Monday, January 31, 2005

Get out of the liquor business

One time when we were down at Hilton Head, a woman with a British accent came up to me in the grocery store (that big one with the good sandwiches, I don't remember the name) and she asked where was the liquor. (Why she chose me as likely to know the answer, I couldn't say.) I tried to explain to her that in fact, the only liquor sold in the state was through the state-run stores, of which there was one nearby. Why would that be, she asked, not knowing that everyone in the U.S. is an historian and constitutional scholar. I think it has something to do with the constitutional amendment that undid Prohibition, which amendment gave broad powers over liquor to the states, I replied. (Every detail struck her as more and more bizarre. "Prohibition?" she wondered.)

Here Waldo comments on legislation that made it out of committee that would get the Commonwealth out of the liquor business.

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