Pants on Fireball

Is there nothing so louche that Trump supporters won't indulge in it? According to the Washington Post, apparently not. So low have we been brought, the Post suggests, that in Donald Trump's capital there is a fad for that odious cinnamon-flavored sugar gargle that masquerades as whiskey, "Fireball."

The article took up most of the front page of the paper's Style section plus a jump to the inside pages. It started with a big picture of a bottle of Fireball and a display headline: "Is This the Spirit of Trumpism? Fireball whiskey's sales rise in D.C.; theories abound."

Of course theories are just theories, but the factual part of the headline is simple and unambiguous: "Fireball whiskey's sales rise in D.C." How surprising it was, then, for The Scrapbook to find, in the article's 14th paragraph, way back on page C5, this:

Tanner Smith, a liquor distribution representative whose market includes 95 bars and restaurants in the District, thinks the whole idea is "comical" because Fireball sales are actually slowing in the capital.

To her credit, the reporter cites the testimony of multiple bartenders and "beverage directors" who are dismissive of the article's very premise. She even notes that Fireball became a Washington sensation not over the last few months, but back in the glory days of the Obama administration.