Big brewers like Anheuser-Busch
frequently admonish us imbibers of their grain products to "drink
responsibly." Well, I say back to them: Lobby responsibly.
In
particular, I point to a disgusting binge of besotted lobbying by
Anheuser-Busch (now owned by the Belgian beer conglomerate InBev) and
other beer barons this year in the Nebraska legislature.
At
issue was the "town" of Whiteclay, smack dab on the Nebraska-South
Dakota border. I put "town" in quotes because only 10 people live there
-- but it is home to four beer stores. Why? Because right across the
state line is the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of the Oglala Sioux
tribe, which has a devastating problem of alcohol addiction among its
20,000 members, combined with intractable and dispiriting poverty.
Whiteclay
exists solely so booze peddlers can profit from the Oglala tribe's
addiction miseries. They sell more than 4 million cans of beer a year to
Pine Ridge residents! This includes literally making a killing by
peddling high-alcohol malt liquors, such as Busch's aptly named
"Hurricane High." So much for "Drink responsibly." READ MORE
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