Alcoholism and Politics.

I do not consider myself to be a connoisseur, nor do I think of myself as a lush. I enjoy beer and wine and, over a relatively long lifetime, have consumed my share of both. In a previous incarnation, alcohol was part of my professional life. In Thailand, and Turkey, and Okinawa, and Germany I would go to two or three "events" every evening of every week of the year and the consumption of alcohol was part of the drill. I had to keep my wits about me and had to manage my intake so I would usually select the inevitable martini from one of the early trays that circulated. I vehemently dislike gin and so, no matter how absorbed I was in my conversation, I would avoid over-drinking. Every time I would bring the glass close, I would get a whiff of the evil brew and move it away from my face. I found it a lot easier to sell America to foreigners if I was sober and they were tipsy.

I also believe that "spirits" can be useful in "breaking the ice," and I have, on several occasions, employed them for that purpose. The most theatrical was in Viet Nam, when I broke up a lynching by landing a helicopter on top of the event and taking the would be ring leaders into a bunker and convincing them that I would kill them if anything happened to my colleague. A 45 pistol and a bottler of Hennessy VSOP played important roles in the drama. Unlike gin, I really like cognac, and at the height of my debauchery, I was able to consume large amounts of it without noticeable effect. (My Vietnamese colleague was not killed, but I lost track of him after Saigon collapsed.)

All this as prelude to my belief that both drunkenness and abstinence are harmful to life in the real world. It is but one more example of human stupidity. Some of us think that giving ourselves to the bottle is acceptable and others believe that all will be well if we manage to avoid the evil brew. I see politics exactly the same way. Some of us take conservatism to ridiculous ends while others bask in imaginary liberalism. If I were able, I would grab a bottle of wine, gather all humans and move us to a cave deep in the earth, where I would put an atomic bomb on the table and inform them that I would blow them up if they did not find a way to get along.   (If I were younger it would be cognac, but the message would be exactly the same.)