The Lcb In Striped Pants?

Posted: April 29, 1986

Considering that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board leaves a lot to be desired in operating the State Store system or effectively enforcing liquor laws, it's rather frightening to contemplate the consequences if it moves into the field of foreign policy.

Nonetheless, state Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf (R., Montgomery) has tossed caution to the wind. He fired off a letter to LCB chairman Daniel Pennick last week requesting that the sale of French wines be prohibited in retaliation for France's refusal to allow U.S. planes to fly over its territory en route to and from England in the recent attack on Libya.

Mon Dieu! Will the next step be to send the Liquor Control Board on a fact- finding junket overseas - all expenses paid, of course - to recommend the next move against Moammar Khadafy? Once the LCB gets its feet wet in international relations, there's no telling what will happen.

As for retaliation against the French, maybe the most poetic justice would be to give the LCB a monopoly franchise to control all wine and liquor sales in Paris. The threat of a State Store on every corner should bring the French around quickly, begging for mercy.

But what about the people of Pennsylvania? Why should they be denied French wines because of foreign affairs over which they have no control? It's bad enough suffering under the State Store system in the best of circumstances, with its sparse selection of wines and absence of anyone who can provide knowledgeable information about an appropriate choice for a special occasion.

The legislature had best get on with abolition of the Liquor Control Board. Next thing you know it may start thinking of itself as a State Department. Just imagine the LCB with diplomatic immunity.

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