This is not news. Here’s why:
**First off, let me issue a preliminary notice that I’m not belittling alcoholism or addiction. I’m way too big a fan of Intervention to shit on those cash cows.
But this guy, Repub Rep John Sullivan, is from Oklahoma. Because I had the misfortune of committing some heinous crime in a past life, the flying spaghetti monster decided to make me pay penance by sending my husband and I to live in Oklahoma City. We didn’t even make it two years. Yah, it ranked high on the severe suckage scale.
Anyhoo, what we noticed there is that over half the people you meet are reformed alcoholics. They drank way too much in college, did a stint in rehab and are now in some holier-than-thou club that celebrates each other in between church events. It’s crazy.
Oklahomans have a very dysfunctional relationship with alcohol, which results in labeling typical college-age boozing and binge drinking as alcoholism. Like most people, all these kids really needed to do was time to grow up, wait for the judgment area of the brain to finish developing and they’d be as close to the straight and narrow as they were going to get. The state overreacts to everything that might somehow contradict the teachings of baby jesus – some state lawmakers tried to prevent Richard Dawkins, renound athiest author, from speaking about evolution during the OU’s Darwin Week 2009.
Obviously, this GOP congressperson is older than college kids – but, still, in Oklahoma, being a recovered alcoholic is somehow a badge of honor in this bible belt beatdown state.
So, I have three reactions when I see reports that the GOP dude is entering Betty Ford: who cares? it isn’t even news. and it’s so dumb, i have to blog about it.
First of all, let me start by saying that just because your a fan of Intervention and you have taken a trip to Oklahoma, looked around, and went back home does not make you an educated person on this topic.
Secondly, your generalizing the population of Oklahoma as immature drinkers who don’t know left from right. I would think that an individual who would post something on a website, like this one, would be more reserved and methodical in conveying their perspective to their audience.
Finally, the whole point of his going into rehab is a bit more complex. An addict/alcoholic (same difference really) naturally does not like to admit that he/she has a problem. They are usually so in-tuned to their substance of choice, that for anyone, even they them self, will fight tooth and nail to admit there is a problem. If he needs help, good for him.
However, one must think what kind of alcoholic he was and how did this affect this judgment in congress. Apparently he was functional when he got into congress but did the stresses of the office, life, and alcohol distort reality thus creating a illusion of normality from insanity?
Who the hell wrote this junk post anyway. It’s probably better that that stays secret.
Jeez, aren’t you Captain Obvious of the blogosphere?
We bloggers don’t write blogs because we are experts on subjects, we write them because we have opinions on them. I had an experience in Oklahoma, and I’m conveying it. If you’re looking for more methodical and more reserved commentary, this is plainly the wrong blog for you. I suggest you turn to publications that pay opinion writers, they generally have guidelines to follow.
I’m my own person and writer with my own opinions. I like to be irreverent and will not alter my style because there are readers on the other side of the screen with sticks up their asses.