Demonstrating the obtuseness that is inherent in government, Texas ABC officials are shocked at public outrage over busts for public drunkenness in bars
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission program, designed to stem public intoxication and drunken driving, has resulted in more than 2,200 arrests or citations since it began in August.But the program has been criticized after news reports following the most recent busts, at 30 Dallas-area bars this month.
“I’m getting all those same e-mails, the Nazi, Taliban, Gestapo e-mails,” said commission spokeswoman Carolyn Beck. “I don’t really understand the hateful outrage. I don’t understand, ‘Die in a fire.’ “
What’s not to understand? You started an operation to go into bars looking for drunk people, found some drunk people to shake down for $500 fines, and now people are complaining about it. And these were hotel bars. What, precisely, is the public safety hazard of a few businessmen staggering back to their hotel rooms?
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