In this week's Shallow Thought Wednesdays post, John Lindner sticks it to state lawmakers. I think he should take them out for a beer -- or a glass of wine -- and patch things up. LV
If you disagree that wine is food, then this STW violates every cherished rule the previous management erected to keep scoundrels like me from running roughshod over the D@L terroir. Not only is the following post shallow, it's divisive and politically charged. I apologize in advance. Or, as they say in Annapolis, "Thank you for understanding."
I'm delighted to hear that Mother Maryland has seen fit to protect us from the horrors of interstate wine shipment. Oh whatever would we do without our noble champions?
The good nannies predict that a bill freeing adults to purchase wine from vineyards (or wherever) and accept the consequent out-of-state shipments into Maryland is unlikely to pass this year (as reported by
Julie Bykowicz in the Baltimore Sun). Or any other year for that matter.
Unlikely? Why not cock a snook in our general direction and be bold about it: "We're not going to upset the gravy train for a pack of budget-conscious winos."
Instead, we get this smarmily contemptible : "'If just one teen is able to buy and consume wine over the Internet*, and then goes out and kills someone', [Baltimore County Liquor Board Chairman Thomas] Minkin said, 'how could lawmakers live with themselves?'"
The answer: "Without a moment's difficulty."
The picture Minkin paints of conscience-tortured lawmakers pacing their bedrooms at night because a teenager ordered a case of Malbec and then drove off into a manslaughter is beyond laughable. Would that lawmakers were so concerned about the consequences of their decisions.
Or maybe they just sell better mattresses in the 37 states that allow interstate wine shipments? I guess in DC, where Internet wine purchases and interstate shipment is legal, what's one wine-sotted homicidal teenager more or less? But we sure wouldn't want their ilk in our neck of the woods. We're a peace-lovin' neighborhood.
I don't think the nannies' unwillingness to liberate Maryland wine drinkers would bother me so much if they'd just admit that it's all about the money. In this case, the liquor lobby is stuffing the coffers of state legislators. I get that.
Again from the story: "The liquor lobby that protects the system is one of the top campaign contributors, giving to more than 80 percent of the 188 General Assembly members - all of whom are up for election this fall." Put that in your Riedel and suck on it.
By the way, it's apparently illegal for you to ship wine to a free state and then bring that wine across Maryland state lines.
Well well. That should keep those crazed teenagers at bay.
*Just out of curiosity, how does one consume wine over the Internet? Am I missing an app?
Photo by Elvis Santana courtesy Stock Xchng