WSWA propaganda

[Kcwhippet]

Well, Jaunita's at it again. Check this out.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=679&u=/usatoday/20030519/cm_usatoday/5168683&printer=1

[Bucko]

Embarrassing that USA Today would give the story notice..... very obvious bias and an agenda to fill.

[Thomas]

My brother-in-law, David Kiley, writes for that rag. He covers Detroit's auto industry, but he knows the guy in charge of the wine division, who is not...enough said.

David loves wine and he loves freedom too.I am going to write him a note.

[Drew]

Very poor reporting, IMHO.

Drew

[Thomas]

I sent the following letter to the USA Today Editor:


We should all send a letter.

Juanita Duggins was lucky to get a byline in USA Today, but what she submitted as news written by an industry CEO was really only a press release written by an industry lobbyist. The story was filled with claims for which the writer offered no substantiated facts, but a few of her specious arguments cry out for a response.

Ms. Duggins would have us believe that the Internet lures scores of under-age drinkers to spend hundreds of dollars on cases of wine, and then more dollars on shipping costs, for that big Friday night party blast. I can't even begin to address the ludicrous nature of that fear-inspiring nonsense. Duggins claims that children buy grain alcohol online. Assuming she tells the truth, and it is a rampant problem, all that need be done is to regulate grain and spirits online, but not table wine, which is a civilized and, thanks to distributors and taxes, an expensive product that children do not go after for a quick, cheap high. The real reason for Ms. Duggins' fear rhetoric is that she is paid to protect alcohol distributors; to do so, she employs pseudo facts from an arsenal of meaningless paragraphs.

Duggins reveres the US Constitution, especially the 21st Amendment. But she engages in selective reverence. The Commerce Clause of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution forms the basis for free trade between and among states, trade that is restricted by the 21st Amendment, in direct conflict with the 4th Amendment. Thanks to a skittish congress after the Repeal of Prohibition, alcohol distribution remains the only federally-sanctioned commercial monopoly in the United States. We all know the effect of a monopoly on access and prices, not to mention how it benefits corporate profits; Duggins is concerned with the latter only.

One more point: Duggins calls alcohol a "controlled substance." What a nice touch of inflammatory language, if only it were true. Alcohol is a regulated product. Controlled substances (mainly narcotics) are dispensed by prescription only, written by an MD and filled by a licensed pharmacist.

[Innkeeper]

Excellante'!

[Kcwhippet]

Juanita, unfortunately, is really nothing more than just another highly paid political hack hired to act as the mouthpiece. It's clear she doesn't actually understand what she's spouting because she mouths the same words over and over, even after her hollow arguments have been proved false. In a previous life she was with the National Food Processors Association where her two claims to fame were supporting the use of substantial amounts of agricultural chemicals and getting the Delaney Clause stricken from protective legislation. The Delaney Clause would have prohibited the presence of known carcinogens in processed foods. After that she was the VP of Federal Relations for Philip Morris where she stridently opposed regulating tobacco advertising - remember Joe Camel. Apparently she seems to be against many things that are for the public good. Actually the person who's more dangerous than her in the WSWA is Craig Wolf, their longtime general counsel. I've had dialogues with Craig where he's spouted the exact same arguments they're still espousing, years before Juanita came along.

[ShortWiner]

Great letter, Foodie. Way to tell 'em off in fine style. That article made me grit my teeth. As someone who loves both wine and teenagers, I can testify to the fact that online wine buying is very low indeed on the list of threats to American youth.

[Thomas]

Wait a minute! You love teenagers...now that's a confession we can live without.

[ShortWiner]

Hehe, ok, perhaps poor phrasing there on my part. What I meant was, I work with teens a lot, and well, I DO love them! Their unique outlook and energy and passion and apathy. My wife and I directed a summer camp for teens for five years in the Berkshires, I've worked in a group home for teens, and I even wrote my undergrad thesis on building positive relationships between teens and adults. Part of that thesis focused on society's responses to adolescence, and the importance of NOT doing stupid things like banning online wine sales because of the remote possibility that a teenager might get a sip. Teens are as perceptive as the rest of us, and they understand the hidden message in such a move: we fear you and your possibilities. That's not my idea of positive youth development. But I could go on and on...

[Thomas]

..know exactly what you mean..I worked with teens in the Big Brother program.