Oh,PLEASE! By calling it a mistake I didn't mean to excuse her behavior. My God! Can we not blow everything out of proportion??? She's a criminal
if/when convicted. I don't think anybody would dispute that.
We could just all fess up because if you've ever rolled through a stop sign, gone over the speed limit or changed lanes without signaling, then you're a criminal, too. The difference is misdemeanor vs. felony and degree of severity of the offense. Somehow, we don't think of ourselves as criminals for such minor violations, but we are, aren't we? And each of those examples could also result in harm to another person.
We bristle at the term for minor infractions because the term "criminal" does imply sinister intent. Was this incredibly bad judgment or did this woman get into the car thinking, I may hit someone in my intoxicated condition.... oh.. so what, I'll do it anyway." We don't know, do we? But many here are assuming things they don't know and passing judgment as a result.
As for demonizing her -- the first poster called her an idiot. Others have implied she was a typical drunk driving out on the road. Someone else suggested that middle school kids were somehow in danger for having been around her ( uh... no kids have been around her since it happened and no one has any modicum of information to suggest she was EVER drunk around the students), and someone else suggested her arrest was a boon to the fiscal crisis because she's apparently going to lose her job.
If that's not demonizing her, then what is, pray tell?
The fact that you felt my use of the words "doozy of a mistake" minimized her offense was YOUR interpretation of what I said.
I certainly don't need your help to elucidate myself, thanks.
Pari.
No one (me included) said she was a "monster" and no one (me included) is "demonizing" her. My concern is partially with posters on here defending her. I simply pointed out that minimizing a crime by calling it a "doozy of a mistake" is a semantic shift that is not warranted here. As a society we need to hold people accountable for their actions...minimizing criminal behavior (e.g., calling drunk driving a "mistake", saying, "boys will be boys" when discussing sexual harassment, or "eh, they're just kids having fun" when justifying teenage drinking/drug use) is part of what perpetuates said behavior. It's time as a society that we call a spade a spade. And drunk driving is a crime. As you said, if the evidence shows she committed such a crime, she should do the time.
