Mike!'s Very Bad Judgement

So I wrote the last entry, and while putting it together, the things that REALLY bother me were just sorta percolating.

First, there's this:  Mike! said he knew as soon as he saw the police lights that he shouldn't be driving. 

Wouldn't an adult know he shouldn't be driving before he finished his first drink? 

The fact that his line of logic still makes sense to him, at the age of 48, scares the shit out of me.  It tells me that, like a 5 year old (or any old adult Republican), he doesn't view something as wrong until you get caught.  Well, I wonder what that portends for his time in the Senate? 

Will he, perhaps, take illegal contributions in exchange for votes?  Will he accept sweetheart real estate deals in exchange for sweetheart defense appropriations?  Will he screw the American people to ensure power and money for himself?

I knew as soon as the FBI was searching my office that I shouldn't have taken that money.  And I regret it.  I knew when I saw the police pull their weapons that I shouldn't have killed that hooker.  And I regret it.

My daughter isn't old enough to drink (much less drive) by a long shot, but she knows full good and damn well that you don't drink and drive.  She knows this because A: her parents have drummed it into her skull, B: her parents have set that example and expectation, and C: her parents have drummed into her skull the concept of responsibility without oversight - the idea that wrong is wrong, no matter who sees you do it.  In other words, she will know she shouldn't be driving before she takes her first drink. 

Will she drink and drive?  I kind of assume so - she's a teenager, and some trouble is to be expected.  I hope she doesn't, and I think we've done (and continue to do) everything possible to prevent it.  But kids sometimes do really stupid things - but they stop doing them before they're 35.  Apparently, Mike! didn't have the advantage of understanding responsibility without oversight.  Apparently, he learns right from wrong only through punishment; the foresight of consequence seems to escape him.  That scares me a little.

Here's the other thing.  Mike! went on Dori Monson's Right-wing Pro-War Masturbatory Theater on 710-KIRO this afternoon, and talked abou the lies he's been caught in surrounding his DUI.  Here are the pertinent quotes that show how deeply flawed his character really is:

Monson asked McGavick if he still drinks. "I enjoy a drink. Drink too much and drive? No. No, I will not," McGavick said.

But Monson pressed him on that, asking if he drives after drinking at all.

"Social drinking is a part of my life," McGavick said.

But why not have a zero tolerance policy about drinking and driving?

"Because I don't have any risk that I won't follow what I know is right. So, I don't feel the need to do that. The law takes all this into account, Dori."

Two things: 

One:  When asked if he drives after drinking, he said "Social drinking is a part of my life."  He avoided the answer, which was "Yes."  Meaning he learned NOT ONE FUCKING THING from that event 13 years ago that was purportedly embarrassing to him and which he purports to regret.

Two:  He said he doesn't have a zero tolerance policy because he doesn't "have any risk that I won't follow what I know is right."  As I wrote above, he apparently didn't know it was wrong to drink and drive until after he'd been caught, so why would he think he doesn't have any risk of repeating the incident?  Clearly, what he "knows" is right encompasses any behavior, as long as he doesn't get caught.  So this is meaningless.  It also means he drives drunk. 

A bonus third:  "The law takes all this into account, Dori."  Translation:  I can drink and drive up to a .08 BAC.  I'm a miracle-man, who knows my own BAC.  As long as I "know" it's right, I won't get caught, because the law wouldn't punish a guy who knows what's right...right?

This is a man who has no accountability, at all, in his personal behavior.  He takes no responsibility for himself, and indeed, seems to see himself as above accountability, despite his fake Regrets!.  He isn't just a bad Senator waiting to happen (although as long as he keeps talking, he'll never be Senator), he's a danger to himself and those around him.

Finally, just because this guy has me so disgusted and I had missed this tidbit, I quote Goldy:

There was one other McGavick quote that really stuck in my craw, when he reiterated his regret that he “didn’t get to participate on a regular basis” in his son’s life.

I dunno, maybe I put too much weight in, you know, words… but “didn’t get to” doesn’t sound to me like an admission of responsibility. It wasn’t that McGavick “didn’t get to” participate in his son’s life. He chose not to.

Mike!:  Learn to take some responsibility for your behavior.  Lip service simply won't do - you have to truly be responsible for yourself.