An attempt by government and special interest groups to influence our thinking is not a new phenomenon. In the 50's, we were convinced that there was a Communist under every bed just waiting to enslave us and our families. The Commie hysteria went on to justified the Viet Nam war in the 60's. In the words of Bob Dylan, "I learned to hate the Russians all through my whole life."
Think about words or phrases that make your blood boil. "Communist" has lost its magic, but how about "drunk driver"? Twenty-five years and hundreds of millions of dollars spent by our government, MADD and other anti-alcohol groups has rendered us unable to view every drunk driver as anyone other than a vile, child killer--Public Enemy #1. Read any MADD press release. There is always a reference to a specific family member killed and the continued grieving of the mother or father. But with a deliberate motive the killer “drunk” driver morphs into all “drinking” drivers, who we are told are just as dangerous; statistics be damned. You can't help but feel sympathy and yearn for justice and/or revenge, but against whom?

This social conditioning is similar to Pavlov's experiments with his dog. Ring the bell, offer Fido some food and watch him salivate. After a while, just the ringing of the bell causes the dog to salivate. Sound the alarm, show the Smith’s a dead child and watch them demand tougher laws against all drinking drivers.

If he is a killer he should be severely punished, and today's laws ensure that he will be, unless he's a politician or policeman. Why is the same hatred not expressed toward a speeder or red light runner who kills someone? Because we have not yet been conditioned to hate these potential killers. Our laws even mandate lesser punishment if alcohol is not involved.

What happens when the thought control groups reach their goal that it's not drunk drivers but all drinking drivers that are the scum of the earth? It used to be "Don't let friends drive drunk." Now it's "You drink, You drive, You lose." What does that mean? Is it illegal to drive after drinking? If you have a beer and get behind the wheel are you, in MADD's words, the same as a "drive-by shooter?" Say it on TV for 25 years and, the public subliminally gets the message. "It must be true, why would they lie?"

MADD is determined to convince us. (Prohibition was a good thing, it was just done the wrong way.) They are doing it through hysterical unverifiable claims that tens of thousands of innocent people are killed by drunk drivers each year. They are doing it by exploiting and highly publicizing only those tragedies that involve alcohol. They are doing it through media coverage that loves the sensational story and never checks the source or phony statistics.

And once we are all conditioned to their alarm bell, there will no longer even be a need for them to feed us their lies.