Amen,SC! And another facet of the liberal credo is transforming undesirable habits/conditions in to an "illness". After all, its okay -- perhaps even expected -- to get morally indignant over a bad habit [a.k.a vice] and demand the person straightened up and fly right; however, when this same condition i.e. excessive drinking, becomes an "illness" sympathy is supposed to replace moral judgment, and understanding replace indignation.
Interesting observation, especially given that illnesses used to be bad things. If someone got smallpox, there wasn't a 'smallpox victim's advocacy group' that demanded the right to go about freely spreading the disease. Instead, someone with smallpox would be quarantined.
Perhaps the shift in disease handling stems from another aspect of the liberal credo: having an excuse for being wrong is more important than being right. Diseases give people an excuse for badness.