The winner of my looking back at the week that was is:
Tennessee State Representative Rob Briley. He happens to be a Democrat from Nashville, which is neither here nor there. He's now the former chairman of the State House Judiciary Committee.
I say former because his drunken behavior last weekend in his SUV cost him his leadership role in state government after he was forced to resign. It may cost him still more in the public arena.
Evidently Briley is going through a nasty divorce and coping through heavy alcohol abuse. He's allegedly had problems with alcohol for years. By all accounts, Briley is a decent guy when not living (LUI) or driving (DUI) under the influence. But all hell breaks loose when he is.
I don't usually write about state and local politics on the Web because people like Bill Hobbs and A.C. Kleinheider are much more knowledgeable in these matters than I. But I make this exception. When our problems meet alcohol especially on the highway, it's a pretty universal tale of woe and tragedy that needs to be tended to.
Below is a blurb from last week's local newspaper as to what happened:
Report: Briley finished drink at gunpoint after 100 mph chase --
Republican leaders are calling for state Rep. Rob Briley to resign after his arrest for drunken driving over the weekend, a move House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh called “pretty lowlife.”A heavily intoxicated State Rep. Rob Briley, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, fled the scene of an accident in DeKalb County on Saturday afternoon, then led police in Wilson County on a 100-mile-an-hour chase before finally stopping, according to police reports and court documents.
The Nashville Democrat was arrested at gunpoint after stopping his SUV in the middle of the road and is alleged to have kicked the window of a patrol car while in custody.
Briley, 40, a lawyer, was booked at the Wilson County jail shortly before 6 p.m. on charges of DUI, evading arrest and violation of the implied consent law.
Naifeh said today that Briley suffers from alcoholism, was in treatment last fall and is preparing to enter treatment again. “I will do everything I possibly can to help Rob Briley down the road to recovery,” he said.
*********************Rep. Briley is reportedly back at an alcohol treatment/detox facility at Cumberland Heights in the area, attempting to get a hold of himself. He is fortunate that he didn't kill or injure anyone and has another chance to go through such a program. He still has an opportunity to find sustained and permanent healing, one day at a time.
As of now, I do not think that Briley should resign his seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives, unless he does this again. However, I do think he is acting responsibly to resign his leadership position of the state Judiciary Committee.
Right now and for the foreseeable future, Rob Briley has one job, and one job only: to responsibly take care of himself and do no damage to his fellow man. He is in no position to lead anyone publicly or privately at this point. I hope and pray that he will find new coping mechanisms for dealing with difficult family problems----including knowing what's his stuff and what's not---and can one day begin to use this rather dismal affair to help others coming along behind him.
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