By Volante blogger Matthew Hittle

Most students and faculty know my political leanings because I used to write about them. Until they stopped reading my column, that is. Because of that, people often approach me about political issues in the news. And that’s OK. Through the graduate school haze of reading, reading and more reading, I still catch snippets of the news. And hey, I like politics.

But all too often, this political conversation arises at the worst possible place: the bar. I’ll be having a drink with friends and another politically-minded soul greets me with a smile and a well-placed jab about Fox News or some such. I’ll laugh along and return a jab about Keith Olbermann, but that’s normally where I draw the line.
That’s because politics during bar time is dangerous.

Case in point is this past weekend during D-Days. A particularly less-than-sober friend slurred something about Rush Limbaugh not earning the Nobel Peace Prize. I laughed along with him and retorted that neither did President Obama. He grabbed my shirt at the neck (something I’m sure many liberal readers would like to do) and demanded I speak well of the president.

There was no harm done that night, just a slightly torn sweater and free drinks bought for me by an apologetic friend. 

The moral of this story is that, like driving and baking homemade pizza, politics is dangerous when mixed with alcohol.