drunk tank blues

Sing it! "They let me out this morning (base line: da dada da da) of the Travis County Jail (da dada da da.) Some brief case toting men in black (da dada da da) came and threw my bail (da dada da da.)"

AUSTIN, Texas (Sept. 17) - The youngest son of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was arrested early Friday and charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest, law enforcement officials said.

John Ellis Bush, 21, was arrested by agents of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission at 2:30 a.m. on a corner of Austin's Sixth Street bar district, said commission spokesman Roger Wade.

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Well, like uncle like nephew. Alcohol is a problem in the Bush family.

During the presidential campaign in 2000, Micheal Moore asked, "Do you know anyone that has been arrested for drunk driving?" Between George Bush and Dick Cheney there are at least five arrests for either DWI/DUI.

Now in my line of work, political wonk/college professor/future lawyer, I know lots of people who have been arrested. I relate a little differently to it than Mr. Moore. Every politicians I have worked for, except when I helped my husband run for County Judge, has been indicted and arrested. They were all acquitted. And their arrests were political. (Slap your face in surprise, it happens.)

I know lawyers who have been arrested for DWI. Alcohol is a big problem in the legal profession. It is a legal drug and there are often no sanctions for drinking or even DWI/DUI events. The State Bar of Texas and Texas law schools are trying to do more to address drinking to excess issues. They have finally acknowledged that lawyers, like other professionals, get depressed, too. My experience with trial lawyers, my favorite legal creatures, have bi-polar depression and substance abuse issues. They tell me they can't turn their brains off at night. They also get depressed when their client goes to death row.

But these Bushes. Since they have the world on a string, but like a dog who catches a car, they don't know what to do with it, they get drunk in public. They need to be 12 steppin' and stop the goose steppin' and two steppin'. It is a private matter they say. Not when children of presidents and governors have substance abuse problems. Why? Because it says a lot more about their parents than the kids. Not when the president is a petulant, spoilt yeller who scares grown men into dry heaves. What makes these kids including the president drink, lie to authority with fake IDs and resist arrests? Could it be that they have problems respecting authority because the authority in their lives is so disrespectful? Do they think they are special? Are they trying to get their parents to pay attention to them?

If the family is so terrific at cutting business deals and playing politics, why didn't they tell their spawn that they would get a "bonus" if they made it through the various Bush administrations without visiting the local drunk tank? At least the trust fund baby wasn't mowing people down, driving drunk on Sixth Street.