Like city leaders all over the country, we have been asked the question, and struggled to answer: "What is Drinking Liberally and why do it?" The answer is difficult to articulate but we feel that our fellow city leader from Nashville, TN, Amie Loyer, found a great way to articulate why we Drink Liberally and we wanted to share it with everyone.

"My friends, we need to have a party tonight.

Whether you realize it or not, you did something big and important when you added your email to this list, or came to see us for the first time. That was the first step in your decision to learn more, to reach out to other people, to challenge the conventional wisdom we all swim in that says politics isn't real life.

We are asked, fairly often, what good a group like DL can do when its "just" social. We're not party-affiliated. We're prohibited from endorsing or disavowing candidates and ballot initiatives. Wouldn't we be so much more effective, the argument goes, if we just did more?

One flaw in that logic is the presumption that all of us who care about our country and its direction are in a common place in our political journeys, and in our awareness. That's just not true: most of our members say they weren't all that interested in politics before they got involved in DL, and now they can't wait to find out more.

Another flaw is that being 'social,' we're devaluing direct action. That, too, isn't correct: by bringing together members of disparate groups, people are able to make even more connections and have even more opportunities to volunteer, canvass, support, raise awareness.

But the biggest flaw of all is that the group doesn't do anything. On the contrary, the group does what may be the most important thing of all: it allows ordinary people like us to integrate political awareness into the fabric of our lives. It gets us used to talking and thinking about these issues. It normalizes politics without asking us to drink anybody's Kool-Aid (just beer!). And it does that to such an extent that people who had no political awareness at all a year ago are now convincing their co-workers to change their votes. You're phone-banking. You're registering people to vote. You're volunteering. You're running for office, or considering a run. You're not being silent any more.

So thank you, all of you, for taking that first step. Tuesday didn't get all of us everything we wanted, but we did get change. Congratulations. It can be said that our country started in a bar, and we'll take it back from a bar."

We think that sums it up fairly well, especially that last part. Fitness experts are always talking about how you can improve your physical fitness with short periods of exercise. With just one night a week, you can also exercise and increase your political awareness. By increasing your political awareness, you increase your ability to see all of the little ways in which politics has an effect on your everyday life that few people realize. That will place you among a special group of people in this country; you will become an educator. You will possess the knowledge and motivation to help others see the importance of their electoral decisions even when they are not aware of that importance. And being an educator is the best gift that you can give to your country.

Come on out to Juanita Greenberg's on King Street at 5:30 p.m. this Thursday for another adventure in Drinking Liberally and meet with fellow students of politics for honest discussion and friendly fellowship. We'll be on the back patio under the tent waiting for you to celebrate this gift of a great country we have been given, the victory on Election Day and the return to progressive governance, and our Drinking Liberally friends like you who are making this country great.

That is Drinking Liberally for this, the 1,292nd day since the declaration of "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. From Charleston, we are your city leaders, goodnight and good luck.

Liberally yours,
Leslie, Mike, & Sadie

Juanita Greenberg's
439 King Street - Downtown
5:30pm until we have retaken the White House
This and every Thursday
843.723.NACHO (6224)
On King, just a couple of blocks above Calhoun. Look for the blinking lights.
http://www.juanitagreenbergs.com/index.php