I don’t want to make light of this, or even make too much out of it, because everyone makes mistakes. Hell, even the head of the OLCC resigned after getting a DUI in April 2006. But I still feel it has to be pointed out (and thanks to Rob for the tip).
The Gainesville Sun is reporting that Debra Oberlin was arrested last week and charged with a DUI. Oberlin is the former President of the Gainesville, Florida chapter of the neo-prohibitionist Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). She was the President of the local chapter for three years in the 1990s before it was disbanded for “lack of financial support” in 1996.
But she didn’t just go a little bit over the line, she sprinted past it. Like most states, Florida’s BAC level is 0.08. Oberlin blew a .234 and a .239, while claiming to have had just four beers. The police report indicates she was observed “driving erratically on Northwest 19th Street, swerving and crossing lanes.” That’s the type of drunk driver even the most ardent supporter of alcohol doesn’t want on the road.
wait… JUST 4? Oh that’s all?
It’s strange how we become the things we fear… Puts a new meaning to “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
Yeah, it’s hard not to think she may have fibbed just a little bit on that one.
She could have had just 4. Maybe she had an Utopias, Sink the Bismark, Dogfish Head 120 and a Tactical Nuclear Penguin. In an hour.
4 – 24 oz. Hoptimums would do it.
get a taxi.
I love following your blogs, but this one in particular should be wielded with care. I would like to more about whether or not her philosophies have changed in the over FIFTEEN it has been since she was president of that chapter. Has she remained involved in some form throughout the years? For now though, I’ll point and laugh 🙂
Adam,
I agree, and that’s why I started the post with “I don’t want to make light of this, or even make too much out of it, because everyone makes mistakes.” It was the newspaper that made the connection between her recent arrest and her previous affiliation with MADD, but I doubt they’ll be much follow-up or in-depth analysis.
Yep, that’s my town! I saw that in the paper this morning and thought, “Eck…”
What happened to the sharing options?
Joe Bob Briggs, the syndicated drive-in movie critic whose hilarious column ran for years in the SF Chron’s Sunday “Pinkie” & “founder” of DAMM (Drunks Against Mad Mothers) would love this pyrrhic “victory” 🙂 If you miss it, here’s his website:
http://www.joebobbriggs.com/