General Order 99, issued by Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels on 1 June, 1914, strictly prohibited "the use or introduction for drinking purposes of alcoholic liquors on board any naval vessel, or within any navy yard or station," to take effect on 1 July 1914.

Much of the US Navy was off the Mexican port of Veracruz at the time. The officers did their best to drink up their stores. At my last dining in, 75 years after the event, a toast was offered to the memory of Josephus Daniels. We all booed.

We all like to think of ourselves as rugged individualists. But when push comes to shove most of us are sheep who do what we are told. Worst of all, a lot of us become unpaid agents of whoever is controlling the agenda by enforcing the current dogma on the few rugged individualists who actually exist.