The other night on TF1, the news mentioned Mike Huckabee’s win at the Iowa caucus. But they didn’t talk about his political positions or anything relevant to the election… no, no, they talked about how his home-state of Arkansas is one of ten states in the US that bans the sale of alcohol.

Except alcohol is not illegal everywhere in those states. There are a lot of dry counties in the south, but to say that the sale of alcohol is completely illegal is an exaggeration. But I guess the French will never understand the concept of making alcohol illegal when they drink wine at every meal and even serve it to teachers at public schools.

Here’s the video clip if you understand French.

I like the interview at a Kentucky distillery where an employee said he would get in trouble (and possibly even jail time) if he let the tourists touch or taste the bourbon. LOL Who the heck goes to a distillery as a tourist?

And you gotta love the Baptist preacher who said alcohol is the drink of the devil! Ooh, and notice the obligatory reference to Al Capone near the end. When French people think of the US, they think cowboys and gangsters. And how many Americans actually remember who Al Capone is or what he did? Besides the ones who saw The Untouchables?

Laws based on extreme religious views are never a good idea. Especially since dry counties actually have a higher number of alcohol-related traffic accidents! I may be against alcohol, and hate the way that French people judge me for not drinking alcohol, but seriously, the drink of the devil?

I’m always amused at French people’s reaction to Prohibition and the strict laws against drinking alcohol that still exist today. I just wish I could make them understand how religious the US still is, and how the separation of church and state doesn’t really exist like it should…