If by whiskey...
While teaching Business Communications at Rollins College's Crummer Graduate School of Business, I assigned the class of MBA candidates the task of giving an "If by whiskey" speech...one that epitomized the calculated ambivalence that is sometimes needed to distinguish principle from nuance. Or to simply straddle the fence that sometimes separates two fields of hot potatoes.
Often attributed to Fuller Warren, Florida's governor in the '50s, it was first spoken by Noah Sweat, who was then running for state representative in Alcorn County, Mississippi in 1948 where the legality of serving alcoholic beverages was still a hot political topic. Sweat copyrighted the speech in 1954.
The MBA class came up with some great speeches..."If by profit..." and "If by making love..." and "If by patriotism..." to name a few that come to mind.
But here is the original, reproduced here because I could not find in on Google.
My friends, I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject and this particular time. However, I want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about whiskey. All right, here is how I feel about whiskey.
If when you say "whiskey" you mean the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the months of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteousness, gracious living in the bottomless pit of degradation and despair, and shame, and helplessness, and hopelessness...then certainly I am against it.
But, if when you say "whiskey" you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips, and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas chstimulating mean the stimilating drink that puts the spring in the old gentleman's step on a frosty, cripsy morning; if you mean the drink that enables a man to magnify his joy , and his happiness, and to forget, if only for a little while, life's great tragedies, and heartaches, and sorrows; if you mean that drink the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirmed; to build highways and hospitals and schools...then certainly I am for it.
This is my stand. I will not retreat from it. I will not compromise.
Copyright Noah S. Sweat.
As appears in Safire, "Lend Me Your Ears," p.796
Often attributed to Fuller Warren, Florida's governor in the '50s, it was first spoken by Noah Sweat, who was then running for state representative in Alcorn County, Mississippi in 1948 where the legality of serving alcoholic beverages was still a hot political topic. Sweat copyrighted the speech in 1954.
The MBA class came up with some great speeches..."If by profit..." and "If by making love..." and "If by patriotism..." to name a few that come to mind.
But here is the original, reproduced here because I could not find in on Google.
My friends, I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject and this particular time. However, I want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about whiskey. All right, here is how I feel about whiskey.
If when you say "whiskey" you mean the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the months of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteousness, gracious living in the bottomless pit of degradation and despair, and shame, and helplessness, and hopelessness...then certainly I am against it.
But, if when you say "whiskey" you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips, and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas chstimulating mean the stimilating drink that puts the spring in the old gentleman's step on a frosty, cripsy morning; if you mean the drink that enables a man to magnify his joy , and his happiness, and to forget, if only for a little while, life's great tragedies, and heartaches, and sorrows; if you mean that drink the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirmed; to build highways and hospitals and schools...then certainly I am for it.
This is my stand. I will not retreat from it. I will not compromise.
Copyright Noah S. Sweat.
As appears in Safire, "Lend Me Your Ears," p.796
posted by John Barry at 10/15/2005 12:12:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home