The stars at night are NOT BIG AND
BRIGHT deep in the heart of Texas. On the news this morning I
watched a debate regarding the right of “under cover” police
people to arrest patrons in a hotel bar for being drunk in
public or as the sophisticates say, “intoxicated in public”.
These actions were defended by the
fact Texas has had a great number of Driving under the Influence
convictions. The law enforcement individuals pointed out that if
the patrons in the hotel bar were arrested prior to getting
behind the wheel of a car the offense is much less and it is
safer for the public. This argument is valid only when the
culprit gets behind the wheel of an automobile. If my wife of 33
years and I were sitting in that bar because we were staying in
that hotel celebrating our 34th anniversary by plying each other
with alcohol, I believe the justification for an arrest would be
totally invalid. Once again the legal system is moving into our
area of choices.
In our quest to decrease the wrong
done by and to our selves and our fellow man, we are sacrificing
our personal freedoms. We are gradually giving up all those
personal freedoms which we have and our young people are
fighting for. We are saying, “Even though I am an adult, I need
others to dictate my behavior. One of our great leaders (I
cannot recall his name) once wrote, “Once we learn to govern
ourselves, we will not have to worry about being governed by
others.” I believe this man was referring to governing our
personal behavior, not passing laws which allow our legal system
to place us behind bars when we deviate from the norm.
Our nation was founded by
individuals who defied normalcy and excessive control by the
legal system. Even our police people are feeling the affects of
our ignorant attempts to decrease the mistakes made by a few in
society by taking away the freedom to make these mistakes from
all of our society.
If we are really going to solve the
driving under the influence of alcohol problem in Texas, let’s
do it the smart way. Let’s not allow cars in Texas. Let’s go
back to the horses!!! Then law abiding citizens can sit in a
hotel lounge and ply each other with liquor.
