Not like frat boy shit faced drunk, but drunk.
Oh, and not Just Obama but any POTUS present or future.
For the purpose of the poll, let’s say that said Presient would only do so on very rare occasions, like maybe once or twice a year on holiday or something.
Are we talking “Dude, let’s go egg the capitol building and moon the Speaker of the House” drunk?
If the President took, or failed to take, any action drunk that he wouldn’t have done sober, he’d (perhaps rightly) catch hell from the press and his political opponents. Thus, I don’t think a President should drink so much that there’s any risk of that happening.
Supposedly, both Johnson and Nixon got into the bottle pretty heavily while in the Whit House. I think their successors have been a bit less inclined to do so.
Gratuitous Betty Ford remark omitted.
Wait until you’re out of office. Then, I don’t care. But while you’re POTUS, you’re on call 24/7. Nothing more than two drinks in a sitting.
I agree with bup. The presidency is a 24/7 job, and IMO it’s best to only get drunk when you don’t have to do anything responsible for the next little while. I feel like I’m not at 100% sharpness the next day after getting drunk, even after any headache has passed. A drink or two at a state dinner or somesuch should be fine, though.
I have no problem with it. I don’t think there’s much that couldn’t be done by a department head or West Wing employee while the prez sobered up.
That being said, he shouldn’t be blackout drunk or throwing-up drunk ever, as any responsible adult shouldn’t be (and I say that as an adult who has been throwing-up drunk within the past five years. Not something I’m proud of, or will probably do again).
I don’t have any particular problem with it morally etc but for someone who might be called upon to make incredibly weighty decisions at short notice (I’m thinking of breaking open the nuclear football or reacting to 9/11 style event) it would probably better that he kept a clear head.
Then again Yeltsin managed to not annihilate us all during the Norweigan Rocket Incident so maybe there’s something to be said for being a little tipsy on occassion…or all the time…
Define terms. If the prez had a glass of wine with dinner, or a glass of champagne at a wedding, he would likely have enough blood alcohol for a couple of hours to lose his drivers license in Sweden. Is that “drunk”?
However, given that the red phone could ring right after that fatal glass of beer, it is probably better if he not imibe. I think President Grant was probably pretty stiff through quite a bit of his administration. Temperance was not widely practiced before the 20th century, and a tee-totalling president would have been an exception.
I think Shakes defined it well enough.
I read that as somewhat impaired, maybe goofy and loopy, but not trashed.
I voted for OK, once or twice a year. And only in private - not around staffers, press, other heads of state, etc.
God knows he/she is going to give us enough reasons to get drunk, so Hell yeah! The fights with his wife, nookie on the side, and general frat boy behavior were the ONLY parts of the Billery years I really loved and respected.
As long as he doesn’t think it would be the most hilarious thing and Joe would love it if he nuked Moscow, sure. Presidents are only human, and while yeah, getting drunk isn’t great, every once in a blue moon isn’t going to tear apart the nation. Plus, it probably relieves some of the stress of being in office, at least for a brief time.
No, I’m thinking he should never get drunk. An extra glass of wine or something here and there maybe, but otherwise sober. Same goes for Congress. (Ha! I kill me.)
If he’s drunk then the VP should be the sober sister. Give Biden something to do, although I think he’d be more fun to party with than Obama. And a few decades ago, Presidents like Johnson were constantly trashed. Ideally, they should drink much while doing work, but when Bush was was clearing brush on the ranch I hope he was allowed to have a few Shiner Bocks.
Biden says he doesn’t drink, due to a family history of alcoholism. If that’s true, I guess that means you actually don’t need alcohol to have a good time, because he’s clearly enjoying his life more than Obama.
Spoilsport!
The Onion headlines write themselves: “Biden gives up all brown liquors.” Or “Biden: ‘I Need to Cut Back,’ switches to Coors Light.”
I think the way The Onion has characterized Biden has been consistently hilarious. Wasn’t he in a cognac commercial in one article?
A mild buzz, something a surge of adrenaline could dissipate in seconds, is OK. Otherwise, no, the Prez has to be ready for emergencies. After his Presidency, he should be legally allowed to get drunk, toke up, screw whores and gallivant around naked on the front lawn if he wants to. He has served his country, cut him some slack.
See, this is why we need to go to space, so the Ferengi can give us synthehol.
I vote, unless he’s in public and negligent of his duties, on his own time he can get drunk if he wants. If the VP can step in should he become ill, the same should apply if unforeseen disaster were to strike while the president is drunk.
Drunk while in office, representing us publicly etc, no. But on his off hours? In his own home? In private? I don’t see why not.
I’m totally on board with the president enjoying intoxicating substances as (s)he sees fit. Maybe not in a Leaving Las Vegas way. It would actually be a breath of fresh air to hear the POTUS say “Fuck that noise” to a reporter’s question.