Wine Politics Again! (fwd)

[Anonymous]

On Fri, 9 May 1997, Tim May wrote:

> At 4:09 AM -0800 5/9/97, Robert Hettinga wrote:
> >--- begin forwarded text
...

> >Hello friends of the Virtual Vineyards and family wineries. Remember the
> >felony direct shipping law in Georgia I wrote about a few weeks ago? Well,
> >Governor Miller signed it, unfortunately. Ship a bottle of wine, go to
> >jail. Amazing.

It should go without saying that this is a classic case of a dumb bill,
being passed to serve the special interest of liquor store owners.

> Chiles and his co-conspirators should be shot for high crimes against the
> Constitution. After Clinton, Freeh, Kerrey, and the other traitors.

It should go without saying that the above is nonsense.  Sorry Tim.  To
take only the least obvious point:  the Constitution states in Amendment
21 -- ratified in 1933 and beyond any argument part of our Constitution --
that states get to make all the rules about the transportation or
importation of liquor into their jurisdiction.  You may not like this
rule, but it is beyond any serious argument our law.  A state that uses
this power in a stupid way is not acting in any sense
"unconstitutionally".  Supporters of this bill can be called "dumb" or
"bought and paid for" or other unkind things.  But I fail to see how
exercising a constitutional right can be a crime against the constitution. 
 
[... ugly stuff about "soft targets"]

It ill behooves participants in a democracy to either advocate or even
tolerate or even cluck sympathetically at mass murder for political ends. 
This way lies Bosnia.

A. Michael Froomkin        | +1 (305) 284-4285; +1 (305) 284-6506 (fax)
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