Ultra-conservative North Dakota lawmaker took some big, fat, forgivable government loans
MINOT, N.D. — The story of White Coke is a fascinating one.
Georgy Zhukov was Marshal of the Soviet Union during World War II when his counterpart in the Allied Forces, Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, introduced him to Coca-Cola.
He loved the drink, but since the Soviet Union was a country built upon ideological zealotry, he couldn’t very well be seen sipping a product that’s an icon of American capitalism. So Zhukov, as so many ideologues do, decided the rules were for the peasants and gave himself an exemption. He requested and received, with some help from President Harry S. Truman, a clear version of Coca-Cola that was bottled to look like Vodka, allowing him to drink the refreshing fizzy beverage while the Soviet proletariat stood in bread lines.
I was thinking about that story while reading about the PPP loans taken out by a North Dakota ideological zealot. Rep. Rick Becker is Bismarck-based plastic surgeon and the founder of the North Dakota Legislature’s Bastiat Caucus.
