Photo courtesy of Free the Hops
It's time for war. A war of words.
For those of you not following the Free the Hops legislation in Alabama, here's an overview:
Of the Top 100 beers of the World at BeerAdvocate.com, a renowned beer review site, 98 cannot be sold in this state. Why is our choice so limited?
Currently, Alabama is one of only three states in the country that limits alcohol by volume (ABV) for beer to only 6%, and the only state that limits beer containers to a size of no more than 1 pint (16 ounces).
Free The Hops drafted the Gourmet Beer Bill to modify existing laws to allow more specialty and gourmet beers in Alabama. Specifically, the Gourmet Beer Bill would raise the limit on ABV in beer to just below that of wine. Free The Hops presented the Gourmet Beer Bill to the Alabama Legislature in 2006 and 2007 and has presented it again for 2008.
Right now, the bill is being held up by one authoritarian imbecile in the State Senate. Here’s the scoop:
Republican State Senator Hank Erwin has been an outspoken opponent of this bill. Instead of letting it go to a vote, he places his moral code above the legislative process. Erwin has been filibustering the bill and plans to continue until this legislative season ends.
Erwin’s strange views on morality have already placed him in the national spotlight.
“New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast have always been known for gambling, sin and wickedness,” wrote Erwin about why Hurricane Katrina hit. “It is the kind of behavior that ultimately brings the judgment of God.”
According to stories I’m hearing today, Senator Morality doesn’t mind breaking his word when it gives him political leverage. Two reliable sources close to the Free the Hops effort have relayed pretty much the same story to me. According to them, a Free the Hops lobbyist approached Erwin about not filibustering the bill. Erwin had a gun rights bill he was pushing and a deal was cut: Erwin wouldn’t filibuster the gourmet beer bill if the lobbyist would support the gun bill.
As I hear it, the lobbyist did push hard for the gun bill, but it failed anyway. Now Erwin isn’t holding up to his end of the bargain.
Here's the latest update from the Free the Hops blog:
We’re in limbo, waiting for Erwin to be persuaded not to filibuster, or for him to be out of the chamber. There’s really not much constructive updating I can do at this point.
The Senate will meet three days next week, then two days the following week and that will be the end of the session. So we have five more meeting days in which to get this done. Our fate is mostly out of all of our hands; it pretty much rests in the hands of one man who believes alcohol is evil and who fervently desires a return to Prohibition. A little luck or divine intervention would be really helpful at this point.
Right now, the only thing we can do is to contact Senator Erwin. He's been unresponsive to telephone calls and e-mails on the topic, but he's recently started a Twitter account. One way beer enthusiasts and freedom lovers can make our voices heard is to raise awareness of the issue and engage in verbal battle with Senator Erwin through Twitter.
As a matter of fact, Senator Erwin has bragged on his Twitter account about filibustering the bill.
If you don't have a Twitter account, it's very easy to use. Simply sign up here and tweet away.
For those of you already tweeting (and the rest of you once you sign up), here are the necessary components your message should contain:
@SENATORERWIN #alpolitics #fth (insert your message here)
Here's a sample of one possible message you can use:
@SENATORERWIN #alpolitics #fth Please let the Senate vote on Free the Hops
As I'll be updating this article from time to time indicating how many messages Senator Erwin has received, it's important that you include the information above in your tweet so I can tally the results.
Also, feel free to leave comments below about any new ideas, unique tweets, or other interesting information (such as the international tweets, the twitterer the farthest away from Alabama, the youngest or oldest twitterer, etc.).
Let's keep it clean, but it's time for war. A war of words.
UPDATE: For those who follow various feeds on Twitter or tools such as TweetDeck, Twitter is slow right now, but your messages are getting there. It make take up to an hour or two for them to show on your feed, though.
UPDATE II: Here are a couple of good tweets:
RichMiller: @SENATORERWIN #alpolitics #fth Sir, as a Republican and your constituent, please allow HB373, the Gourmet Beer Bill, to be voted upon.
SouthernPatriot: @SENATORERWIN #alpolitics #fth drop your "holier than thou" attitude and allow #FTH to go for a vote - remember YESHUA drank WINE! #tlot
UPDATE III: There are now tweets not only from all over Alabama, but all over the country. I recognize Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, progressives, libertarians, conservatives, etc. on the list. I see some people I know from the D.C. policy organization circuit as well as the national Libertarian Party. Also, I see bloggers from the left and the right, including one from RedState.
This proves Free the Hops isn't a Democrat or Republican issue, but a Hank Erwin vs. the people issue.
UPDATE IV: You can follow the tweets real time here.
UPDATE V: Some folks are asking what they can do to help after they've sent Senator Erwin a message. One suggestion is to send this around the Twittersphere:
Alabamians need one fast tweet from you to help protect our liberty. http://tinyurl.com/dldevj Please retweet
UPDATE VI: We now have a theme song:
jciveyFor @StephenGordon Here is Hank Williams Jr. Family Tradition ? http://blip.fm/~5lla3
Comments
I'm tweeting w/you! liberalmomof2
Thanks -- I'm starting to get out the word now.
Banning beer is not going to save America. Getting us out from under the Nazis bankers and Nazi CIA will save America. Even the 911 terrorists who were diehard fanatical Muslims and died for their religion, which bans liquor, liked to drink.
Thanks , y'all. It's starting to go a bit viral now.
Just friended Whitney, too.
Bravo for bringing this to light here.
This is probably why Alabama is number 1 or 2 in obesity. We have to drink so much more beer than other states just to get a buzz.
Hank Erwin gives the Republican Party a bad name. Time to boot him out of office.
Great idea on the twitters. Some really good ones there now.
We most likely could have done without the Nazi reference but the sentiment is understood.
Bottom Line Up Front: The current electorate dictates your morals for you at their whim. This ranges from beer to sexual aids. The leader of this mess is Jeff Sessions. If you don't like forced "morality" then vote these clowns out of office.
What Nazi reference? I'm usually careful not to break Godwin's Law.
LMAO at Karen's line about obesity
Superb article.
I can't believe what he said about Hurricane Katrina. It's sad that people like that are still around in what's supposedly modern society. Also, I understand that if there is a religious injunction against something, someone like Senator Irwin might want to avoid it. What I don't understand, however is this impulse people seem to have to force everyone else to accept their views. It's just beyond me.
Russell,
He's a bad joke. However, he doesn't seem to realize it. He's giving up his Senate seat to run for LT Gov down here in 2010.
Most Republicans I know will vote Democrat before they'll vote for him.
His career is over and he just doesn't know it yet.
You would think the party that claims to favor small government would be willing to allow beer with a "high" alcohol content (still being lower than liquors that are completely legal to buy here, of course). Is there no way to override this filibuster?
I posted to FB this morning, but I don't have a lot of AL friends on FB yet. Pls, Alabamians, share w/ur FB friends!
I am by no means a libertarian, but I just want to say that this article is spot on. Excellent write-up.
As a member of Free The Hops, I want to say thank you for getting the word out about how ridiculous this whole situation is getting! We have been fighting small-mindedness and bigotry calling itself "morality" for too long. This man should be booted from office, not only for his failure to listen to his constituents at all, but also for his pathetic attempt at politics.
My sister lives in AL and I forwarded this to her. Thanks for the report.---Michelle C
As a novice organic hops farmer here in California, and a relatively new Libertarian, I appreciate this piece. Just one of the reasons I am no longer a Republican.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!