Today, on August 1st, CNN Ticker reported a story that GOP leader Jim Larimer criticized Obama for his "beer summit." While this was no doubt suspiciously politically motivated, Jim actually has a very good point to make.

"We are at war and Barack Obama is talking about beer in the White House," Larimer said at the RNC's Summer Meeting. "And it is wrong. It is not what our country is about." - From CNN's Political Ticker.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/08/01/gop-leader-bashes-obamas-happy-hour/

Jim is right. When did alcohol suddenly become an acceptable drug? Alcohol kills close to one HUNDRED THOUSAND people per YEAR. The social costs of alcohol are enormous and the number of people who become bums on the street after abusing alcohol continues to be a serious problem in America.

So why is alcohol a great way to settle a debate? Sure, they're enjoying a beer together, and that's not a lot of alcohol. But if it were over a cigarette or a joint, the uproar would be HUGE (marijuana would have made a bigger news story because of its illegality. It would probably be the drug of choice when trying to calm people down).

I guess we as Americans think it's wrong to light up a cigarette or use marijuana or other, much more harmful legal and illegal drugs... but alcohol? It's American, right? It's American to drink a lethal, addictive substance with no medical benefits and American to denounce other substances that are far less lethal and actually have medical benefits. It's also American (apparently) to lecture a smoker on the errors of smoking tobacco but turn around and celebrate any social situation over alcohol.

There's something seriously wrong in our country when we make it a bad thing to smoke tobacco but a good thing to use its slightly less lethal drug cousin, alcohol.

Regarding the legalization, regulation and control of marijuana, it's "off the table" for the Obama Administration (meaning that they're not even weighing it and deliberately closing their ears and screaming "LA LA LA!!! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!"). Yet alcohol remains a perfectly good way to settle a debate.

Tobacco kills 400,000 people a year. Alcohol? 100,000. Marijuana? 0. Yep. Look it up.

To see Americans standing on our moral pillar and decrying "drugs" while drinking our booze constitutes the greatest failure of vision for America that we've ever seen.

Am I the only one who sees something wrong in that?!