Java, Java

State Rep. Barbara Bailey has actually introduced a bill that would make coffee the official state beverage of Washington.

...really?

Why?

It's certainly brewed here in quantity, no doubt. Seattle did give birth to the Starbucks Nation, and you are able to find at least one coffee stand on every corner. Actually, within a 5 block radius of my house, there are 2 Starbucks, 2 privately owned coffee booths, and 2 convenience stores where I could get a cup of joe.

But coffee's not actually grown in Washington. And we certainly didn't invent the drink. We invented a way to take a basic cup of coffee and turn it into a 2,000 calorie deathtrap.

The State has been on our backs about being healthier and living better in almost a Nanny-State kind of way. Passing candy taxes (which, ironically, means that my all organic vegan breakfast bar is taxed - it's 'candy'), regulating the sale of alcohol to state run stores, jacking up the cigarette taxes so that it now it is $8 a pack, forcing restaurants to use less butter and grease in their cooking...

And now they want to make coffee the state beverage.

Why not apple juice? We're the apple state, aren't we? We have a plethora of apple orchards, and we're known for our apples around the world. That at least would be more in line with healthier thought.

But coffee?

I'm so confused.