Booze leading another state rep to the dock

WELL, THAT'S TWO!

First,we recently learned of the sinful behavior of ex-State Rep. Robert Mecklenborg, the holiest-of-holies Republican from the Dayton area who resigned in the wake of a deadly combination of booze, a young female stripper and Viagra , as discovered by an Indiana (for Heaven's sake!) state trooper.

Now, the Columbus Dispatch is reporting that one of Mecklenborg's very conservative colleagues, Rep. Jarrod Martin (R- Beavercreek) has fallen victim to the spirits. He was arrested on charges of drunk driving and child endangerment, having had two children in his car that was spotted weaving in and out of traffic. The Dispatch said today that it was the very same Jarrod Martin who was discovered passed out in the Statehouse garage last year - so intoxicated that he could not be immediately revived.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not picking on Republican lawmakers. Alcoholism, I've learned over the years of hanging around with these sturdy representatives of the people, is non-partisan. But hypocrisy is something else. When the God-fearing pretenders in the Republican ranks want us to believe that they have the only sure route to the great beyond, it's good to be reminded every now and then that hypocrites seldom practice what they preach, sober or inebriated..

Meantime, the blessed Ohio GOP lawmakers are doing something to themselves that the minority Democrats are incapable of accomplishing: laundering their ranks. Good for them!

UPDATE: As long as we're talking about hypocrites, how about the world-class example being reported about Chicago-area Tea Party Republican U.S.Rep. Joe Walsh, who ranted on TV against raising the debt limit because he didn't want it to be on the backs of his children and grandchildren. It now turns out, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, that his ex-wife has sued him for being delinquent on paying more than $117,000 in child support for their three children.