I don't think a couple of scotches and a glass of wine would put you over the limit 8 hours later. I'm thinking about the UK driving limit here, I don't know if there's a different limit for pilots.
None of us are saints, I'm sure we've all driven when we shouldn't have, even if we're not over the limit, but it's a different kettle of fish when you talk about being a pro pilot doing a sometimes demanding job that requires a cool head. I know that drunk drivers kill people, but most drivers are amateurs in the technical sense of the word and they don't kill 300 people at a time.
Your point about most airline pilots being ex military after the war which means they would have been flying into the late 1970's early 80's raises an interesting point They were the people who influenced today's senior captains so I wonder if that attitude hasn't been 'bred out' of the system yet? A friend of mine is a senior captain for a major carrier and he says that most ex mil pilots who start flying for his airline are a pita. Not all of them but some have definitely been there, seen it and done it and have nothing to learn from the likes of him. Bit worrying really.