NeSmith: Double-talk is funny political tradition
When it comes to double-talk, Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Edwards and Anthony Weiner are amateurs compared to the late Noah S. "Soggy" Sweat Jr. The former Mississippi legislator, lawyer and judge would have been a "star" on broadcast talk shows and the Internet, but he died before those media venues were born.
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When the Mississippi legislature was debating legalizing liquor in 1952, here's what Soggy had to say:
"My friends, I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at 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 home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into 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 the hearts and laughter on the lips and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer; if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the old gentleman's step on a frosty, crispy morning; if you mean the drink which enables a man to magnify his joy and his happiness and to forget, if onl
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