An Unlikely Folk Hero

I have a stats tracking package running on the blog -- no details, but that's how I finally found my Little Miss Cyberstalker -- and something odd has come up in the past month or so. One of the things it tracks is the terms people put in various search engines that bring up my blog. As you might expect, the most common search term is "Lew Bryson," followed closely by "Seen Through A Glass;" people who've heard of me or the blog and are looking for it.

What's odd is that the next most common search term is some variation on "It drink pretty good, don't it?" Those words, of course, were immortalized in the halls of beer dopiness by Alabama Representative Alvin Holmes of Montgomery, in his speech on the "Free the Hops" bill in the Alabama legislature, an attempt to do away with the state's bizarre 6% ABV cap on beer. I posted on it, and I am amazed by the number of people who come to my site looking for it.

Here it is again, cuz I just can't believe it: "Yeah, what's wrong wit de beer we got? I mean, the beer we got drink pretty good, don't it? Now, I ain't never heard nobody complain about the beer we have. It drink pretty good. Budweiser... What's the name of some of them other beers? Budweiser and what else? Miller? Coors, huh? It drink pretty good, don't it?"

So, who the hell is spreading the word on this guy? It's not me, they're coming here. Is it possible that Holmes has become a new icon of stupididity? (I know, I spelled it wrong on purpose because it sounds dumber that way.) Weird that this is such a topic of curiosity...

"It Drink Pretty Good, Don't It?"

Look. I don't like to ridicule people. We all do what we do, we try, and all that, and well, I wouldn't want to be ridiculed for something nutty I said.

But this is just beyond the pale. This is audio clips of the Alabama House debate on the "free the hops" bill, legislation to lift the cap on beer from 6% to 13.9% ABV, supported by the Free The Hops Foundation, beer lovers like you and me. Some of the comments are offensive (like Rep. Richard Laird, who says the bill is just sponsored by some people who want to "get rich off alcoholic beverages"), some of them are uninformed, but one of them is just insane.

That's Rep. Alvin Holmes of Montgomery. He starts at 5:33 on the clip, and he's... Oh, hell, I'll quote: "Yeah, what's wrong wit de beer we got? I mean, the beer we got drink pretty good, don't it? Now, I ain't never heard nobody complain about the beer we have. It drink pretty good. Budweiser... What's the name of some of them other beers? Budweiser and what else? Miller? Coors, huh? It drink pretty good, don't it?"

I would submit to you, folks, that this kind of ignorant crap is downright unAmerican. In a land dedicated to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and the by God freedom of the press...we damn sure ought not to have the government denying us freedom of choice. And certainly not when the government is such a freakin' dope. I mean, dude, get some elocution lessons!