Spiritus Ferminti... Nothing Like Taking a Stand and Sticking with It!

I woke up on this fine Election Day thinking about Judge "Soggy" Sweat and his famous comments on the legal status of whiskey in Mississippi back in the 1950's.

I've heard many a politician in Mississippi (usually with a few shots of whiskey in them) take to the floor of a deer camp or the bed of a trailer at a fish fry and dramatically recite Judge Soggy's stand on whiskey to great laughter and applause.

Why was I thinking about it this morning... on this Election Day... I'm not sure... I suppose a moral in the Judge's remarks is certainly about perspective.

This is a good day for perspective.

I hope you enjoy.

Judge Noah S. “Soggy” Sweat, Jr., in the Mississippi Legislature, 1952 (circa.) His views on spiritus ferminti:

You have asked me how I feel about whiskey; well, Brother, here's how I stand.If by whiskey you mean the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean that evil drink that
topples Christian men and women from the pinnacles of righteous and gracious living into the bottomless pits of degradation, shame, despair, helplessness, and hopelessness, then, my friend, I am opposed to it with every fiber of my being.

However, if by whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the elixir of life, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer, the stimulating sip that puts a little spring in the step of an elderly gentleman on a frosty morning; if you mean that drink that enables man to magnify his joy, and to forget life's great tragedies and heartbreaks and sorrow; if you mean that drink the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars each year, that provides tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitifully aged and infirm, to build the finest highways, hospitals, universities, and community colleges in this
nation, then my friend, I am absolutely, unequivocally in favor of it.

This is my position, and as always, I refuse to be compromised on matters of principle.