VA behaving badly

[Jerry D Mead]

The ARAA item is not a news story as it appears, but a press release from the WSWA front organization.

If any of you are into letter writing campaigns, either to this dupe in Virginia, to ARAA or WSWA (same thing) themselves, or to be prepared to deal with other media that may pick this garbage up...here are some questions to ask...comments to make.

Once again...every cited example of delivery to a minor is part of an adult (usually police or anti-alcohol fanatic organization) sting. There is still not ONE instance to be found of a non-sting minor delivery. I've been challenging the oponents of interstate shipping for 20 years or more to come up with real minors receiving shipments, and they have yet to come up with one.

What is an elected public servant doing serving as the front for a fat cat special interest group?...and it might be pointed out to the attorney general of Virginia that his predecessor as front man for this group (the former attorney general of New York, Dennis Vacco) lost his relection campaign at least partially because of the wrath of wine-loving New Yorkers who saw through his lies and duplicity.

Ask ARAA (or other oponents of direct to consumer interstate shipping) why they never say anything about INTRASTATE direct to consumer shipping. Vacco screamed about shipments coming in from other states and threatening minors, without ever acknowledging that UPS/FedEx/Common Carrier shipments from retailers, wineries and wine clubs within the state of New York are perfectly legal and have been for as long as anyone can remember. So why is a minor less likely to receive an illegal shipment from a New Jersey winery than he is from one in New York, when both are likely delivered by the same shipping firm? There is no answer.

ARAA and WSWA do not speak out against IN STATE shipping because they know their retailer customers would be all over them like a duck on a june bug, not to mention the wrath of local agricultural interests, including grapegrowers and vintners. It's much more politically acceptable to pick on some "foreign" merchant in another state.

ARAA & WSWA are not only criminalizing the image of all licensed beverages by relegating them to the status of evil alcohol from which we need to be protected, but they have aligned themselves with the alcocops who are usually their adversaries and with anti-alcohol fanatics such as MADD, SADD and WCTU, all of which are supporters of ZERO TOLERANCE and would like nothing better than to put the wholesalers and everyone else connected with wine, beer and spirits out of business. WARNING WSWA: Lay down with dogs...you will get up with fleas.