Bloglander

With the holidays being a popular time for toasting your success/drowning your sorrows with alcohol, it also becomes an equally popular time for stumbling, stupidly, toward your car, protesting to anyone listening, that no, you're totally fine to drive.

That's why law enforcement officials in Spokane, Ferry, and Pend Oreille counties ran emphasis patrols, between Nov. 21 and Jan. 1, looking for drunk drivers. It's part of the first-ever "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" campaign — a slogan which, for the record, is not quite as good as the amazing "Drive Hammered, Get Nailed" slogan of years past.

This year, the emphasis patrols netted 219 DUI offenders, none whom were Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo. That's 22 more than were netted in the same period last year.

That increase could be good news (because it means that cops are more effective at catching drunk drivers) or it could be bad news (because it means more people are driving drunk).

Either way, please bear in mind, if you're the slightest bit drunk or high or whatever "crunked" is, instead of getting behind the wheel, pick up the phone, call my cell, and I will throw on a bathrobe and come and pick you up. I will not be happy, and you can be sure your father will hear about this, but it's much better than becoming part of a Washington Traffic Safety Commission press release.