Updated & expanded. Who was at the helm when Greg Barkus’ speedboat slammed into the rocks at Wayfarers State Park? Captain Greg — or, Captain Grog? It’s an important question, but one I’ve avoided for a couple of reasons. First, when Barkus’ blood alcohol level is finally released by the authorities, the picture will become much clearer. Second, whether or not he was legally drunk, or somewhere between legally drunk and stone cold sober, or stone cold sober, is in some ways not that important. It was night, but there’s still absolutely no excuse for running ashore other than an equipment problem or something on the order of a heart attack. If he was drinking, and investigators with the Flathead County Sheriff’s office think he was, that could, of course, be an aggravating factor.
As for Rehberg, who wasn’t at the helm, and who clearly had swigged something stronger than sarsaparilla: he’s not guilty of anything except, perhaps, a spiritual violation of his political party’s family values creed. Getting a bit sloshed and having a good time is not a hanging offense.
Other bloggers have been less reticent on the alcohol issue, which is their right. A great many who post comments on blogs, especially those blogs that permit anonymous comments, that do not require posters to write under their real names, have been even less restrained, some to the point of being downright irresponsible and mean-spirited.
That’s why I don’t permit automatic posting, let alone anonymous posting, on this blog. There is a long and honorable tradition of anonymous comment in this country, but it is not being practiced much on blogs. Instead, the overwhelming majority of those who post under nom de plumes are doing so to free themselves from accountability for remarks they would never make under their real names. If I did allow anonymous posting, it would generate a lot of traffic (and if I had advertisers, I might make more money), but it would not elevate the discourse. Instead, it would, if examples of what gets posted on the websites of newspapers are an indication, send the discussion into the sewer. On Flathead Memo, that’s not going to happen.