coveted positions within the provincial bureaucracy," has generated controversy. The appointment is made by Cabinet (the Liberal government led by Premier Robert Ghiz), and the appointee is a current deputy minister, Brooke MacMillan.

In response, the Progressive Conservative opposition is calling it "a plum, patronage appointment."

Far be it from me to have much of an opinion on the matter, but I will say that the alcohol selection here is pretty bad.

There are some genuinely outstanding restaurants on the Island, and the food in general is fantastic, but the wine, beer, and spirits selection at the government-run liquor stores is nothing like what one finds not just in a major city like Toronto but even in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. There's almost no international beer to be found, and almost no Canadian wine (and we have some fine wine being made in Ontario and British Columbia). There are a few well-known international wines available, but not much variety, let alone quality. There's some decent scotch and whisky, but, again, not much variety. I'm enjoying the PEI-distilled grain vodka, but I'm waiting for the PEI-distilled potato vodka -- the liquor stores don't have any in at the moment, but, as you may know, the province is famous for its potatoes.

So whoever runs the liquor commission, and whether it's a patronage appointment or not, I just hope some effort is made to improve what is available to restaurants and, of course, to us, the consumers.

Not that I'm spending my vacation boozing it up or anything...

No doubt, Lou Dobbs will go Absolut-ely apocalyptic

By J. Thomas Duffy

If I were in the predictions game, I might go out, on a very short limb, and say Lou Dobbs will soon be calling for a boycott of Absolut Vodka.

The Right Wing Freakshow is all atwitter today, with an ad campaign that conjures up the image of the mythical land of Aztlan, apparently found on, or tipped off to, a blog of a Latin American Editor and Journalist.

In a perfect world, our loved ones wouldn’t die leaving us terribly saddened and alone. But in an “Absolut World,” wonderful things can happen, including getting the U.S.-Mexico border straight once and for all. (This print ad was taken from the current issue of Quién magazine, in Mexico City.)

Hmmm ... Think I'll have to whip up a batch of vodka-and-tonics tonight, kick back, and watch Lou Dobbs melt down.

Ahh, screw Lou Dobbs ...

Better to fire up some Ruben Blades.

Pedro Navaja. Ruben Blades & Seis del Solar



Azucar! Laura Martinez!

(Cross-posted at The Garlic.)

"I doubt I'd be standing here if I hadn't quit drinking whiskey, and beer and wine and all that."

By Michael J.W. Stickings

So said President Bush to ABC's Martha Raddatz yesterday.

And, to be fair, good for him. He beat a serious addiction. He was an alcohol abuser and possibly also a marijuana and cocaine user, but he got his life together and moved on.

(So, at least, we are told. The truth may be quite different.)

But be honest, don't you wish he hadn't quit drinking the whisky? Not that I wish him poor health, but if only that beverage, or one like it, had kept him from running for political office.

Imagine what a better world it would be if he weren't "standing here," giving interviews and taking reporters on tours of the White House almost seven years into one of the most truly horrendous presidencies in his country's history.

Yes, John, just imagine...

568.26 milliliters of your finest ale, my good man!

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Europe has finally come to its senses:

The European Commission today confirmed its decision to allow Britain and Ireland to keep some of their old imperial measurements so pubs can still serve pints and road signs will show miles instead of kilometres.

European Union rules drafted in 1999 aimed to phase out the imperial measures by 2009, but the EU's executive body decided on a U-turn in the face of public opposition.

The decision "honours the culture and traditions of Great Britain and Ireland, which are important to the European Commission," said Guenter Verheugen, the EU's industry policy commissioner.

I'm not so sure they are -- important to the EC, that is -- no matter how it's spun by Verheugen and his fellow centralizers. This was a case of public pressure trumping the totalitarian tendencies of Europe's regulation-happy technocrats.

Which is fine, really -- and rather gratifying.

Some things -- like the pint, like a pint of beer -- are sacred.

The Vodka Belt

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Several months ago, I mentioned that the regulation-happy European Union was looking into regulating vodka, specifically into restricting the use of the word vodka (much as the use of the word Champagne is restricted to sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France -- order "Champagne" in Germany, for example, and they might just give you some local Sekt). This made sense to me. I'm no fan of excessive regulation, but there is something to be said for clear standards -- that is, for vodka, not "vodka".

Well, it looks like a compromise has been reached. The definition of vodka will remain loose, but there will be transparency:

The European Parliament has voted down a bid by MEPs from Poland, Finland, the Baltic states, Sweden and Denmark to tighten the legal definition of vodka.

The so-called "vodka belt" countries wanted to restrict the term to spirits made only from potatoes or grain.

But a majority of MEPs voted in favour of a looser definition.

Vodka made from anything other than potatoes or grain will have to say so on the label -- but no minimum size for the declaration will be stipulated.

MEPs agreed on a looser definition taking in sugar beet, grapes and even citrus fruit, which are used as ingredients by producers in countries such as Britain, France and Germany. They account for nearly a third of EU vodka production.

The new definition is still tighter than the definition in use in the EU up to now.

Given that the European Union is a collection of countries dedicated as much to national self-interest as to some grander European ideal, if not more so the former than the latter, what seems to have happened here is that the Vodka Belt countries, whatever the worthiness of their cause, were simply outvoted. Consider that under this loose definition, as under the previous one, Britain remains the #2 vodka producer in Europe -- one hardly imagines vodka coming from Britain. British "vodka" is still vodka under this definition, and that's precisely what the lobbyists at the European Vodka Alliance wanted.

My advice? Buy and drink vodka, not "vodka". Or buy and drink "vodka" knowing that it's not really vodka -- and some of it is quite good, such as the French "vodka" made from grapes, Cîroc. Personally, I prefer the real stuff. In my freezer at this very moment can be found Stolichnaya, the fine Russian vodka made from wheat and rye, and a pure and quite robust vodka from Iceland called Reyka.

Obviously, though, be sensible.

Bad vodka

By Michael J.W. Stickings

When in Russia, avoid the samogon. With Putin having tripled the price of vodka while in office, Russians have been turning to this black market moonshine as an alcohol-delivering alternative. As the BBC reports, however, samogon is also called "the yellow death," and for good reason. Drinkers of samogon -- which the BBC correspondent says has a bouquet of "rocket fuel with a touch of boot polish" and which may contain a medical disinfectant as an additive -- turn "a vile shade of yellow," succumb to liver disease, and, in some cases, die. Some estimate as many as "10,000 poison cases and 1,000 dead" around the country.

An interesting and horrifying glimpse into the other Russia.

Vodka shots

By Michael J.W. Stickings

The European Union loves to regulate. And now -- it's all about vodka.

(I think I'm with the Scandinavians and Eastern Europeans on this one. But that's probably because I prefer Scandinavian and Eastern European vodka. Which is to say, I prefer vodka, not "vodka". I mean, there have to be clear standards, right?)