Let them drink in their rooms like the rest of the peasants

A career state legislator in Minnesota, my recent former place of residence, has proposed some interesting temporary changes in the state's alcohol laws in order to accommodate the hard-partying crowd during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul in September. Rep. Phyllis Kahn, whose other antics we've covered previously, wishes to allow bars and restaurants within a ten-mile radius of the Excel Center to be able to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. daily instead being forced to close at 2, as well as permit liquor stores in the same area to open on Sunday and sell booze between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. These special rules would apply only to stores and bars that are located in the designated "party zone". This presumably means that the poor tavern owner located ten miles and 3 feet from the convention site would be stone cold out of luck, even as his lucky competitor across the street rakes it in for 11 days straight.

These so-called "blue laws" regarding alcohol sales were put into place by previous generations of paternalistic overlords who were kindly looking out for your "best interests" and your "public safety", in the assumption that the peasants were unable to do so for themselves. How, then, can this same body justify loosening the rules for one set of very lucky people, and deny those same privileges to the residents that have to live there on a daily basis? If a law is in place, it's there for a set of reasons, however misguided. Does those reasons magically disappear while a high-rolling group is in town? Actually, Kahn herself is quoted in the article as saying that "'It's [only] two Sundays,'" and "'it's hard to also argue that the state has any business in telling people what they can't buy and sell on Sunday'". So why, then, do you still want the ban on booze sales to stay in place the other 50 Sundays of the year, Ms. Kahn? How about new car sales? Shouldn't auto dealers be allowed to sell their wares whenever they wish, without interference from you and your meddling cohorts? I'll be looking forward to your authoring of repeal legislation for these matters shortly, Ms. Kahn, if you indeed think as I do that the government shouldn't be telling people how to live their Sunday lives.

For that matter, how come only the Republican party delegates seem to qualify for special treatment, and not other groups that come to St. Paul to spend money? I'm sure the Shriners, the Masons, the International Widget Association, or any number of other groups would also appreciate their members being able to get hammered until dawn as well. If it's so good for business and for the city, why not just allow it for everyone? Because the government would be giving up some of their control over peoples' lives, something that they historically are very loathe to do, that's why.

When I was in my early twenties, my grandmother and I went on a vacation to the Caribbean island of St. Martin. I found myself one night in a nightclub hanging out with a few members of the staff of the resort, and we had quite a good time until very, very late. I remember at one point asking the owner of the bar when last call was, and he replied, "I close when everyone goes home, or when I feel like closing". I thought that was a very reasonable answer at the time, and I still do.

Why should businesses have to prostrate themselves before the mighty Legislature, hat in hand, to plead for exceptions in order to run their legal businesses as they see fit? The Minnesota Legislature should dustbin all of these freedom-sapping blue laws, so that the ridiculous, unfair exceptions to them will go away as well.