Months before he helped pass tougher OUI laws on Beacon Hill, Senate President Robert E. Travaglini intervened on behalf of a convicted drunken driver and habitual traffic offender who allegedly lied about being a war hero to try to lighten his sentence, the Herald has learned.
…In addition to his OUI conviction, Flynn [the driver] was busted at least nine times in Massachusetts and New Hampshire for driving with a suspended license. His record of motor-vehicle violations is 11 pages long.”
So now we have Hillman, Trav, Galluccio, the O’Flaherty follies over Melanie’s Law … Maybe this exposes a degree of apathy among some elected officials about drunk driving … a degree of “There but for the grace of God go I.”
Well, here’s my full disclosure on the issue: The man who should have been my brother-in-law didn’t live long enough for that, or even for me to meet him: My wife’s brother died as the result of a drunk driver smashing into his van on the highway, causing it to tip over into the median. He died a few days later. He was 19, and died senselessly and needlessly, just because someone was stupid.
So I don’t have much patience for the rationalization. People die from getting their bodies smashed to pieces by drunk drivers. It has to be considered a very serious crime. And that means you don’t get to grandstand about (see below) passing a law if you’re writing letters to DA’s in New Hampshire enabling and rationalizing for a repeat-offending menace.
Thanks to Universal Hub.
UPDATE: “Grandstanding” and Travaglini don’t really go together; he obviously helped shape Melanie’s bill and took credit for that. My point remains: Public officials should not take it upon themselves to excuse people who break the law repeatedly.
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Link (reg. req’d).
right twice a day… etc. etc.
the risk is when you invoke such serious topics for political gain. Barney Frank has said that his pet peeve is moral certitude. Which of these pols, who one could argue should be more serious about such an important issue, has used said issue for political gain?
Perhaps that’s not the right word. Trav doesn’t really grandstand. I will strike that, and say “take credit for”.