It is a shame Garth got in before Randy.
Randy must feel like he was kicked again and again and again

Randy was making hits with one of the truly greatest voices ever, real country at that,
long before Garth finished school.

Randy is real country.
With being Real country, comes living a life of the lyrics.
Randy has not had an easy life either.

And I truly wish Randy was free.

here's hoping his friends, real friends who haven't abandoned him, help him in his hour of need.
Because so far, they are not doing a good job of that.
But as Tom T. Hall wrote so many years back,
friends are never around when one is down.
Just old dogs and children and watermelon wine.
(wish I was in his circle of friends. I would not abandon him in his hour of need. When a person is at their lowest, the friends that stick around, though most don't, are the only friends one should have if they recover. The rest should be discarded.)

damn, just think if Elvis or Michael Jackson had one actual GOOD friend, one helping hand.
They might be here today, giving Randy some guidance.

Randy is one of the truly nice people in this world.
And he could use a big helping hand around now to beat the demons.


for Randy
a song written and sung and a hit by T. Graham Brown
Wine into Water sung live here by his royal T'ness a couple of years ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=WSdze_yYeKc&NR=1

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="

?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

And staying that way (4 years this month) alcohol treatment is not a vacation, 100 hours of community service is 100 hours more than I got for a first time DUI in the state of Washington, and conquering inner demons is really a myth. It's a much different situation and a complicated one. The point I'm trying to make here is that it doesn't sound like he got a sweetheart deal, sounds like he got what was pretty standard for a first DUI these days; and I really don't get the implication that he should have perhaps gone to jail or some other harsh punishment. This country is already too harsh with its punishments and there are too many in jails and prisons. It's not helping us much.

long as he does not violate the terms of his probation. I stated that his drivers license should have been suspended for awhile--the loss of that privilege seems appropriate considering the legal issues he has faced recently. I don't believe that many people would consider a temporary suspension of his driving privileges to be harsh punishment in light of the possibility that he could have killed either himself or others.

I was in rehab for a month myself and it was probably the most calming experience that I had in adulthood. My biggest concern during that time was fighting with the insurance company to pay for my treatment. Midway through the treatment my counselors remarked that I found some serenity and tranquility in how I handled the challenges that faced me. That occurred despite the fact that I had some hypoglycemic reactions since I was trying to adjust my insulin injections with the increased caloric intake of eating three cooked nutritious meals each day. A number of burdens were put aside during that time and in comparison to the hell I was going through in my personal life and stress in my professional life it did seem like a vacation. However, that is my personal experience and I realize that it might differ from others.

As far as the 100 hours of community service, Randy will probably have to be done in about a years time or in other words a little over 8 hours per month. I expect that he will have a number of options available to complete those hours--depending on the policies in Grayson county it could include throwing a concert promoting alcohol abstinence, but I doubt that he will be doing hard labor unless he chooses that option. Once again, I don't believe that amount of community service is harsh punishment and is probably the routine amount assigned.

Despite the fact that we may disagree about the severity of his penalties, I do want to congratulate you on your four years of sobriety and hope that you keep up the hard work with the programs, beliefs and guidance that helps you to stay sober. I admit to making joking references about alcohol/drugs, but I will not ever belittle anyone who strives to escape from the diseases of alcoholism and substance abuse.

But those ignition interlocks are pretty good these days and tough to beat (I got a false alarm after using mouthwash once and had to switch brands.) Given that the blow & go's are such a good solution, it just doesn't make much sense to me to suspend the license first time around. The other legal issues he faced, in my opinion, should have warranted an anger management course as well as further treatment. I'm not sure if he was sentenced to outpatient treatment after the 30-day stint, but if not then I'd say maybe he got off too easy there.

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/DriverLicense/DrugOffenses.htm

To top it off, it isn't required that you are impaired/intoxicated or even driving at the time of the arrest! The same standard would also apply for prescribed medical substances if you get caught drowsy-driving after taking a hydrocodone to relieve pain following a visit to the dentist.

And of course there are the financial penalties related to having surcharge points placed on the drivers licenses which increase insurance costs (and is one of the reasons why about 25% of Texas motorists are not insured) and annual payments to the state for the surcharges.

That is why I think that Randy Travis got a sweetheart deal--I hope that you can understand why I view it as a double-standard even though alcohol is legal.