Be Merry!!!
Here’s how he answered:
"If you mean whisky, 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 men and women from the pinnacles of righteous
and gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, shame,
despair, helplessness, and hopelessness, then, my friend, I am opposed
to it with every fibre of my being.
"However, if by whisky 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
good 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 pounds 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 favour of it.
"This is my position, and as always,
I refuse to compromise on matters of principle."
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