January 23, 2012
Mostly in order to avoid any "figure's AR wouldn't mention Watson's latest arrest" comments
Honestly, I don't know what people are thinking. As you might have guessed from the title of this post, that link will lead to coverage of East Greenwich Republican Rep. Bob Watson's latest arrest.
I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I've tripped over more than my share of red flags for self-destructive behavior, but it doesn't take much learning to discover the most important thing about red flags: that they be heeded, prompting a change of behavior. Granted, they tend to escalate, with the early ones being sufficiently small to allow for self-denial, but Watson is getting to the point that the next sized flag will be somebody's serious injury or death.
The people of his district will decide what Watson's appropriate next political step will be, but it's just about a plain statement of fact that he hasn't been showing very good judgment, of late.
Contrary to the popular myth, the closer an addict gets to hitting bottom (if there is such a thing), the more difficult it will be to get sober. Dependency increases with use as chemical changes occur in the brain and support networks disappear with self-destructive behavior. Rehab should have happened a long time ago for this sad case. Needless to say that giving people a criminal record or throwing them in jail is the worst possible course of action. This does raise the question why Rhode Island has such a difficult time finding quality representatives from either party. I've heard from more than a few people that they "don't want to be associated."
Posted by: Dan at January 23, 2012 7:42 PM