A bottle of "Nobama Brew," purchased in Perkins, OK
My girlfriend and I, for the time being, live in Oklahoma. As I'm sure you know, it's the reddest of red states -- and this is literally true, too. There's some kind of clay laced with the dirt here that makes even the earth red and it gets into everything. In a land of pickup trucks, we drive a Smart with an Obama sticker on the back. Both get stares, the former even more so as Smart has gone national with an ad campaign. That's not always bad. We often get asked about the car at gas stations, usually folks wanting to know what kind of mileage we get. Even bikers ask sometimes. I see that as a reason for hope.
Nevertheless, the other day when I drove down to the local liquor store to buy a bottle of wine for dinner, I spotted, on the counter next to the register -- an impulse item -- a line of bottles of "Nobama Brew," a special beer that describes itself as "A flavorful Wheat Brew infused with the refreshing taste of Patriotism and Freedom."
I gave in to the impulse -- I moved a bottle alongside my wine to buy it.
Oklahoma is not entirely absent presidential politics. A few months ago, when President Obama came to the state, he visited Cushing, home of the country's pipeline crossroads, a terrible little meth town just about ten miles down the road from us. For a couple days we saw caravans of motorcycle cops drive right past our house, and the line of black vehicles that zipped past our driveway on the day of his visit -- and also past the the liquor store selling "Nobama Brew" -- might well have been the President himself.
I pulled out my credit card to buy the wine and the beer -- and then the next weird thing happened. The woman checking me out looked at the beer, and winced a little bit.
"Nobama Brew!" I said.
"Yes."
Then I risked it -- a real gamble in Oklahoma. "Where did you fall in the election?"
She cocked her head a bit. "I like the President."
Hooray! I assured her that we did too, and that I was only buying the bottle ironically. She laughed and suggested that it might be valuable someday.
Maybe. But that's not what I intend to do with it. I brought it home, and my girlfriend and I marveled at it over dinner -- while we watched the Rachel Maddow show from the day before. What we will do with "Nobama Brew?" Tonight we having friends for dinner -- and we'll crack this bottle to toast the President's reelection on a Thanksgiving that gives us all a great deal to be thankful for.
6:46 AM PT: PS -- It occurs to me after the fact that "Nobama Brew" would be great for Maddow's "cocktail moment," on Friday shows. If anyone knows how to get to the show's producers, I can get them a case of the stuff!
7:32 AM PT: Honored to make the Rec List for the first time!
For those who are very interested, the bottle says the beer is brewed for "Golden Door Enterprises of Tulsa, OK" by "Huebert Brewing Co." in Oklahoma City. Huebert is legit -- they make a variety of beers, and a couple months ago there was a mini-scandal when it looked like Nobama Beer was only going to be able to be legally sold in Oklahoma (that changed, soon enough). Golden Door Enterprises is more of a mystery. I can find a "Golden Enterprises" of Tulsa, but it looks like it employs just one guy. Mysterious -- of course.
Fri Nov 23, 2012 at 5:46 AM PT: AFTER the toast: "Nobama Brew" has a sweet, sour taste -- sort of like vomitus. I imagine that it is the re-bottled beer that Republicans drank early on election night, only to regurgitate it once they realized how the night was going to go. I don't recommend it. It did not, however, spoil our Thanksgiving dinner -- a fine time was had by all!