"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." — The Declaration of Independence

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." — Benjamin Franklin

Aloha!

The Founding Fathers were on to something. Being happy is a basic right and there is no shame in taking pleasure from the taste of a fine beverage... and these two things are often related.

So why is it that the simple act of buying your favorite bottle of rum requires hurdling a mountain bureaucratic red tape? One word: Prohibition.

Prohibition may have ended in 1933 but the 21st Amendment to the Constitution of the United States gave individual states the right to restrict the sale of alcohol which resulted in a patchwork of laws and systems for distributing and selling alcohol which exists to this day.

This was a reaction to the disaster of national Prohibition which had reserved all control of liquor to the Federal government. But while the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States created Prohibition it was an act of Congress, the Volstead Act, that empowered the federal government to enforce it... and it was on this day in 1919 that Congress voted to override President Wilson's veto of the act, making it law.

So today, October 28th, the Moai mark the passage of the Volstead Act with the ironic toast "To Volstead!" and dream of a day when you can have your choice of spirits in any State of the Union.

Keep the torches burning,

— Tagata Maori Rogorogo