It seems as if the Golden Goose (Tom Hensley, the lobbyist for the Tennessee Liquor Wholesalers) may be more than your reg’lar good ole boy. He seems to know somebody with web skillz. Several people have blogged about wine sales in grocery stores here and elsewhere, but while we bloggers were posting, someone created www.stopteendrinkingtn.org to head off both Internet wine sales and sales in grocery stores. They’ve been emailing and faxing up a storm while we’ve been blogging. Welcome to Tennessee, where Tom Hensley controls who gets liquor. And you thought this was a democracy. Silly, silly.

KnoxNews is reporting that prospects of the bill passage have diminished greatly. The site initially allowed users to email legislators directly, which they report created a flood of emails but that feature was dropped following inquiries by the Knoxville News Sentinel.

The Web site was established by Seigenthaler Public Relations. Philip McGowan, an account executive with the Nashville firm, said Tennesseans Against Teen Drinking is a “coalition of various types of groups and organizations.”

He acknowledged that the Tennessee Wine and Spirits Wholesalers Association is part of the coalition. Other members include the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police, individual sheriffs and the Tennessee Malt Beverage Association.

Rep. Currey Todd said that faxes and e-mails sent to some of his constituents by the StopTeenDrinkingTN group said juveniles could purchase wine with “no ID required” if the bill passes, and “that’s a bald-faced lie.” The law required showing a driver’s license or other photo ID.