Posted on 10/03/2011 10:53:27 AM PDT by MichCapCon
If you’ve ever seen a Ken Burns documentary, you’re familiar with their use of faded photos, archival video and interviews with renowned historians. Films like “The Civil War,” “Thomas Jefferson” and “Lewis & Clark” bring the past to life despite the decades of distance between the subject matter and the viewers. No doubt, his newest documentary, “Prohibition,” which premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. PBS, promises to offer a thorough historical examination of American life during the period around the 18th Amendment’s rise and fall. The three-part series focusing on Prohibition’s past, however, may lead the viewers to believe that every aspect of it ended a long time ago. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
The documentary notes, “[P]rohibition turned law-abiding citizens into criminals, and criminals into kings,” “It made a mockery of the justice system, caused illicit drinking to seem glamorous and fun, encouraged neighborhood gangs to become national crime syndicates, permitted government officials to bend and sometimes even break the law…” Unfortunately that is still the case today. The regulatory scheme enacted to “safely reintroduce” alcohol into society following Prohibition’s repeal has grown into a labyrinth of state-based rules, resulting in a number of negative consequences — many similar to those of Prohibition.
(Excerpt) Read more at michigancapitolconfidential.com ...
What these folks are missing is that it’s not just corporate influence on gov’t. It’s gov’t abuse of its power. The corruption goes both ways.
It’s not just corrupt business folks trying to get gov’t to give them a bigger market share, it’s corrupt gov’t folks giving businesses a hard time if they don’t ante up into the game.
Politicians love to be able to grant favors to friends and ignore, if not outright harm, enemies. If gov’t didn’t do that, there wouldn’t be as much of a need for lobbyists.
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I live in a dry county. At every opportunity I tell people that prohibition was one of the most stupid things our country ever did, and our county is so stupid it is still doing it.
And the counties are so small around here that I can just drive to the border of the next county and get whatever I want, and all the tax dollars go into that county. Kinda funny, actually.
oops, had two windows open at the same time.
My post above does not apply here.
When government treats the citizenry as children, it gets exactly that....
Social engineering through legislation. It’s a short step between telling someone they can’t by booze to telling someone what lightbulb they can use.
—a phenomenon economist Bruce Yandle dubbed “Bootleggers and Baptists,”—
Yep. Where I live there is a Babdis church behind every bush. And there really is still the “we’ll all be awash in collapse if we allow booze to be sold here” attitude.
But every election year it’s on the ballot. And every year we get closer to appeal. Last year we became a “moist” county. That means you can get alcohol, in the form of beer or wine, with your meal at a restaurant. But that’s it.
By next year or the year after it will probably finally be appealed.
I wish my town was dry, I don’t need drunk strangers pissing on the lawn at 4am.
Well, there is that “living right next to the bar” thing.
Well, there is that “living right next to the bar” thing.
No, not really. When prohibition was passed, if someone wanted to be law-abidding, they could simply stop drinking. No one was forcing them to drink alcoholic beverages. They didn't have to drink them to survive. If they broke the law, it was because they chose to do so.
I'm not addressing prohibition itself - just this silly comment.
Is Jack Daniels still made in a dry county? I always found that little factoid to be hilarious.
I don’t know. I believe it is the only “famous” Tennessee bourbon. I was at the Bourbon festival in Bardstown a few weeks ago. Lots to choose from but I don’t remember seeing Jack Daniels.
I drove by the Jim Beam main plant, Heaven Hills and Makers Mark plant yesterday and I believe they are all in Marion county, Kentucky. That is not a dry county.
Yes, Lynchburg is dry. In that part of the country, I guess running a still in a dry county is a time-honored tradition. ;-)
You didn’t see Jack at the Bourbon festival, because it isn’t bourbon, it is sourmash whiskey.
Jack Daniel's probably wasn't invited, it being a Tennessee Whiskey rather than a bourbon. It's the charcoal-filtering that takes it down an "unorthodox" path, IIRC.
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Yes, Lynchburg is dry. In that part of the country, I guess running a still in a dry county is a time-honored tradition. ;-). <<<
And NASCAR is very grateful for said tradition. ;-)
But usually, such stills don’t advertise. LOL!
Apparently, you did not read my full post. I explicitly indicated I was not talking about prohibition itself. I simply stated that it was silly to claim that passing the law forced people to become lawbreakers. If they broke the law, they did so by choice.
But usually, such stills don’t advertise. LOL!
Ever hear of the "moonshine" being made right at the racetrack? Apparently it did happen (containers of White Lightning were stored in a hollowed-out area beneath one of the banked turns):
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Middle Georgia Raceway, Macon, Ga.
This half-mile paved oval welcomed the NASCAR big leagues nine times between 1966 and 1971, four of those races were run by Richard Petty, two by Bobby Allison and one each by David Pearson and Bobby Isaac — all Cup champions.
In 1968, government agents raided the racetrack as part of a major illegal liquor sting. A secret door located in the ticket booth led to a ladder, which descended 35 feet to another hidden entrance. That trap door led to a 150-foot tunnel, which ended at a cave beneath the track infield. Inside the cave was a gigantic moonshine still, which was promptly shut down and the track owner was sent to the slammer.
The race, however, was run as planned and won by Pearson enroute to his second series
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Closed since the early 1980s, this track may be stirring to life once again. The current land owner, his plans to resubdivide it and sell the new parcels at a profit squashed by the economic downturn, has spruced the place up and hosted classic car events and rented the place out to car manufacturers for TV ads. See the recent Dodge Durango ad on YouTube.
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