Prohibitionists Respond to Repeal: Bootlegging, Racketeering, and Kidnapping Will Go Up Now! You'll Come Crawling Back, Just Wait and See!

A flashback to 1933

Seventy-nine years ago today, Utah, of all states, delivered the killing blow that brought the national prohibition of alcohol to an end. In honor of Repeal Day—and with an eye on what may be the early stages of an end to the war on marijuana—here's a flashback to December 1933, as prohibitionists watched their achievement crumble:

That's just the opening of the article; you can read the rest here.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

It's true. Everything that prohibition brought us will go through the roof once it's repealed.

[The Late P Brooks]

How dast they reject the yoke of morality imposed upon them by their betters?

[Episiarch]

Siege of lawlessness? Like the previous 10 years? Were they retarded? Oh, wait, I forgot they were liars. Good to know the media was just as fucking repulsively mendacious back then too.

[Hyperion]

You are all smug and cocky now, but just wait until the hordes of reefer maddened face eating zombies take over the streets of Denver and Seattle, feasting on the flesh of the innocent childins. Then you will be sorry, then you will be begging for the DEA to save us, no matter how many puppies have to be shot in the saving!

[Episiarch]

I have three decks, am four and five stories off the street, and have multiple long guns with scopes. NO ONE IS GETTING UP HERE. Just because Rick had to kill Shane doesn't mean anything.

Oh sorry, spoiler.

[Corning]

I have three decks, am four and five stories off the street

So in other words after two days without water you will have to come down from there.

[protefeed]

A shotgun would be more useful than long guns with a scope. All you have to do is keep them from getting in your front door. If they are far enough away that a scope is needed, they are someone else's problem.

[tarran]

Siege of lawlessness?

Hey mister "You live in a state of anarchy but don't know it.", they are making your point, and you criticize them?

I'll bet you think cheese and tomato sauce splashed on a thin, unleavened cracker is "pizza" too.

[affenkopf]

plus ?a change, plus c'est la m?me chose

[affenkopf]

bot let me post french, i'm surprised

[Hyperion]

Hey, we only post in Amurikan round here. We don't take kindly to no furiners.

[Doctor Whom]

Indeed. I think affenkopf is here to steal our jerbs.

[some guy]

Speaking french and doing work are mutually exclusive abilities.

[sarcasmic]

"The most venomous reptile that ever crept into the human Eden is liquor. The 18th amendment was designed to scorch that reptile. Nor did prohibition corrupt officials. It unfortunately found corrupt officials."
"By all means make it smart to be legal but make it unhealthy not to be legal."

No amount of logic or reason can sway emotional morality.

[Hyperion]

"The most venomous reptile that ever crept into the human Eden is liquor

And here I have thought all of this time that it was wimin folk.

[Rod Flash]

"Nor did prohibition corrupt officials. It unfortunately found corrupt officials."

Actually, I think he was right about this one. The problem is that they didn't (and still don't) have to look very hard to find them.

[R C Dean]

The most venomous reptile that ever crept into the human Eden is liquor.

Not, you note, opium or cocaine, which were hardly unknown as recreational drugs at the time. No, people who had first-hand experience with booze and other drugs were quite sure that by far the worst of them was liquor.

So what did we do? Legalize the worst drug, and start a war on all the less harmful ones.

[Hyperion]

A high percentage of the prohibitionist women were stoned out of their gourd most of their waking hours on bitters and other so called medicinal concoctions that were various mixtures of alcohol and opiates. For strictly medical reasons of course, they had a plethora of mysterious illnesses, you see.

[$park?]

Patriarchal oppression being the main one.

[Groovus Maximus]

For strictly medical reasons of course, they had a plethora of mysterious illnesses, you see.

DX'd under the handy dandy DRG innovated by Sigmund Fraud, AKA "Hysteria".

Elixirs are still quite popular
OTC meds, by the by. Ever heard of cough medicine?"*

* PDF format, but very short.

[Warty]

WAY TO FUCK UP THE LINK YOU IDIOT

[Groovus Maximus]

Fine, fine. You know, Wartington, a simple "YOU SF'D THE LINK!" would have sufficed. And to think I was actively seeking fresh UKR Wimminz for you. You really are an ingrate. -P

[Warty]

I recently learned that you can get codeine cough medicine without a prescription, you just have to sign a book that they keep behind the counter. PURPLE DRANK, YO

Also, please continue finding me women who look like Luba.

[Warty]

No, no. Do continue finding me Lubas.

[Warty]

No, no. Do continue finding me Lubas.

[Warty]

GODDAMMIT SPAM FILTER STOP PREVENTING ME FROM POSTING LINKS TO LUBA SHUMEYKO

[Groovus Maximus]

You really need to learn Cyrillic. Why can't you be more like Jimbo and Ted S.? Even Fried Aquatic Avian. You are completely useless. -D

Seriously NSFW!!!!

[Warty]

Yes, I will take one of each.

[Brett L]

Ye gods of monocles and spats. I would get tossed out of Eden for them anytime. God would need a team of cherubim to drag me off of that.

[Warty]

And now you understand why Doc fled to the land of famines and radiation.

[Ted S.]

Nowadays they call it fibromyalgia.

[nicole]

Sunday night I was listening to some weird program on NPR, and I went and looked for the link later because I wanted to show you all how terrible it was, but it's something they cheap out on too much to transcribe. Anyway, it was unreal--this guy was completely fellating Prohibitionists. He said something like, "This was really the first time people in rural America felt the federal government was doing something for them...people talk about how it was the New Deal that was the birth of Big Government in America, but really, it was Prohibition." Only imagine someone saying that glowingly. I know, it's hard, but try to imagine.

I don't know who it was but he is officially one of the most statist fucks I've ever heard speak.

[Warty]

What a fascinating story. I really appreciated learning the history of alcohol use in American society, and especially the lasting impacts of Prohibition and the rural perspective regarding federal government intervention into home life. The tragedy of the introduction of alcohol into Native American culture here in the US resonates deeply as I contemplate the destruction alcohol has wrought in those communities. Euro-American culpability in the dismantling of healthy Native American culture cannot be overestimated. Heaven help us.

Quote
Aimee Crane
12/2/2012 at 6:40 am

Oh, excellent. Just outstanding shit there.

[nicole]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the part about how we wanted to stop the Native Americans from gamboling by forcing them to engage in commerce, and the only thing we had that they would want to buy was booze, or something.

At one point one of the dudes says something about "white" people and the guy is very pointed about replying about "Euro-Americans." It's awesome.

[CE]

I'll have you know that my European ancestors migrated out of Africa long ago. We're all African-Americans, it just varies when we left the homeland.

[Corning]

When my Grandpa was a kid on the coast of Washington state (still pretty damn rural today) he stole some booze from the local cartel operating there and sold it.

[Corning]

I should also note that my great Grandpa may or may not have been a member of that local cartel...the story gets fuzzy....but Great Grandpa Corning was a bartender.

All I know is that my grandpa left to go to pick apples in eastern Washington right about the same time and then bought some wild horses from the Colville Reservation tribes.

Somehow I don't think you can earn enough money picking apples to buy horses back then.

[Warty]

My apologies if this was covered in the Morning Links, but Oberlin has a major problem: free speech.

[Hyperion]

The solution is simple. Give the slut tax payer funded birth control, for life!

Why are Reason posters listening to NPR and reading articles on Jezebel? Is it some sort of self flagellation?

Look at this post from the article:

I think the key is empowering students to help shape acceptable discourse for themselves

Good griefers, these people are tripe spouting morons.

[tarran]

They are shaping discourse. They're gossiping about which chicks put out.

[Hyperion]

That's not acceptable. If only they were empowered, they wouldn't act like such sexists. Whatever the fuck that means.

[Corning]

Why are Reason posters listening to NPR and reading articles on Jezebel?

I think the Jezebel readers are only Warty, Pro liberate and Epi...small but vocal.

They read it cuz they hate women and need justification for that hatred.

I listen to NPR cuz i need something to yell at while I drive home from work.

[Brett L]

Surely, this has nothing to do with wimmenz culture in college! Somehow the men must be responsible for bringing out the cattiness and instinctual attempts to bring down any woman who might be enjoying herself with men.

What the fuck. I am so happy to be a testicled-American. I don't see how women don't regularly murder each other.

[Corning]

wimmenz culture in college

I am positive 90% of the slut calls are other women beating up on their competition.

[Brett L]

But Oberlin students and their families pay $44,905 a year to take classes like "Visible Bodies and the Politics of Sexuality," not to be forced out of school by internet trolls

First world fucking problems. Srsly, have mommy and daddy hire you a hacker or a hitman.

[Warty]

I know some Oberlin people. Oberlin does terrible things to kids' souls.

[Brett L]

I think my cousin went to Oberlin. Then married a Wellesley girl whose dad drove his Bentley to the pre-wedding softball game. Nice people, but total SWPL East-Coast save the worlders.

[nicole]

Honestly the most disgusting part of all this to me was the college-as-babysitter element of the whole thing. Grow the fuck up already. If they're 18, they shouldn't be having mommy and daddy do anything, let alone a school in mommy and daddy's place.

[mr simple]

Exactly. There are a lot of comments like this:
Sounds like all in all Oberlin's administrators aren't interested in actually administrating much, which is tough when you're responsible for a bunch of 18-21 year olds.

Responsible? Really? I guess everyone is a child now ,not capable of changing their own diaper, until at least 26.

[Joe M]

Let's focus on the hilarious story that led me to: Here's What Happened When an Elderly Woman Took It Upon Herself to Restore a Painting in a Nearby Church

[DK]

I see global warming/climate change existed back in 1933. Two articles down from that Prohibition article: Cold, Hot - Month Sets Heat Mark, but Is Chillier Than Usual. I notice the warmzis haven't yet latched on to another scary climate meme:

On the other hand, there were only 80.9 hours of actual sunshine out of 294.9 hours of possible sunshine.

Once the warmzis get a hold of this factoid, there will sure to be headlines of the variety, "The Earth Is Descending Into Darkness".

[CE]

The 30's were very hot and dry, with the Dust Bowl and all (I forgot who won, probably Nebraska), and the hurricanes were immense. All this recent global warming is starting to match the records the weather set 80 years ago.

[Juice]

I like the story about Waxey Gordon because I never heard the name before watching Boardwalk Empire, which is a great show btw.

I also like the one about the "Food, Drug Law Hearings Fixed" that says "Opponents of the measure claim it would give Secretary of Agriculture Wallace 'czaritic powers.'"

Ah, like the french guy said above.

[R C Dean]

czaritic powers

Awesome.

Even more awesome, this was levied as a criticism. Now, the chattering classes get a chuggy whenever a new "czar" is named.

[JeremyR]

But on the flip side, organized crime didn't go away, either. Instead, they started taking over the unions, went into prostitution and such.

Lucky Luciano? Heard of him? He was a 1930s mobster.

[CE]

Don't forget the numbers racket. That was good going for a while, until the state lotteries took all the business (even though their payouts are lower.)