Lawmakers to review bar busts

Lawmakers to review bar busts

Public floods TABC with e-mails; legislators to review program

By PETE SLOVER / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN – Public intoxication busts of bar patrons by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission elicited a blast of indignant – even vicious – e-mails and calls from citizens Friday – to the agency, to journalists, and to elected officials who pledged to look into the arrests.

"I'm getting all those same e-mails, the Nazi, Taliban, Gestapo e-mails," said commission spokeswoman Carolyn Beck. "I don't really understand the hateful outrage. I don't understand, 'Die in a fire.' "

That e-mail traffic came after news reports about a stepped-up liquor-law enforcement program that has included arrests this month of patrons sitting drinking at establishments in Irving. Among those arrested was an Arkansas man who drank several beers at a hotel restaurant before he retired for the night to his room in the same hotel.

Ms. Beck said the arrests are part of a larger effort to rein in people who could be a danger to themselves or others – especially by driving drunk. In the six months ending in February, the agency issued 2,281 criminal citations, nearly double the amount for the same period the previous year.

Full Story Here from: Dallas Morning News

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The BEST 2 lines in the whole story are these:

Sen. Chris Harris, a Republican whose district includes Irving, called the arrests in his area "very questionable."

The senator's displeasure at that perceived breach of protocol was made clear in his reply to Mr. Steen, a one-sentence e-mail that read: "WHO IN THE DAMN HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

And that pretty much sums it up, Texans are pissed off, some of our lawmakers are pissed off too because even though they are politicians, they're NOT stupid, they see their votes going right down the crapper..

posted by TexasFred http://texas-freds-house.blogspot.com/

Hat tip to my good friend and fellow redneck TexFred for this one!