A Venerable Tradition Lives On

While perusing my favourite Gulf Coast newspaper, I was surprised to see that the powers that be in my home state had been busy carrying out raids on local liquor entrepreneurs. In this day and age when it is commonplace to see stories about police raids on growers and users of marijuana and other drugs, it was reassuring to my freedom loving soul to see that the venerable tradition of back woods distilling is still going strong. And it pained me to see that the purveyors of this product are still being persecuted, all in the name of taxation.

I remember hearing about moonshining operations on the Gulf Coast when I was a boy. Unfortunately, I was much too young to support these at the time and I live much to far away to lend my support now, (if I still imbibed), but it warms my heart to know that the very thing that got my great grandfather a stretch in Parchman Prison is still a going concern.

That government Revenuers still go out of their way to destroy stills and imprison these people says a great deal about the state of affairs in this country. 212 years after the crushed Whiskey Rebellion, the government still wants its money and is willing to imprison people and destroy their property to get it. Forget flags with snakes and canon on them, we should be flying a flag with a whiskey still on it in memory and honour of those brave souls who stood against the first tyrant and traitor to the Revolution, George.

Here's hoping that the 'shiners of the Coast keep on making their Jourdan River Dew and avoid the revenuers!

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Libertarian, Moon Shine, Mississippi, Gulf Coast