Justice Gorsuch: Would Founding Fathers Be Disarmed as ‘Habitual Drunkards’?

Breitbart ^ | 2 Mar 2026 | AWR Hawkins

[Skwor]

Gorsuch then said, “[As for a] habitual drunkard, the American Temperance Society said back in the day, eight shots of whiskey a day only made you an occasional drunkard. We have to remember the founding era, if you want to invoke the founding era, to be a habitual drunkard you had to do double that.” He went on to note that John Adams, the Second President of the United States, “took a tankard of hard cider with his breakfast every day.”

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[Skwor]

Wow I had no idea he was this based. LOL my wife was not happy discussing this, I on the other hand just bought another Ardbeg.

[Wallace T.]

The amount of alcohol consumed in the 18th and 19th Centuries would be considered alcoholism today. But it appears that cannabis and illegal drugs have to some extent replaced beer, wine, and spirits as the means of addiction. However, many people were high functioning alcoholics but there are few high functioning drug addicts.

[Libloather]

How much does Neil drink?

[fso301]

People back then sort of figured out that drinking plain water came with risk while drinking alcohol seemed to go better.

[Skwor]

Much older than just back then. Paul told Timothy to mix a little wine with his water, likely they did that because they knew water was not exactly clean and the wine helped.

[ClearCase_guy]

It should be noted that back then there were some people who did not drink — and they tended to have a huge advantage over other people. If I am sober and sharp as a tack, and I am negotiating a business deal with someone who is quite drunk, I am likely to get the better part of the deal.

[Skwor]

Winston Churchill might have something to say about that.

I have known some pretty stubborn drunks.

[equaviator]

One high-functioning alcohol & drug addict was Hunter S. Thompson. Maybe Keith Richards but I guess he’s cleaned up his act.

[Sirius Lee]

I’d rather have a drunk Founding Father running this country than some leftist twink who’s partner carries his tiny balls around in it’s purse.

[Skwor]

On October 30, 1863 a compact version of a story printed in the New York Times:

When someone charged Gen. Grant, in the President’s hearing, with drinking too much liquor, Mr. Lincoln, recalling Gen. Grant’s successes, said that if he could find out what brand of whisky Grant drank, he would send a barrel of it to all the other commanders.

[pops88]

Reminds me of about 50 years ago when a pharmacist told me the secret of Geritol making the elderly feel better was the alcohol in it, not the vitamins.

[Hyman Roth]

That’s funny. And true.

[Ex-Con777]

That is why the pirates used rum. It was the only way to sanitize their drinking water. Arrrrrrrrrr!

EC

[FLT-bird]

People drank a lot more booze back then. Water was frequently bad and alcohol kills bacteria and viruses. They didn’t know about the latter back then but they observed that you got sick a whole lot less often when you drank booze regularly. So they did.

[MayflowerMadam]

We found an old medical remedy book at the family homestead where cocaine was in several of the recipes. I guess it was from the 1800s, but I don’t remember exactly.

[dennisw]

People were much tougher back then. Hard apple cider was consumed instead of water/ It was safer.

[HereInTheHeartland]

“ Maybe Keith Richards but I guess he’s cleaned up his act.”

Well of course he has. When was drinking with some of the Founders in the late 1700’s, he saw the damage it did to them.

[sauropod]

Bkmk

[circlecity]

“ but there are few high functioning drug addicts.”

Edgar Allen Poe

[Irenic]

that’s my understanding