Alcohol and Politicians do not mix

Alcohol and politicians just do not mix. No good ever comes of politicians who are seen in public drinking alcohol. We have yet another incident proving that alcohol and politicians should never be mixed.

In the June 11th edition of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel there is an incident involving Racine Mayor Gary Becker and the Racine Police Department. The incident in question has now exploded into another investigation, requiring the services of the Racine County sheriff's department. This is another complete waste of taxpayer dollars on an incident that should never have happened.

The lowdown on this entire story seems innocent enough. Mayor Becker was at an event on May 31st and by his own admission, the mayor had "one or two cocktails". My guess is that someone saw the mayor have these cocktails and decided to call the Racine Police department. The police went to check out the story. They apparently found nothing. No arrests were made and the incident and that should have been the end of it, right?

Unfortunately, the mayor's sensibilities were offended because the police turned up to investigate the drinking and driving incident. The mayor is claiming that the reason the police showed up to investigate was politically motivated. Now Mayor Becker is demanding that the Racine Sheriff's Department investigate the Racine Police Department. Now we have quite a mess!

What a complete and utter joke this has turned out to be. Now taxpayer dollars are being used by the Racine Sheriff's department to investigate the Racine Police Department because the police department investigated the Mayor. Sounds ridiculous, right?

The reason it sounds ridiculous is because it is ridiculous. This should never have happened. If politicians would just realize that drinking in public does not serve the best interest of their political careers, these types of ridiculous investigations would not take place on the taxpayer's dollar.

Mayor Becker is probably right- this incident is politically motivated. Who knows who turned in the mayor and called the Racine police? It could have been a bartender, a member of the wait staff, and angry constituent, or even someone from the opposite political persuasion. However, it is pretty doubtful that the Racine Police department investigated a drinking and driving incident just because the Racine mayor was involved. I feel pretty confident is saying that the Racine Police department has probably investigated one or two other drunk driving incidents that did not involve politicians or the Mayor of Racine.

I have been to plenty of political functions where alcohol was being served. I cannot say that I remember ever seeing a politician with a drink in their hands. This is a good thing. These habits of not drinking in public should continue to be practiced.

My advice to politicians- never ever drink any alcohol in public. Just don't do it. It is not smart politics. Someone, somewhere will look down on this action and do whatever they can to hurt the politician for drinking. Someone will turn you in for political gain. That may not be fair, but that is life. You are politicians now, and you live your lives in the public eye. Deal with it, and don't drink in public.

Oh, one more thing- never ever publicly or privately drink and then drive a vehicle. It is illegal to drink and drive. Quite simply, drinking and driving is asking for trouble. Don't believe me? Just ask AG Peg Lautenschlager or Congressman Patrick Kennedy. I'm sure these two can tell your horror stories about drinking and driving and how this has affected the public perception of them and their political careers.