In an unusually frank press conference, King County Councilmember Jane Hague finally apologized for driving drunk and berating law enforcement officers…
The arresting officers “did not deserve the rude and abusive behavior. I was very drunk that night,” said Hague, “Stinking drunk. Plastered. Pie-eyed. Totally shit faced. And a mean drunk too… or so I’m told — I really don’t remember. Apparently, I swore a blue streak at the officers, and there is no excuse for that… except for, you know, that I was drunk. Very, very drunk.”
About a week after her arrest, she said, she underwent an evaluation by an alcohol-treatment facility. After several hours of evaluation, she said, “fortunately, there was no problem that was uncovered. Other than the fact that, well… I’m a drunk.“
At least, that was the general spirit of Hague’s apology. I wasn’t taking notes. Or paying much attention. In fact, I may have been a little drunk, for which I’m truly sorry.
I know it’s off-topic, but Luciano Pavarotti has died.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200...../pavarotti
I love the way the times tries to screw Richard Pope by repeatedly mentioning he has run 10 times unsuccessfully.
When are they going to start writing “President Bush, who has lost the war in Iraq…….”?
I am breathlessly anticipating the Statement of Boycott from the Man Boy Love Association next………….
“By ambushing Senator Larry Craig, the Minneapolis St Paul Airport Police have effectively declared war on the West. They are primarily responsible for greatly weakening private property rights and Federal land use advocates in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and in Congress. We are urging you to make all your flight arrangements avoiding the Minneapolis-St Paul Airport for at least the next year and probably longer. We’ll keep you posted as the boycott develops. Urge your friends, neighbors and fellow workers to try to avoid any flights that take them through Minneapolis St Paul Airport. We must inflict economic pain on the airport authorities to get them to change their behavior. —–And they must apologize to Senator Larry Craig.”
Larry Craig…..the gift that keeps on giving.
The irony is the fact that it is the Larry Craigs of the world who hysterically advocate the kind of silly laws that he was busted under.
Jane Hague will undoubtedly check in to a celebrity ‘rehab center’ soon in order to show she is truly repentant. Oh, and never berate an officer–doesn’t work.
“Fortunately no NEW problems were uncovered. I am just a common, everyday drunk”——-This is her ORIGINAL statement. Maybe she had it statement tweaked by Larry Craig’s handlers?
I really need to sleep more.
Well apparently the lack of sleep has affected my sentence structure or my proof reading. Third sentence should read:
“Maybe she had her statement tweaked by Larry Craig’s handlers?”
And, gee whiz, I made a commitment in the 1970’s to my father that I would never to drink and drive. It has not been hard to keep. Why is this council member JUST NOW getting around to realizing that this is unacceptable behavior?
She has displayed poor judgment and no longer deserves to hold public office. Period.
Richard Pope For County Council.
(This is my official endorsement as My Left Foot. Richard is free to use this endorsement as My Left Foot in any way that he sees fit.)
I made a commitment in the 1970’s to my father that I would never to drink and drive, too.
I was 16 and was lying to him to get him off my back.
Goldy, I love the snarky ending in the post. But then, I woke up still drunk.
Off-topic; feel free to delete:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/envi.....ciencenews
We know from ice cores that there has been an ice cap continuously over the north pole for millions of years, essentially during all human evolution. What happens to humans when it’s gone? No one knows. Hang on, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
8
Father was prior service Army Ranger (There are no former or ex Army Rangers. If they use those terms they are lying about serving), LAPD officer and I did not, nor would I now have the balls to lie to him or to say something to get him off my back. (Well maybe for bugging me about homework).
Jane Hague only apologized for her foul-mouthed abuse of three law enforcement officers. While showing poor judgment and poor character (not to mention extremely damaging to her own reputation), Hague’s verbal abuse of the deputy sheriff, state trooper, and state trooper cadet was not a serious threat to public safety. These law enforcement officers obviously have had a lot of experience in dealing with foul-mouthed drunks and other difficult-to-handle folks, and evidently dealt with Hague in a very professional manner.
What I totally missed from Hague’s so-called “apology” was any sense of apology for actually driving drunk that evening, and at nearly twice the legal limit. Hague’s driving was an extreme danger to public safety, as evidenced by her lack of lane control. Fortunately, traffic wasn’t so heavy that evening and Hague didn’t hit anybody. Her high alcohol level was made even more dangerous by having only a couple of hours of sleep the night before, and by being in an obviously agitated emotional state for whatever other underlying reason when she was doing this driving.
I will confess that I am greatly offended by drunk drivers, because of the impact drunk driving has had on my family. My aunt Terri was killed by a drunk driver on September 19, 1984. She was only 35 years old when she was killed. She was buried two days later, on what happened to be Grandma Joyce’s (my grandfather’s second wife) 57th birthday. What a terrible thing for a mother (or a father) to have to bury their own child, even worse for this to have to be done on your own birthday!
My grandfather had bought a small section in the local cemetery, so him and grandma and other family members could be buried in the future. Of course, he figured he would be the first to end up there, and never in a 1000 years thought Terri would leave this world before him. Grandpa died seven months later, in April 1985, at 65 from heart problems. (Grandma Joyce died four years ago, three days before my daughter Katie was born. I couldn’t make it down there for the funeral, since Katie was on her way.)
Aunt Terri left behind a husband and an 18 month old son, my first cousin Jeremy. Unfortunately, Jeremy’s father had difficulty raising a small child on his own. Eventually, Jeremy was adopted by Aunt Marsha and her husband. But Jeremy never got over losing his mother, and had a lot of troubles growing up. Jeremy hung around with the wrong crowd of people, and was brutally murdered in June 2003, when he was just 21 years old. Jeremy is the fourth person buried in my grandfather’s cemetery section, having left this world less than five months after his grandmother.
It is truly unfortunate that Jane Hague does not recognize the damage that can be caused by drunk drivers, and that even now, over three months (and volumes of press coverage) later, Hague still will not admit responsibility for driving while severely intoxicated and otherwise impaired on the evening of Saturday, June 2, 2007.
@11
Richard,
Can I give you some unsolicited advice?
HorsesAss comment threads aren’t really the ideal place to issue press releases. You should probably post them on your own website and then link to it from here.
“cisco for president!”
that’s my press release.
Uhhh, Lee…
I’d like to think that Richard deserves the right to express himself herein (especially in as genuinely personal a manner as he has) at least as much as Jean Hague does to have the Times and KING-TV provide her a soap box for her feeble attempt to redeem herself.
Richard, my heart goes out to you and your family. Ms. Hague might be viewed as having something in common with the likes of Mel Gibson, with one exception: Mr. Gibson is a far better filmmaker than she is a council member.
Lee, I understand your point, but that was a little uncharitable. Press release? That is reading a bit into Richard’s motivation on your part.
Richard, I am sorry to hear about your loss. Of course, Hague didn’t apologize for driving drunk because she is fighting the charge, and as a lawyer, I’m sure you support her right to a speedy trial. ;-)
Lee @ 12
I hadn’t thought of this as a press release. It is a painful memory from 23 years ago of a family tragedy. Also, Jeremy was actually 2-1/2 years old when Aunt Terri was killed (I did the math wrong when looking at the dates in my family history, and was off by a year). So Jeremy was a pretty active toddler by that point, and definitely had a strong sense of losing his mother suddenly.
But thanks for the advice :) You do have a good point.
@16
Lee, I respectfully disagree with characterizing this as a press release. It sounds to me as though Mr. Pope is expressing personal viewpoints here, where he is evidently comfortable with the “residents”, which would be inappropriate in a press release as a formal candidate. Here, one can sympathize with his personal feelings about an issue which, if issued as a release, would be flamed (appropriately) as a maudlin political ploy.
Of course, it can be argued that it is possible that he’s trying to do a political strike masked as semi-private thoughts, but I’m not that cynical yet. (I am, however, working on it:)
Nobody from a conservative site is going to pick this one up and give it exposure.
Just my slitheringly humble opinion…..
How could she blow .14 after “a couple” glasses of wine? Must’ve been BIGGGGGG glasses.
@4 “Jane Hague will undoubtedly check in to a celebrity ‘rehab center’ soon in order to show she is truly repentant.”
Not according to her press release, which declares the rehab folks have examined her and determined she was no drinking problem, only a driving problem. Convenient way to avoid getting locked up during campaign season, if you ask me.
@7 “She has displayed poor judgment and no longer deserves to hold public office. Period. Richard Pope For County Council.”
That’s never seemed to keep anyone out of public office. No, that’s not a compelling reason to elect Pope, at least not in the eyes of voters. Here’s why voters should elect Pope: He’s a Democrat, she’s not.
OFF-TOPIC ALERT:
This has certainly been a very strange week, with the large number of deaths of various prominentia. The list was added to this morning, and I think I heard that D. James Kennedy, notably dour and ultra-conservative-righteous televangelist had gone to that wonderful place where Falwell is presumably residing. This was eclipsed by tenors, missing balloonists, politicians, etc, but is a little noteworthy.
Taken with the Craig Debacle, the upcoming uproar over surging reports, assorted Freds walking for president, and the release of biographical Draper(y), the normal dullness of this time of year is pretty dissipated….
It’s a good thing Richard is a Democrat now, because if he was still a Republican, there would be absolutely no reason to vote for him. This is analogous to Roger Rabbit being an ex-Goldwater Republican. If I were still a Goldwater Republican, would there be any reason to read my comments? No, of course not, I’d be just another wingnut troll! Fortunately, I got that out of my system (along with smoking, jerking off to dirty pictures, and some other bad habits) as a teenager — and I’m OK now. It took Richard considerably longer, but he’s OK now, too. So it’s OK to vote for him now.
ON TOPIC ALERT:
If Jane had ANY sense, she’d withdraw using rehab as an excuse. She’s highly unlikely to get elected after this, and she could use it as a face-saver, and attempt to recover some kind of political standing after successful treatment. Now she’s gonna look like an all-around loser. Don’t people THINK anymore????
!@22:
Yeah Roger. Now you’re just the conventional, low-key, restrained, garden variety (sorry) lagomorph blog poster, of which there are so many…..
@20
I’d like to know what rehab folks she went to that think she has no drinking problem goiven that arrest. DUI are ipso facto a drinking problem in any assessment I’ve ever heard of, and believe, I am personally intimately acquainted with alcoholic behavioral issues.
If we don’t drink and drive, how will we find our cars in the morning?
@26
I think that goes a little too far. I know a number of people who have gotten DUI’s who do not have drinking problems. With the limit set at .08, it is extremely easy to get a DUI even after a low-key happy hour. It is not unusual for people to be both at or above .08, but be absolutely sober enough to drive. The limit is unnecessarily low.
One of my closest friends left a concert with me a few years back. He hadn’t had a drink in well over 2 hours and was absolutely sober when we both headed home. He was pulled over, given a breathalyzer and supposedly blew over the limit. He was acquitted on the evidence presented at his trial, but because of a loophole in the state’s DUI laws, he was still punished for it, losing his license for some time and having to go to rehab. The way DUI’s are handled here is an utter disgrace. I realize that drunk driving is dangerous, but the way we’ve been trying to stop it has created many more problems than it’s solved.
@13
I’d like to think that Richard deserves the right to express himself herein (especially in as genuinely personal a manner as he has) at least as much as Jean Hague does to have the Times and KING-TV provide her a soap box for her feeble attempt to redeem herself.
Oh, please don’t misunderstand! I’m not criticizing Richard for doing that. I just was snarkily telling him that whenever he has something well-thought out and worth reading, he should put it on his campaign site. It’s cool to hang out with us crazies, but he’s gotta reach out to the people with badassness.
sorry,
with his badassness. :)
Richard,
You lay it on pretty thick for someone with as many traffic infractions as you have. Let’s have you and Jane drive safe, shall we?
@12
Awww Richard, that story brought me to tears. It is almost as sad as your LIFE STORY. You should blog about that too and we can all cry over how miserable it must be to lose 15 races and how the only real relationship you’ve had in the last twenty years has been with your computer in your parents basement.
I am praying for you dear.
Oh silly, silly “ChadT”
You obviously dont know much about politics.
I suggest you and Richard get together later and cry over his soon-to-be 16th lost election and his failed attempts at, well, LIFE.
@ 13
HAHAHAHAHA Oh but Lee, Richard DOESNT HAVE ANY MONEY! This is his only outlet, and although only 10 people will probably read this comment thread, only 5 have ever even CHECKED Richard’s website!!
PS. Richard Pope has cankles.
AZN INVASION: what an absolute spiteful individual you are.
Good luck clinging to one of your last remaining R’s in the region. I hope you enjoy her existence on the KCC for the next four years. I will promise you she won’t be there after this term.
You just ripped a man for the insanely serious hardships he’s faced in his life. I hope you get run over by a bus in the morning.