Taking a Stand
A southern congressman received a letter from a constituent demanding to know , "How do you stand on whiskey?" The trouble was, of course, that the letter didn't say how the writer stood on whiskey, so the congressman wrote back as follows:

Dear Sir,

I had not intended to discuss this controversial matter at this time. However, I have never shunned a controversy and I will take a stand on any issue at any time.

You ask me how I stand on whiskey? Here is how I stand:

If you mean , by whisky, the devil’s brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children - - if you mean the evil drink that topples Christian men and women from the pinnacles of righteous and gracious living onto the bottomless pit of degradation, despair, shame, helplessness and hopelessness --- the I am against it with all my power.

But, if when you say whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the elixir of life, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes --- if you mean Christmas Cheer, the stimulating sip that that puts a spring into the step of an elderly gentleman on a frosty morning --- if you mean the drink that enables man to magnify his joy and to forget life’s great tragedies, and heartbreaks, and sorrows --- if you mean that drink , the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars that provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirmed --- to build highways, and hospitals, and schools --- then I certainly am in favor of it.

This is my stand. And I will not compromise.