Some underage kids were arrested for drinking up in Marietta.
Stop the presses. Seventeen year olds were drinking beer. I thought the beverage of choice for 17 year olds was beer. But everyone seems surprised that some rich kids had a post-party after an adult Christmas party and decided to share the beer.
It happens.
What apparently makes this newsworthy is that one of the kids was a state legislator’s son. Color me surprised. And color me even more surprised that the dad tried to help his kid. And color me most surprised that the dad’s political opponents are now trying to use the kid’s beer drinking to attack the dad.
This happens. It happens every day. And it says a lot more about the opponents than it does the father and son. So I remember this one time when I was on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. I was seventeen. Good times.
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Anyone care to bet that the legislator in question has an (R) after his name? Anyone? Anyone??
Sucker bet. Had it been a black (D), Pete would have posted this and ripped the legislator to shreds for trying to abuse his office to help his family.
Wanna show me a time when Peach Pundit has gone after a politician’s kids?
Did I say anyone would go after his kid?? Or are you trying to inoculate a PP front-pager with a question designed to be a distraction?
The whole “Pete’s a racist” thing is getting pretty old.
I agree. Would you ask him to stop?
Nice one bene.
Buzz,
I agree.
Cheap shots that become clichés grow old quickly. Last I checked Pete was actually a person, though I suppose he could be an android, and should get the benefit of the doubt.
Oh this is so much H.S. And if you don’t understand that, substite Horse for the usual Bull followed by the usual colloquialism for excrement.
A Democrat gets pulled over on a traffic stop, a check shows she has outstanding warrants for bad checks and because she isn’t frogmarched to jail it’s not only more evidence that Democrats are inherently corrupt AND get away with but also the Dekalb Police are either incompetent or in on the game.
A Republican tries to convince police officers to not do their job because it would endanger a kid’s scholarship and it’s just kids being kids.
You’re double standard is showing.
See grift, we DO agree on a number of things unrelated to the heat content of our thermometers.
So what does H.S. stand for?
Horse
shManure.Kids are going to make “mistakes” from time-to-time. I don’t believe the parent has the ability to control every choice in a kid’s life. Someone is bound to say that this “failure in his parenting abilities” is a direct reflection on his abilities as a legislator.
As Erick said, this stuff happens every day. Now can people please stop dropping us news stories about this 24/7?
Tyler
Are you 21 yet? lol
Don’t answer that question Tyler until we can review the video evidence of the last PP gathering.
Don’t worry about the last PP party. We should worry whether or not he was partying with the legislator’s son.
Erick, I believe that a bunch of us are guilty or have been guilty of the same thing — underage drinking. A good many of us have experienced it with our own children doing the same — myself included. My children turned out just fine. This happens all the time and is not foreign to either children of Democrats or Republicans. It is what it is and kids are going to try it (sometimes even when younger than 17 (like 14). And yes, Byte, it was Republican.
I know I’m the weird one here, but I can honestly say I never had a drop of alcohol until the day I turned 21, and I’ve never used an illegal drug – or even known where to get one. (Yeah, yeah, say what you will there about my popularity in HS.)
Point being: Not EVERYONE does it.
That said, I’m coming more and more to pushing for the legal age to go back to 18. If they’re old enough to sign up for war, they’re old enough to get wasted the night before they deploy.
Good post. I had friends in high school who didn’t drink, and I didn’t think any less of them because of it — it was their choice. Having said that, I agree with you that law should definitely be re-visited; however, no one running for any positions are going to stick their necks out on this one because of the fallout that could come their way. This is an issue that will hopefully be discussed during a non-election cycle, and it needs to be discussed.
I think the age required to sign up for war should be raised.
Now that is an idea! Wonder if it will gather support.
If you read the article carefully, it appears that Wiles was NOT trying to help his son, he was there at the request of a very drunk attorney/traffic court judge/idiot who works with him. Wiles’ son was not drinking, but was there. The traffic court judge needs to resign her position and go back to being a lawyer full time. The attack on Wiles is distraction.
I totally agree with you about the drunk traffic court judge. What was/is she thinking?
She was drunk. “Thinking” was probably a very loose term for her at the time.
I understand that she was drunk and that drunks don’t think clearly. I was just meaning why did she put herself in that type of position and now under this type of scrutiny? That’s all.
Yea but even in her drunken state, she was showing the teens how to get out of trouble and that consequences aren’t to be bothered with if one thinks the law is stupid.
If we’d just lower the legal drinking age to something a bit more reasonable, this wouldn’t even be a story.
I am in total agreement with you on this. Of course, you and I are probably in the minority. To me it’s kind of sad that you can join a branch of service at 18, and be expected to lay your life on the line; but, you can’t go and have a beer until you’re 21.
I got registered for selective service yesterday, but can’t have a beer or carry a concealed weapon in my home country. It is ridiculous.
I agree, it is ridiculous. Back in the day, you could legally drink in Georgia at 18. There were hardly ever any cases of DUI-related accidents that involved teenagers. We also drank before 18 and there again, DUI-related accidents were few and far between. We drank at our parents’ homes and were supervised, and no keys were given out. I have always felt, and will always feel, that if you are old enough to fight for your country, you should at least be allowed to belly-up at a bar.
the article seems to imply that the politician was trying to effect the outcome of the “bust” but not necesarrily using his position to do so–but yeah, the judge seems like the bigger “problem” here it was poor poor judgement to apparently give the leftover beer to the teenagers, setting aside my beliefs about the drinking age, the rules are the rules and i would expect her resignation to be the main fallout here…
And her resignation should be the end fallout.
Or perhaps the judge was exercising civil disobedience?
Laughter occurred! Funny stuff!!
“Four teenagers older than 17… were cited for “minor in possession of alcohol.”"
I love how we 18 year olds can get charged with a minor in possession, but then we get booked in jail with all you adults. These kids did nothing wrong. Teen drinking isn’t immoral or unethical.
i basically agree with you except that it IS illegal…
Which is the reason that it is fair to run the legislators through the ringer when their kids violate these types of laws. They are in control of what is and is not illegal.
SUNDAY SALES NOW
The Great State of Georgia was so opposed to the idea of me being able to legally drink they raised the drinking age right after I turned 18.
And Doug, we do not need SUNDAY SALES NOW.
We just need them on Sunday! :-Þ
Agreed. Today being Wednesday, it might take a little while to find a calendar or place where today is Sunday to purchase alcohol. Perhaps our legislators should make it a law that Sunday Alcohol Sales should only apply to Sundays? Or have they already?
Kinda like, “It’s five o’clock somewhere.”
David, when The Honorable Sonny followed up his 2008 “time management” coments with the 2009 segquel of “We just need a day off”, I immediately reasoned (to anyone willing to listen), “Well, why does the day off need to be Sunday?”
If you’re going to restrict the sale of an otherwise-legal product carried (in the case of beer and wine) by virtually all major supermarkets to six days a week because “we need a day off”, shouldn’t logistics and common sense dictate that it should be the slowest food/sundries shopping day of the retail week…….Tuesday? Since it’s already the slowest shopping day, any inconvenience would be minimized.
We could call it “Blue Tuesday” (with apologies to Ruby Tuesday….who changes with every new day, anyway.)
Holy cow…..count the typos. :>)
There should be Sunday sales every day!
While underage drinking is illegal and the kids need to accept responsibility, the bigger issue and crime here is Attorney/Judge Busch. She and the underage kids are the ones at fault, not the senator or his son. The judge needs to carry the majority of the blame. The fact she would threaten to call the responding officers’ supervisors agency heads speaks volumes because it shows she believes there are two sets of laws, one for those living in million dollar homes and are attorneys and judges, and the other set for the average citizen. Where have we seen this attitude before? Oxendine and Sharon Barnes Sutton!
In some jurisdictions, the traffic court judge hears underage citation cases and passes judgement, which can affect college scholarships, yet she warned one of the officers that a citation could affect the scholarship of one of the kids in her home. Double standard? Perhaps we should see if she has heard these types of cases in the past and what decisions she has made in this area.
I hope she loses the judgeship position, Cobb citizens should demand it, and faces the penality in court for providing alcohol to underage kids. Maybe the bar association could file ethics charges against her for her hypocrisy and judgement lapses.
The kids didn’t do anything wrong, just illegal. The law is at fault.
Why is the law at fault?
I think he’s meaning that the law should possibly be changed. I really do agree with him on that one.
The law is at fault because if it weren’t for the law, they wouldn’t be doing anything illegal at all.
Very good post, Lady.
Yep, I find it interesting that the legal age of consent in Georgia is 16. So kids can have sex, just not a beer.
“So kids can have sex, just not a beer.”
….and not for profit (well, monetary anyway
)
Exactly. You can legally have sex and possibly bring a child into the world at 16 (or earlier); but, you can’t have legally have a beer until that child is 5 or older. I think the law should be re-evaluated. I have said on PP before that a lot of the alcohol-related deaths of college students would probably lower if they were allowed to drink at 18. That way the thrill would be gone and their curiosity would be lessened. Our children knew their limitations before college began — it did relive a lot of anxiety for us. The way it is now, so many kids head off the college unaware of what is too much to consume and the ramifications thereof. I not advocating that kids should become flaming alcoholics, I’m just saying that the law should be revisited.
I agree the law should be change, I was looking for tocallaghan reasoning skills.
What really needs to change is attitudes about drinking. We need to teach responsible drinking. In most of the European countries, the drinking age for beer and wine is 16 with ID and 17/18 for a driving license.
If Americans learned that beer and wine with food is responsible behavior rather than drinking until unconsciousness sets in, we would have less destructive type behavior, alcoholism, and other problems.
Some cardiologists recommend a glass of red wine to cut heart attack risks but it one or two glasses, not one or two bottles. Again, education is the key.
Education about alcohol is definitely the key. I think that the parents, and not just schools, should play an important role in this one. We know that not all parents are going to be involved in this because they aren’t all involved in their kids to begin with, and that’s where the schools should come into play. I am sure that you have run across more than your fair share of 18 year old kids who are extremely mature and responsible; likewise, I am sure that you have run across many 21+ year old adults who lack both. It’s all about responsible behavior and understanding the consequences for improper behavior.
Clearly the drunk judge has done her part about educating her drunk child.
Was her child drunk or just drinking?
Yes, I appear to have assumed one fact not in evidence. Perhaps the cops were just too early to the party.
LOL!!
Sadly, none of the valid points you raise mattered to our GA back in ’80/’81 who were only interested in keeping Federal highway funds and getting MADD off their backs.
And because I can’t resist AND it’s appropriate,
Tim Wilson’s It’s a Sorry World
You can go to war when you’re 18
But you can’t buy a beer
You can load missiles on a submarine
But you can’t buy a pistol here
You can breathe chemical weapon skims
But they don’t want you to smoke
so when you’re shootin’ up a bar in Baghdad, don’t order a rum and coke
You can have sex when you’re 17
You just can’t have a cigarette
You ain’t old enough for a slot machine
Or to lay down a football bet
But they’ll take you to the clinic if you’re 15
And your folks don’t have to know
Or you can take penicillin, just don’t watch people
Gettin’ naked on video
You can be a governor at 21
Or a president at 35
You can be the senator from south Carolina
If you can just stay alive
They’ll throw you in with sharks when you’re 12 years old
Find More lyrics at http://www.sweetslyrics.com
Teach you to scuba dive
But when you’re 94 and can’t see anymore
they’ll still let you drive
Just don’t get caught ith no beer in your hand if you just turned 18
They don’t mind you ownin’ *an acetylene* torch
and a gallon of gasoline
You just can’t buy smokes at the liquor store or y’all will both go to jail
But they’ll sell you a rope
so you can hang yourself while you’re listening to Nine Inch Nails
It’s a sorry World
It’s a sooorry world
It’s a sorry world when you can raise youngans but you can’t smoke a Marlborough
It’s a sorry world when you’re 17 and you can’t call a callgirl.
Yep, that ’bout sums it up!
That is absolutely hysterical! I felt like a complete goofball sitting here right by myself laughing. Thanks, I needed that one!!
how much lower can the liberal media get. Next thing you know they’ll be attacking a State Rep-elect for sleeping with his then-Mother-in-Law. I mean, as Erick says, these things happen.
Thanks for reminding me of that sick, twisted story. I immediately thought of “The Graduate” and ‘Mrs. Robinson.’
Watch it, “The Graduate” was done with class. This guy should be barred from taking his seat in the House. Who knew could go lower than Richardson?
I never heard that story, who was it?
Too funny, Loyalty.
Do you ever get the feeling you’re at the mercy of people who make laws and dictate policies that apply to everyone but themselves? Do you ever get the feeling you’re one of the poor suckers living with the consequences of policies that the dictators have insulated themselves from, like, say, the public school system?
Do you ever get the feeling your life is being run by a high-class bubba machine?
That’s ridiculous! High class?!?
I agree. I’m open to another adjective.
High-priced bubba machine.
Bingo
I’m just a bub….
a bubba machine….
and I don’t work for nobody but me…. (ooooh-yeahhhh)
I’m just a bub….
a bubba machine….
a huggin’ kissin’ fiend….
Apologies to Smokey, but not to the Georgia Legislature.
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