Free to drink vodka

Stupid argument of the day:

The leader of the British Conservative MEPs, Timothy Kirkhope, also welcomed the vote, saying "people are free today to drink the vodka they want - the British vodka drinker is saved from protectionists in Poland and Finland".

The vote was over labeling, specifically whether you can use the name "vodka" for spirits that aren't made from the traditional vodka ingredients - which you now can, as long as you admit it on the label. No matter the result, Britishers would have remained entirely free to guzzle their fruity quasi-vodkas - which I've never tasted and which may be indistinguishable from real vodka for all I know.

I don't have much else to say on the Vodka Wars (so go read Aapo's take), except to note that it resulted in the most publicity Finnish MEPs have received in a long time, possibly ever. Leading the charge were Alexander Stubb (National Coalition Party/EPP) and Lasse Lehtinen (Social Democratic Party/PES), at least one of whom tended to be quoted in every story written on the topic.