A Pint Of Bitter

The New York Times has an article about the alcohol-fueled fall of Liberal Democratic Party leader Charles Kennedy in Britian, in which they recount one of my all-time favorite political tales:

Drink also featured heavily in the life of George Brown, a Labor foreign secretary in the 1960's, who is once said to have stumblingly invited a guest in flowing purple robes at a reception in Peru to dance. But it was not to be.

"First, you are drunk," the guest is said to have replied. "Second, this is not a waltz; it is the Peruvian national anthem. And third, I am not a woman; I am the Cardinal Archbishop of Lima."