The End of Utah as We Know It

Sad news that "a state dominated by teetotaling Mormons is willing to reconsider decades-old mores if it helps the economy" — Last call for arcane drinking laws in Utah.

I hold no brief for either Mormonism or teetotalism, both of which I hold to be heretical, but I hold considerable brief for Localism, Decentralism, and Jeffersonianism. One of the things that make places what they are are "arcane drinking laws." Where I'm from, no alcoholic beverages were sold on Sunday before noon. I once drove for about sixteen hours and found myself in New Mexico wanting a beer at five minutes after midnight only to be told by a convenient store clerk that I was five minutes too late. A friend from Tennessee said that his community forbade the selling of cold beer after midnight. I'm all for tyranny of this sort, as long as it's local, and as long as I can leave.