Beck criticizes “mission creep” that starts with drunken-driving “roadblocks and spot-checks” to attack “Nanny State”

From Arguing with Idiots:

Nanny State-ism often starts with a universally accepted, noble idea that on its own seems quite hard to argue with. For example: We must stop drunk drivers. They're a menace. They kill thousands of people a year and put innocent families at risk. So you say, Heck yeah! We need to get rid of dunk drivers.

But how?

In the Nanny State, the answer is, “By law, of course!” Using legislation to “solve” an issue at the expense of some of your personal liberty. And laws, as we all know, are always subject to “mission creep.”

[...]

Back to drunk driving. The Nanny State approach is to use the police department to set up roadblocks and spot-checks (which, as a fun side benefit, helps to concentrate law enforcement personnel in one area, thereby creating traffic jams and penalizing innocent people who are merely trying to get home from work). Then, the ideas become more intrusive and inane: banning the sale of cold beer, banning the sale of fruity adult drinks, dictating the exact composition of a martini, watering down beer, making establishments and their workers liable for your getting drunk, demanding “Happy Hour” be renamed and, the Grand Prize: requiring ignition-locking breathalyzers in all cars -- an idea promoted by Nanny Statist New York assemblyman Felix Ortiz.

Does it matter if you don't drink at all or that you'd never, ever consider driving under the influence? Nope. It'll be a round of breathalyzers for everyone.

Now, if you make the really, really terrible decision to get liquored up and hit the road, you deserve to be severely punished. Choosing to call a friend or a cab is your personal responsibility, and, until recently, each of us used to be personally responsible for it. But not anymore. Now the government, assisted by a wide assortment of legislation-happy enablers, has decided that it knows what's best for you.

[...]

Here's something that Nanny Staters don't like to talk about: The largest percentage of vehicular deaths related to alcohol are from repeat offenders. Therefore, the commonsense solution is that you lose your license after a second DUI. Forever. Problem solved.

Deter bad behavior by every offender, not every person. But ideas like ignition-interlock reverse that. They target everyone with the hope of catching the proverbial drunk needle in the haystack. [Pages 154-159]

Former colleague reportedly claimed Beck was “completely out of it” after reported arrested for “speeding in his DeLorean with one of the car's gull-wing doors wide open”

Salon: Former colleague claimed “Beck used to get hammered after every show at this little bar-café down the street.” In a September 23 Salon.com article, Alexander Zaitchik reported:

Beck was known at B104 as a pro's pro in the studio but was becoming increasingly unraveled when not working. “Beck used to get hammered after every show at this little bar-café down the street,” remembers a music programmer who worked with Beck. “At first we thought he was going to get lunch.” The extent to which Beck was struggling to keep it together is highlighted by Beck's arrest one afternoon just outside Baltimore. He was speeding in his DeLorean with one of the car's gull-wing doors wide open when the cops pulled him over. According to a former colleague, Beck was “completely out of it” when a B104 manager went down to the station to bail him out. In his 2003 book, “Real America,” Beck refers to himself as a borderline schizophrenic. Whether that statement is matter-of-fact or intended for effect, he has spoken more than once about taking drugs for ADHD, and when he was at B104, Beck's coworkers believed him to be taking prescription medication for some kind of mental or psychological ills. “He used to complain that his medication made him feel like he was 'under wet blankets,'” remembers the former music programmer. [Salon.com, 9/23/09]