Cogito ergo sum! Lost in Translation!

Let me make sense of this Antoinette,

241 years ago today the most important pamphlet of the 18th century was published. Of course you know what that is… it’s Common Sense! (see what I did there) Thomas Paine had a great deal of inspiration for this piece. He had the repressive policies of British colonial rule and liquor tax, new found knowledge from the Enlightenment, Greek philosophical traditions and a couple of bottles of fortified wine... Madeira. The greatest democracy in the history of the world owes its creation to Wine. Philosophers have an old saying…before you opine, you wine. This long standing tradition dates back to the days of Plato and Socrates. Greeks gathered at the Symposia where they drank wine and discussed philosophy into the wee hours of the night. As Pliny the Elder said, “in wine there is truth.” We all know we are wicked smart after a few bottles of the Grape…just think back to college when you wrote your best papers with a bottle of Thunderbird and stale pizza. Fast forward a few centuries and you run into Descartes, a skeptic who doubted everything except one universal truth, “Je pense donc je suis.” Translated from the Latin to French to English reads, “To think, I drink wine, therefore I am" (sometimes things get lost or gained in translation) 😆. By the time we get to the American Revolution, our Founding Fathers refused to discuss the most important aspects of rebellion and nation building without the “benefits” of wine. They regularly met at the tavern to work out their differences over a shared bottle of wine, fortified themselves against the cold of Valley Forge with the warmth of the grape, and defeated the inebriated Hessians on Christmas Eve because they chose to drink schnapps (long known to sap your mojo) instead. Wine created us, enlightens us, and now it’s time it brought us together. For those of you old enough to remember another T. Paine quote, “these are the times that try men’s souls…” when you were learning the home row on the typewriter, can now help turn America into a "civil" Symposia where we share our wine and ideas with respect and encouragement. Remember the Founding Fathers averaged 2 bottles of wine each…that's just good common sense! Git'r'done!