One of the commonalities of our day is the unwillingness of people to take responsibility for their actions. Another one is not calling things what they are. Revisionism is a common malady. Political correctness is fraught with revisionism. It has changed the meaning of terms. This has changed the law world for worse. An example is bad means good. Wicked is no longer evil but cool. When language becomes relativistic, communication becomes impossible.
Our politicians, athletes, and celebrities are full of ethical lapses. They are continuously in the news regarding their brushes with the law. The ones that are to set high examples end up setting very low ones and it is passed off and accepted. Self discipline is something that is sorely lacking from those in the public eye. If they have a problem, we end up finding out about it from a police blotter.
Tennessee State Representative (Democrat) Rob Briley had been arrested for driving under the influence, felony evading arrest, and felony vandalism. Briley first rear-ended a pick up truck and then led the police on a high speed chase with speeds reaching 100 mph. When arrested, Briley kicked out a window of a police cruiser. He was belligerent and sobbed, asking police to shoot him in the head twice.
Briley is an attorney. The only charge that Briley had to answer for was the driving under the influence charge. He was found guilty of DUI and was sentenced to 10 days in jail which he served on 5 consecutive weekends. The felony evading arrest and felony vandalism charges were dropped. Because he was not convicted of a felony, Briley is able to remain in the State Legistlature. How convenient.
First of all, Briley got off with a mere slap on the wrist. If this had been an ordinary citizen, they would have had the book thrown at them. They would have had to answer for the whole load. The prosecutors agreed to pretrial diversion for the felony evading charge. Since Briley is an elected official, he should have been held to a higher degree. Because of his position, his responsibility is greater and yet, he was given less than what he deserved. This is typical of our judicial system. It is a respecter of persons.
Briley told the Tennessee House of Representatives that he was an alcoholic and asked his colleagues for forgiveness for his DUI conviction. Briley said, "I am an alcoholic. I’m neither proud of that fact, or ashamed of that fact. It’s just a fact. Last year I did some things that I’m not proud of. I’ve been able to grow and change from that experience in a way that I believe God sees fit for me today."
Is there such a thing as an alcoholic? When someone claims to be an alcoholic, they are claiming that they are not responsible for their actions. Alcoholism has been classified as a disease. If someone has a disease, it is something they cannot help. This is a cop out and predictable by someone like Briley who claims that he takes responsibility for his actions. This is hogwash. Briley is arrogant. He is not repentant. If repentant, he would resign from the Tennessee State Legislature. This is not going to happen. He is also a Democrat and Democrats do not step down, no matter what they have done. They remain until removed.
Alcoholism is the only disease someone can get by drinking alcohol. The Bible does not recognize alcoholism and the Bible has the truth on this sin. This sin is called drunkenness. Briley is not an alcoholic, but a drunk. He is a drunkard. In other words, he could have stopped himself from drinking to excess, but he willingly chose not too. His actions speak so loudly that I cannot hear what he is saying.
Proverbs 23:21 reads, "For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags." Drunkards, gluttons and the lazy have one common characteristic: excess. The drunkard drinks to excess. The glutton eats to excess and the slothful sleeps to excess. This excessive behavior has financial costs attached to it. This behavior has consequences, with poverty being one of them. Briley’s reputation has been tarnished. He has also had an extramarital affair with a state employee. His wife has divorced him and taken their two children to Vermont. Briley is reaping what he has sown and he is reaping a whirlwind.
After Briley’s remarks to the House of Representatives, he was given a standing ovation, embraces, and supportive remarks from his associates of both parties. What were they giving him a standing ovation for? What did he do that deserved this response? Was it for his actions on the night of his arrest? Was it for his evasion of responsibility by claiming to be an alcoholic? He said he was neither ashamed nor proud of this. It seems that if he was taking responsibility for his actions, he would be totally ashamed.
The main reason that his fellow representatives are being so supportive is that most of them are just as shady as he is. This is normal operating procedure for our elected officials. The Tennessee Waltz sting proves this. Acceptance of bribes is no problem for some of these officials. Once again, our elected officials are to set an example of ethical purity, not of ethical failings.
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