Saturday, May 19, 2007

Impaired Decisions

How the Tribune featured the story this morning:

Sad irony in crash that killed prosecutor

Official's blood-alcohol level was found to be triple the legal limit

The investigation into a crash that took the life of the prosecutor in some of DuPage County's highest-profile cases, including a DUI crash in Aurora that claimed four young lives and led to stiffer sentences for drunken drivers who kill, took a tragic turn Friday with the disclosure that her blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit when she died.

Emphasis mine. I'm trying to figure out why the disclosure itself is supposed to be a tragic turn. Maybe the reporters are thinking in terms of Aristotle's theory of tragedy, which requires a missing-the-mark fatal mistake - in an otherwise admirable heroine.

The head-on crash broke the arms and legs of the other driver.

She did exactly what she prosecuted others for doing. There's another word for that besides irony. It starts with an H.

Drinking heavy?
Don't start up that Chevy!

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