. . . if you can't do the time.

After moving to Indy around ten years ago, I've slowly developed the opinion that many local politicians aspire to the corruption and criminality of their betters in places like Chicago and Detroit. An example of this can be found in a news article in the Indy Star this morning entitled, "Dems close doors to discuss arrest of councilwoman". Part of the juicy details:

Democratic City-County Council members went into a closed-door meeting Monday to review the weekend arrest of a colleague accused of assaulting a police officer.

Councilwoman Doris Minton-McNeill declined to comment about her arrest before she used the back door to enter Monday night's full council meeting, avoiding a collection of television cameras.

According to preliminary charges, Minton-McNeill, an administrative assistant at Indianapolis Public Schools headquarters, pushed officer Emily Perkins, who fell and suffered a minor wrist injury in the incident Sunday.

and

According to a police report, Minton-McNeill shouted profanities, accused the officers of racism and suggested the officers contact high-level police and city officials. At one point, the report said, she tried to hand officers her City-County Council business cards.

"No, you can't arrest me. I'm on the City-County Council," Minton-McNeill told officers, according to the report.

Minton-McNeill admitted she drank "two margaritas" but denied being intoxicated and refused to take a blood-alcohol test, the report said.

Now from personal experience, whenever anyone, and I mean even your silver-haired grandma, quantifies the amount of alcohol they've consumed, you should double the claimed amount. If the person is in trouble, as apparently Ms. Minton-McNeill is, you might consider trebling it. So appearances are that Ms. Minton-McNeill got a snoot-full, didn't get the response from the police that she wanted, "copped a 'tude" and ended up a guest of the local constabulary despite her attempt at educating the police that City-County councilwomen (and most probably men) are above the law. Yeah. Right.