Washington: King of the Hooch

Thank you, GW. No, not you, Mr. Spending Fiend, I'm talking about the OG gee-dub. That's right, George Washington.

If you're anything like me, you've brewed your own beer. And, if you're anything like me, you ran into stiff opposition from roommates and significant others who complained of the stench of hops and bleach (no, bleach is not an ingredient in beer). If only I could have invoked our nation's Foundingest Founding Father as my ally in defense of homebrewed alkeehol.

MOUNT VERNON, Va.--Although George Washington was born 275 years ago tomorrow, most Americans think they know a great deal about him. He led American soldiers in winning our independence from Britain. He was the nation's first president. He adorns our dollar bill and a new dollar coin. But how many people know he was also a leading businessman, probably the No. 1 whiskey producer in all of colonial America?

Not me, thank you very much. The inestimable John Fund (actually, I'd estimate him to be more than a tad over 200, based on my one personal encounter, but that's neither here nor there) has a fun column on the subject.

Of course, I think I'll stick to my beer instead of bathtub gin...I sampled the re-created product--made of 60% rye, 35% corn and 5% malted barley--during the recent dedication of the rebuilt distillery. Truth to tell, while the color was a pleasing amber with reddish tones, the taste was more reminiscent of moonshine than today's bourbons. In Washington's time, "quality" was a term that referred to the alcohol content far more than the complexity of the distilling process.

Indeed. A mistake that many of us have made, even unto the present.

Federalist Friendliness

Often when slogging through a paper or completing another assignment, I've found myself wondering why I read so little. I pledge that the moment I can be done with this task for school, I'll throw myself into the real reading I ought to be doing.

At some point, I finally figured out that the real reading was precisely that which I ought to have been doing for school all along. Of course, I tend to still forget that point.

Today has been one of those days. I just received a brand-new copy of The Constitution of Liberty and have been glancing at it longingly. The paper du jour, something for a class on national security, seemed like the obstacle to happiness, until I found myself reading through the Federalist Papers, searching for a quote. Coming across the passage below, I reminded myself of the happy fact that the days of "school" being synonymous with "eating a sack lunch and listening to a peg-legged woman try to teach you algebra" are long gone.

So numerous indeed and so powerful are the causes which serve to give a false bias to the judgment, that we, upon many occasions, see wise and good men on the wrong as well as on the right side of questions of the first magnitude to society. This circumstance, if duly attended to, would furnish a lesson of moderation to those who are ever so much persuaded of their being in the right in any controversy. And a further reason for caution, in this respect, might be drawn from the reflection that we are not always sure that those who advocate the truth are influenced by purer principles than their antagonists. Ambition, avarice, personal animosity, party opposition, and many other motives not more laudable than these, are apt to operate as well upon those who support as those who oppose the right side of a question. Were there not even these inducements to moderation, nothing could be more ill-judged than that intolerant spirit which has, at all times, characterized political parties. For in politics, as in religion, it is equally absurd to aim at making proselytes by fire and sword. Heresies in either can rarely be cured by persecution.

Of course, Barry Goldwater would "remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice!" I would remind Barry Goldwater of Plato's depiction of democracy (and the more extreme sentiments of some modern libertarians) demonstrate quite the opposite.

Somewhat related is the drunken quote of a friend of mine (in the midst of a late night discussion of Iraq). Said friend expressed his frustration with the country's fledgling democracy with the cry, "Democratize, dammit!"

I guess that's the exact opposite of Hamilton's warning against "making proselytes by fire and sword" when it comes to politics.

What is the meaning of all of these bits and pieces? That I should get back to work. Later.