# What if the POTUS was a huge drunk or stoner? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 17, 2016, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394 "2016-01-17T09:39:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/21 "2016-01-18T00:56:09Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > They were shitfaced. WTF is so hard to get?😕 Because that’s so totally NOT what the phrase means. “Do not go gently into that good night” is a metaphor for the struggle to survive. Do not merely succomb to death peacefully, fight it every step of the way. Thomas wrote it for his for his father, who was dying at the time. It has absolutely nothing to do with getting drunk. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/22 "2016-01-18T01:05:46Z")
It’s “gentle”, not “gently”, and it was written about 5 years before his father’s death. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/23 "2016-01-18T01:21:25Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > It has absolutely nothing to do with getting drunk. There is absolutely nothing wrong with borrowing a quote as long as one doesn’t portend one coined it himself. [The Master even does it](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/387/do-wisconsites-account-for-75-of-u-s-brandy-consumption): You may be interested to know that in taverns per capita, seven of the top\* eight U.S. cities are located in the great state of Wisconsin. When it comes to those long winters, Wisconsinites obviously don’t believe in going gently into that good night. \* **— Cecil Adams** ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/24 "2016-01-18T01:42:28Z")
“portend”? ---
**Author:** ![InsomniaMama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ad7895/32.png) [@InsomniaMama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InsomniaMama)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/25 "2016-01-18T02:09:48Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I found some evidence on the internet that this may have happened in the past. I’m a little skeptical regarding the authenticity of this quote. Surely Abe would have used the correct grammar here: to whom. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/26 "2016-01-18T02:48:43Z")
> [@InsomniaMama](#): > > I’m a little skeptical regarding the authenticity of this quote. Surely Abe would have used the correct grammar here: to whom. That’s what I thought too. And he probably would have said “crack head” instead of “crack addict”. It’s like you can’t trust the internet anymore. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/27 "2016-01-18T03:24:03Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > There is absolutely nothing wrong with borrowing a quote as long as one doesn’t portend one coined it himself. > > [The Master even does it](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/387/do-wisconsites-account-for-75-of-u-s-brandy-consumption): > > You may be interested to know that in taverns per capita, seven of the top\* eight U.S. cities are located in the great state of Wisconsin. When it comes to those long winters, Wisconsinites obviously don’t believe in going gently into that good night. > \* > **— Cecil Adams** Succumbing to a long Wisconsin winter is being held analogous to succumbing to death. They are fighting the “long good night” of an endless winter (like an endless death) with alcohol. That’s their fight. Cecil is not saying “when it comes to those long winters, Wisconsinites obviously don’t believe in getting shit-faced.” That makes no sense. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/28 "2016-01-18T03:34:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Emphasis added on the last one. > > Since this is GQ: cite, cite and cite? For the last one, please note that you used the term “brain dead”. Be sure you cite confirms that. To quote George Will, “I exaggerated only for effect”. Is it the definition of the word “nearly” that we disagree on? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/29 "2016-01-18T05:24:52Z")
> [@j666](#): > > “portend”? If you look on other threads you’ll see that my auto-correct has been screwy this week, changing words before I notice it. On one in GD I reposted that something was a typo and it kept changing it to tempo. :mad: > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Cecil is not saying “when it comes to those long winters, Wisconsinites obviously don’t believe in getting shit-faced.” No, he was saying we DO believe in getting shit faced. That’s how we don’t go into that good night gently. It was a para-phrase. A play on words if you will. Play along. No need to be a Richard Bean about it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/30 "2016-01-18T05:56:37Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > To quote George Will, “I exaggerated only for effect”. Is it the definition of the word “nearly” that we disagree on? IOW, you don’t have a cite. I didn’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/31 "2016-01-18T10:55:38Z")
What I would be nervous about is what if a sudden event occurs like 9/11 and suddenly the president has to go on camera and talk to the people? If he’s laid out drunk or even a little drunk he might say something he should not. Remember alcohol loosens the tongue. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/32 "2016-01-18T11:32:56Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > If you look on other threads you’ll see that my auto-correct has been screwy this week, changing words before I notice it. On one in GD I reposted that something was a typo and it kept changing it to tempo. :mad: > > No, he was saying we DO believe in getting shit faced. That’s how we don’t go into that good night gently. > > It was a para-phrase. A play on words if you will. Play along. No need to be a Richard Bean about it. You might want to explore the uses of the button to the right of the one that says “Submit Reply”. And no matter who said what when, “go gently into that good night” is not a good way to say “remain sober”. (It also sets my teeth on edge, as the second most annoying common misquotation I can think of.) ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/33 "2016-01-18T11:48:36Z")
> [@j666](#): > > (It also sets my teeth on edge, as the second most annoying common misquotation I can think of.) Like when someone says “I could care less” when, like me at your ire, they could **n’t** care less? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/34 "2016-01-18T11:55:35Z")
World leaders are on call 24/7 and they should never be shit-faced, just like a brain surgeon who is on call. A crisis might emerge any time and they wouldn’t want to have their judgment or sobriety called into question. So while an occasional glass of wine or beer wouldn’t be frowned on, a “huge drunk or stoner” would soon be removed from office, perhaps even by his own party, because he/she would be jeopardizing national and world security. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/35 "2016-01-18T12:45:40Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > World leaders are on call 24/7 and they should never be shit-faced, just like a brain surgeon who is on call. A crisis might emerge any time and they wouldn’t want to have their judgment or sobriety called into question. So while an occasional glass of wine or beer wouldn’t be frowned on, a “huge drunk or stoner” would soon be removed from office, perhaps even by his own party, because he/she would be jeopardizing national and world security. Right. for example what if say they are drunk and give out some big secret? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/36 "2016-01-18T13:26:07Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > No, he was saying we DO believe in getting shit faced. That’s how we don’t go into that good night gently. I know how he was trying to say it (about getting shit-faced). My point was that as a synonym for shit-faced it’s a joke, it doesn’t make sense otherwise. In his quote it was obvious since he was making the winter=death analogy. In your use of it it didn’t, since their was no similar analogy. Anyway, that’s about as much as I shoukd invest in this debate, especially since the likelihood of changing your mind is pretty low. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/37 "2016-01-18T13:39:08Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I know how he was trying to say it (about getting shit-faced). My point was that as a synonym for shit-faced it’s a joke, it doesn’t make sense otherwise. In his quote it was obvious since he was making the winter=death analogy. In your use of it it didn’t, since their was no similar analogy. > > Anyway, that’s about as much as I shoukd invest in this debate, especially since the likelihood of changing your mind is pretty low. Yes, it was a distraction because the use of the phrase was jarringly incorrect, as you observe. The fact that the OP chooses to not care a bit of a further distraction, but there ya go. **pkbites** - it was a simple error on your part; no biggie, but clear and obvious. Whatever, you could care less 😉 As for the OP question, I recall that from contemporary writing (some his own) and later biographies that Churchill was often drinking throughout the day and typically had a buzz going in many situations he faced in WW2. I think in this age of close observation, things have changed. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/38 "2016-01-18T13:49:43Z")
> [@Abraham Lincoln](#): > > Tell me what brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals. I have no doubt there are a lot of functional alcoholics in the Federal government. As long as they are functional, it is going to get covered up/ignored by their own party, and by the media (unless it is a Republican and the crisis is over). Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/39 "2016-01-18T15:49:43Z")
> [@j666](#): > > (It also sets my teeth on edge, as the second most annoying common misquotation I can think of.) What’s the first? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394/40 "2016-01-18T16:19:54Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > IOW, you don’t have a cite. I didn’t think so. I don’t need one, This is the Humble Opinion section. Yes, I have a cite for that: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?f=12](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?f=12) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-the-potus-was-a-huge-drunk-or-stoner/743394.md?page=3)