About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 1988)
Flagpole • July 13, 1988 Page 6 William Often Carlton. After a considable absence,I am back in Athens journalistic realm. Welcome me back, if you will, andf bear with me as I type this (as usual) with two fingers. So the flagpole had a few problems from printing something that could (by extension) be called x-rated, huh? Well, Mr. and Mrs. Censor, you won't find anything that will bum yourcorneas in my writing, no siree. I'm not going to mention strange brands of beer-- an Ort. staple ever since the late, great, groovy Tasty World. Let it be said that I tryneverto drink national brands of beer, that I belive in consuming those non-national brands in good Presbyterian moderation, and let it go at that. I was able to vote back in- was it 1969? - - for legalization of liquor by the package and by the drink, even though I had to wait until July 26,1970 to turn 21 and be able to partake. Y’see, former Georgia Govenor Ellis Gibbs Arnall, writer of such luminary books as The Shore Clearly Seen and What People Want had done his part and helped Georgia be the first state to legalize the 18-year-old vote. (Not soon after Kentucky seconded the motion.) But Arnall, known as Georgia’s Fighting Govenor, was unable to have the drinking age lowered to 18...that came only after considerable lobbying in the 1970's, only to have knee-jerk reaction raise it back to 21 a couple of years ago. I still firmly belive that if you are old enough to fight (or, hopefully, get called up in case of a true national disaster), that you are old enough to vote and old enough to drink. This brings me to an important point. The real reason 18-to -21 -year-olds lost the right to drink in most states (Hawaii has yet to surrender to Reaganesque blackmail ; that they have the smallest Interstate highway milage is no surprise, because they stand to lose the smallest amount of funds, and have tourists flocking willy- nilly in spite of the road situation) is that they laid themselves wide open: they flaunted un-adult behavior, partying down to absurdism and ad- nauseum, and paid for it with the right to buy alcohol being revoked from them. The table unfortunely, college age people again fall victim whilst we wait for the proverbial pendulum to swing back to a FANTASY FUTONS IN THE ATHENS FLEA MARKET (SPARKY’S J 354 N. THOMAS STREET (404) 353-1218 (V 1 tfF.sJ \cp SSv.
