Sunday, August 26, 2012

Criminal #2: The Belligerent Celebrity

Today's soundtrack: "Lost Highway" by Hank Williams.

This is one case where it's okay to mention the names of the criminals. They're already famous anyway, and maybe they deserve to be publicly shamed a little.

The belligerent celebrity.

We joke about them sometimes, laugh and shake our heads at their antics. Mel Gibson, David Hasselhoff, Kevin Spacey...the list goes on and on. There's even a Drunk Celebrity Hall of Fame. They spend a lot of money getting into trouble, and a lot of money getting out of it.

Recently, country music superstar Randy Travis was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated after crashing his car and walking into a convenience store naked. Then, in the police car, he threatened to kill the arresting officer, which resulted in a felony charge. He was released after posting $21,500 bail. More details here.

I don't know about you, but I've never been drunk enough to walk into a store naked. How many beers does it take to do something like that? How many shots of tequila? Hard to imagine.

And this was not his first infraction. He was arrested on public intoxication back in February.

Would it be safe to say that some of these people have a drinking problem? And if they're drinking and driving, should they maintain the right to operate motor vehicles? How many times should they be allowed to buy their way out of situations that would send most of us to the hoosegow for months or even years?

To me, drinking and driving is one of the most serious crimes on the books. If you do it, you're not only putting your life at risk, but the lives of everyone else in your path. If you're going to go out drinking, you need to either have a designated driver or call a cab. Period.

And if you're rich and famous, and you're getting drunk and belligerent and behind the wheel again and again, you might want to think about taking some of that money you're donating to your lawyers and spending it on rehab.

4 comments:

  1. Ask these people later why they went to the store naked, or tried to punch a policeman, they usually don't remember much. They had a blackout, one of the surest signs of advancing alcoholism. Behind the wheel of a car, they become murderers, killing thousands of people every year. The laws are slowly getting tougher, but not tough enough IMHO. Good luck with the writing and the blog, Jude. I'lI try to spread the word.

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  2. Thanks, Jack! And yes, it's a big problem, and of course it's not limited to celebrities. They're just the ones we hear about.

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  3. This reminds me of an old joke.

    Two drunks are talking.
    Drunk #1: Does your tongue burn when you're drunk?
    Drunk #2: I don't know. Never been drunk enough to light it.

    Adding this blog to my reader, which is no faint praise, as I've been removing blogs for weeks. I'll be back.

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  4. That would be drunk indeed, Dana! Much better to walk around naked. Thanks for the support!

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