Aaron R Nelson.com

Now I’m not one to get all caught up in politics and such (okay, I am), but this one really got me fired up.

Consider this…you go to a local restaurant (bear in mind that is a restaurant, not a bar), you order yourself a beer which is watered down to 3.2%, and you stare at a large 10 foot wall in the middle of the restaurant that seems to be out of place and there for no reason.  What does it all mean?  It means that if you thought Utah’s liquor laws were crazy, you are about to be blown away.  The otherwise level-headed Senator from Orem, John Valentine, has proposed we erect 10 foot walls around all bar areas in restaurants throughout the state.  The next logical question is “why?”  This is a question that can’t be reasonably answered, because there is no logical, evidence-based answer to the question.  The made-up, ignorant, religious-based and idiotic reason for this is to “protect the children” (and anyone who personally does not consume alcoholic beverages).  To get the gist of just how ludicrous this ideas is, I have copied the verbiage for the proposed law straight from the Utah Legislature’s website:

 (e) On and after November 1, 2011, a restaurant liquor licensee may dispense an

1422 alcoholic beverage only

1423 (i) from an area that is:

1424 (A) separated from an area for the consumption of food by a restaurant patron by:

1425 (I) a wall that:

1426 (Aa) is floor-to-ceiling; or

1427 (Bb) starts at the floor and is at least 10 feet high;

1428 (II) a different floor level; or

1429 (III) a similar substantial physical barrier; and

1430 (B) not visible to or accessible by a restaurant patron;

1431 (ii) if the restaurant uses an alcoholic beverage or alcoholic product that is stored in an

1432 area described in Subsection (7)(e)(i); and

1433 (iii) if any instrument or equipment used to dispense an alcoholic beverage is located in

1434 an area described in Subsection (7)(e)(i).

To put that in layman’s terms, Senator Valentine is mostly saying, “I do not have faith in the parenting skills of our state’s various parents.  A child may mistake vodka for water and consume said beverage, which would be bad.  My religion tells me that alcohol=bad, I have never experienced a culture that embraces any other idea, so I think that restaurants with 10 foot walls hiding their liquor is the way our world needs to be.  I don’t care if you like to have a beer with dinner, I want to make it as inaccessible and unreasonably hard for you to get that beer as possible.  Why do I want to do this?  Because I don’t believe in liquor and therefore I’m going to make laws that make it so liquor is portrayed as an evil thing and harder for all of you to access.  My religious and personal beliefs should not just be mine, but yours too, because I know they are the right beliefs to have.”

Yep, and I’m not over exaggerating.  You want to talk about over exaggerating, look at this damn bill that this goofball has proposed.

You can read a full copy of the bill here: Utah State Legislature Senate Bill 187.

Please get involved if you feel as passionate about this as I do.  Contact your local representative, here is a list of the current state roster broken out by counties:

Senate

House

Here is my visual rendition of what this 10 foot wall issue is really all about.  Below you can see this wall in all its glory:

Are you hiding behind the wall? 

J Looney has a very well informed post on his blog concerning this same issue, check it out here.

Welcome to Utah, get out while you can…