# Who drank the Kool-Aid? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474 "2009-07-18T21:15:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/1 "2009-07-18T21:15:06Z")
Or Flavor-Aid, if you want to be accurate with the Jonestown reference. On this board Liberals accuse(d) Conservatives of ‘drinking the Kool-Aid’. As a liberal myself, I laughed. Of course it made sense to me that the conservatives bought into the rubbish Rush _et al._ were spewing. So imagine my surprise when I started reading a board populated by very-Right-wing types, and discovered _they_ were accusing _us_ of ‘drinking the Kool-Aid’! So here are two questions: 1. When it comes to political conversations, which group (Left or Right) was the first to accuse the other of ‘drinking the Kool-Aid’? 2. Which group, now, uses the phrase most often? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/2 "2009-07-18T21:31:41Z")
It seemed to practically be a mantra of the righties back during the election. “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid, don’t drink the Kool-Aid, don’t drink the Kool-Aid, don’t drink the Kool-Aid, don’t drink the Kool-Aid!” I don’t remember seeing it in a political context before then. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/3 "2009-07-18T21:37:52Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > It seemed to practically be a mantra of the righties back during the election. > > “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid, > don’t drink the Kool-Aid, > don’t drink the Kool-Aid, > don’t drink the Kool-Aid, > don’t drink the Kool-Aid!” > > I don’t remember seeing it in a political context before then. No, the leftish types were using it during George W. Bush’s administration. (I’m one of the leftish types) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/4 "2009-07-18T21:38:22Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > It seemed to practically be a mantra of the righties back during the election… > > I don’t remember seeing it in a political context before then. I just did a quick google search. I found references here at SDMB from 2003 (not in a political context, but with the same meaning). I found a post from 2005 where it was used to describe liberals. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/5 "2009-07-18T23:11:08Z")
The Peoples Temple was left-leaning, if anything. Jones was the darling of many past and current Democratic politicians. For the record, it was Flavor Aid, not Kool-Aid. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/6 "2009-07-18T23:28:15Z")
I know this doesn’t address your question directly, but it may be helpful anyway. I see “drink the Kool Aid” pretty often in sports contexts. On a baseball message board I visit sometimes, posters frequently accuse each other of drinking the Kool Aid when someone accepts the word of team management that the team is going to be competitive this year or that player X is going to be back after 15 days on the DL or whatever. Maybe the popularity of the phrase has roots in sports rather than politics? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2009, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/7 "2009-07-18T23:39:23Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > For the record, it was Flavor Aid, not Kool-Aid. Psst. See the first line in the OP. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/8 "2009-07-19T01:58:44Z")
In my defense, I spend a lot of time drinking Booze-Aid. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/9 "2009-07-19T02:25:19Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Or Flavor-Aid, if you want to be accurate with the Jonestown reference. I would just add that in one documentary, I’m pretty sure that Jim Jones or someone else in his compound is shown opening a box that contains many containers of both Kool-Aid and Flavor-Aid. I won’t argue that Flavor-Aid was the suicidal beverage of choice, though. The first known use of it would be 1991. Rush Limbaugh referred to the Dems as “pouring the Kool-Aid,” not necessarily drinking it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/10 "2009-07-19T02:29:58Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I would just add that in one documentary, I’m pretty sure that Jim Jones or someone else in his compound is shown opening a box that contains many containers of both Kool-Aid and Flavor-Aid. I won’t argue that Flavor-Aid was the suicidal beverage of choice, though. Well, then. I stand corrected. I could have sworn it was all Flavor Aid. > [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > The first known use of it would be 1991. Rush Limbaugh referred to the Dems as “pouring the Kool-Aid,” not necessarily drinking it. Earlier than I thought. Do you have a cite? (I hate to ask, and it sounds like something he would say; I just like documentation. 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/11 "2009-07-19T06:34:31Z")
Wait. As someone who’s never voted Democrat, I say: There are people who consider Rush Limbaugh a relevant political commentator? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/12 "2009-07-19T18:14:51Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > The Peoples Temple was left-leaning, if anything. Jones was the darling of many past and current Democratic politicians. For the record, it was Flavor Aid, not Kool-Aid. In the flurry of PT books that emerged after Jonestown, it was oft-repeated that while in Indianapolis, Jim Jones sought ties with local John Birch Society chapters. And that would be the only time the JBS was mentioned in the book. No comment that the JBS’ weekly newsmagazine “The Review of the News” correctly denounced The Peoples Temple & Jones as Communist a couple of years before the Massacre. As to the OP, I wouldn’t be surprised if it started much earlier in religious contexts. I remember soon after the Massacre, people in the Charismatic inter-church group I attended worrying that people would consider us as similarly cultic. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/13 "2009-07-19T18:41:39Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > The Peoples Temple was left-leaning, if anything. Jones was the darling of many past and current Democratic politicians. For the record, it was Flavor Aid, not Kool-Aid. Do note, however, that Jim Jones spent a great deal of time in the 60s fighting segregation. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/14 "2009-07-19T19:00:34Z")
In my experience, it’s the Libertarian/Ron Paul voters who accuse _everyone else_ of drinking the kool-aid. Apparently, they also want us “sheeple” to “wake up”. And every time they say it, they seem to think that they are the first ones to use those witticisms. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/15 "2009-07-19T19:29:05Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > And every time they say it, they seem to think that they are the first ones to use those witticisms. Well, I was using ‘sheeple’ to describe the Right when Reagan was President. So, that’s been around at least that long. Add on question: Who first used ‘sheeple’, and when? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-drank-the-kool-aid/503474/16 "2009-07-20T00:58:09Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Add on question: Who first used ‘sheeple’, and when? WAG: Some douchebag. “Sheeple” is probably the dumbest, most pointless insult in the history of mankind.