Hennepin County Sheriff Dave Hutchinson addresses his issues w/ alcohol & a serious single-vehicle crash he was involved in

Many have traveled this path. I've met people from every walk of life and discipline who have fallen short of what they want for their lives because of alcohol. To the judges that got sober, and the cops, and the crooks who got sober, I salute you. Alcohol doesn't discriminate. Neither does recovery.

I hope he uses what happened to give a break to other people struggling with alcoholism or addiction.

Kim Potter is in the news a lot, as her trial is going on as I write this. I’ve read how many people want her to get nailed but good. We all know she'll get twice what is coming to her. That should make you happy, I suspect. All I can say is, THANK GOD LIFE AIN'T FAIR! If it were fair, I know a lot of people, GOOD PEOPLE, who would be dead or in prison today. That day was the worst day of her life. Yes, she should face consequences, but the hell she is already in is pretty difficult and she’ll need serious therapy.

But back to Sherrif Hutchinson. Someone complained as follows (I didn’t correct misspellings, as it’s a quote): “He's only admitting he needs help because he got caught. He just thought that he was Sober enough to make it home like hes probably done a 100 times before. It doesn't mean he has an addiction problem hes got a Selfish problem.” I responded: “Yes, that's true, like a lot of people. Some people are lucky enough to not kill someone. Most people that say "I didn't mean to" should instead say, "I meant not to" and see the difference that makes in their lives. I can't tell you how many times I heard someone complain that they are a '1st-time offender' of a DWI when I suspect that most people have done it many times. The likelihood of getting caught the very first time is, well, unlikely. Indeed, selfishness is the root of many problems in addiction. Fingerpointing is selfish, too. Selfishness doesn't try to help people. Selflessness doesn't hurt people.”