Barkus was drinking

BAC .18 (0.00 / 0)

Barkus was very drunk - .18 (that's 8-10 beers+).

The authorities already know his BAC (I overheard a county official - not Flathead Cty - discussing it yesterday; anyway Rehberg released his BAC within a day of the accident; so of course they know)- they may be waiting until the end of the news day on a Friday before a holiday weekend to release the information and hope that it gets minimum coverage.  

ars longa - vita brevis

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by: NorthernFlicker @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 18:01:40 PM UTC

.18!!! (0.00 / 0)

I can't wait to see the confirmation of these numbers!

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by: Jay Stevens @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 18:03:20 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Gleeful huh. (0.00 / 0)

That's interesting.

- Keeping the Left honest since 2001

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by: sydney@alias @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 00:37:01 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

This is terrible. (4.00 / 2)

These subordinates, as such, were under heavy pressure if not obligation to get in a boat driven by a drunk person with their boss who had been drinking too.  

What were they supposed to do, oppose and risk major offence to their boss Rehberg and his hosts. Rehberg, as the boss, was obligated to stop this form going forward. Any thinking person who cared about these folks would have known better than to do this.  Its not irresponsible, its criminal.

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by: Montana Cowgirl @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 19:04:18 PM UTC

worse... (0.00 / 0)

If true, .18 is falling-down drunk. Patently obvious that he was unfit to drive to any reasonable observer...

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by: Jay Stevens @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 19:19:58 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I think it represents a change of strategy. (0.00 / 0)

Dopey and Iverson now realize that it's time to throw Barkus under the boat...er, I mean bus!  Gotta get this thing outta the headlines every day.  It's startin' to take on a life of its  own.  And really, it has only one outcome. Barkus in the big house. So, Barkus decided to fall on his swizzle stick...er, I mean  sword on this one.  He was drunk as a skunk.  That way, Dopey's free to play the victim.  Iverson's hopin' it'll all just go away.  And that's probably the smartest way to handle this. It'll be forgotten after a week of new news.

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by: Larry Kralj, Environmental Rangers! @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 20:00:54 PM UTC

Maybe he shouldn't have been driving the boat, but (0.00 / 0)

Barkus was willing, as Dickens wrote in David Copperfield.

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by: Turner @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 20:29:40 PM UTC

Here's the latest news (0.00 / 0)

for the gleeful celebrants over the hearsay BAC rumor.   http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/...

Must be serious to be flown to the Seattle trauma center.

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by: Craig Moore @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 22:10:56 PM UTC

Gleeful? (0.00 / 0)

"Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice."

Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

Not gleeful, Craig.  Hopeful.

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by: Rob Kailey @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 00:29:55 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Hopeful that he was drunk? (2.00 / 2)

Or that he's seriously injured?

Either way you're one sick individual.

- Keeping the Left honest since 2001

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by: sydney@alias @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 00:38:19 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Both are a done deal, sydney (0.00 / 0)

Hopefull that he is charged with the fullest extent of the law.

Otherwise, every other yahoo out there with a motor boat is going to continue to not think twice about getting in a boat and piloting it with alcohol in their system.

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by: jhwygirl @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 01:01:58 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Don't know the word "justice" do you, syd? n/t (0.00 / 0)

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by: Rob Kailey @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 01:26:46 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

3-7-77 (0.00 / 0)

Has "grave" consequences for some.

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by: Craig Moore @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 01:36:36 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Disingenious in the extreme. (0.00 / 0)

There is no vigilante justice here.  Only an urge and hope to see that justice be done in a circumstance in which we ALL have learned that justice is a rarity.

The powerful often get away with harm, damage and pain.  Is that actually what you are agitating for in this case, Craig?  

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by: Rob Kailey @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 02:20:48 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

What's disingenious is the rush to judgment (4.00 / 1)

and finger pointing for political gain and characterizing it as justice. Let law enforcement and the prosecutor do their work. As I told JC I want justice served.  Was that not clear?

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by: Craig Moore @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 02:42:46 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Regarding pelvic fractures (0.00 / 0)

http://rn.modernmedicine.com/r...

====================
How serious is it? Here's what to look for

Overall mortality rates for patients with pelvic fractures can be as high as 55%, depending upon the severity of the fracture and the other injuries.4,5 Hemorrhage is a frequent complication, and mortality rates from pelvic fracture with hemorrhage can be as high as 40%.4 Associated injuries and multiple organ failure related to sepsis account for most non-hemorrhagic deaths.5

To understand what happens when the pelvic bones are fractured, consider the shape of the pelvis: It's a ring-like structure made up of three bones, the sacrum and two innominate (nameless) bones. The innominate pelvic bones have three parts-the ilium, ischium, and pubis--and are joined in front by the pubic symphysis, a fibrocartilaginous disk. At the sacrum, the innominates are joined by strong, sacroiliac ligaments that complete the ring structure of the pelvis. The pubic symphysis acts as support for the pelvis, while the sacroiliac joints provide stability. (For more information on pelvic anatomy and the different types of pelvic fracture.)

The ring-like structure of the pelvic bones gives them great strength, so only a very strong force can break them. But because it's ring-like, if there's a fracture in one part of the structure, you should expect that there will be another fracture or severe ligamentous injury at another point in the pelvic ring.2 Not surprisingly, then, trauma forceful enough to break the pelvis usually produces other significant injuries. Often, these associated injuries are life-threatening and their treatment must take precedence over treatment of the pelvic fracture.

Open or closed head injuries, for example, are common in patients who incur high-velocity or impact trauma. If a patient survives the initial impact, repair of the pelvic fracture may be delayed for days or even weeks until intracranial hemorrhage and increased pressures are stabilized.6

As noted above, hemorrhage is also a common complication. Those who present with hypotension on admission to the ED have a mortality rate of 42%, compared to just 3.4% for those who are normotensive.3 While hemorrhage is most often the result of intra-abdominal injury, the possibility of extensive blood loss from the pelvic fracture itself should not be discounted. The bones of the pelvis have a rich blood supply, and approximately 90% of hemorrhaging associated with pelvic fracture involves venous bleeding from the disrupted bone surface.3

When such bleeding occurs, the blood most often pools in the retroperitoneum, which can hold up to four liters in an adult.2,3 With the capacity to hold this much blood, it's easy to see how exsanguination can occur without being detected.2 Patients with "open book" fractures, in which the pubic symphysis is disrupted and the pelvis opens like a hinge, face a particularly high risk of extensive bleeding into the pelvic cavity.1
=====================================

No wonder he was taken to Seattle's Harborview trauma center.

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by: Craig Moore @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 03:03:11 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

What I overheard (0.00 / 0)

The official I heard was at a public meeting in a public setting, a meeting which he was- essentially - running when he stepped out to take this phone call. When I heard this official say (loudly - why do people on cell phones always think that no one can hear them?) "Was Barkus drunk?" it caught my attention.  I was standing less than 5 ft. away with several other people. The next thing he said was an incredulous, "Your kidding .18?"  

I am posting this information because it seems that officials already know that Barkus was staggeringly drunk and that the "investigation" and "subpoena" and "crime lab results" are all just an elaborate ruse. I have no idea why officials are engaging in these delay tactics. I hope the media won't grow bored with this story.  

ars longa - vita brevis

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by: NorthernFlicker @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 22:31:25 PM UTC

Really? (0.00 / 0)

IMHO, it is underwhelming to make such an accusation and publish hearsay in a serious matter without naming the officer who said it, he had a name plate, and revealing your own identity.  Then it counts for something.  

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by: Craig Moore @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 22:51:30 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Of course (0.00 / 0)

You are right - this is just hear say. I'm not trying to get it to count for anything more than that. The only value in posting it here is that it might be useful to those who are pursuing the truth. And with that, I'll humbly exit the conversation...

ars longa - vita brevis

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by: NorthernFlicker @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 23:24:10 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Don't worry (0.00 / 0)

First they said the throttle stuck or some other mechanical failure, then they said he wasn't drinking and now that the Flathead attorney is saying that he was drinking, they're trying to say play apologist by saying, basically, he mighta been drinking, but let's wait and see if it was X BAC....now - I'm not clear from what is being said what would be an unacceptable BAC, but clearly, they're holding out hope here now that it isn't some mystical number that they apparently would think was unacceptable.

I mean that's pure Montana Drinking Culture...'he mighta been drinking, but he wasn't falling down drunk'  or 'he might be drinking, but he wasn't that drunk' or 'he mighta been drinking, but he was only barely drunk'

Who knows.

It's entertaining, I'll give 'em that....

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by: jhwygirl @ Fri Sep 04, 2009 at 23:41:14 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Denny on the Rocks (0.00 / 0)

.18 does seem to be the number floating around.  The following is an atricle from the Missoulian...seems Rehberg's so unwilling to address & be anywhere near his constituents he hops (literally) the next train out of town:

Still recovering from boat crash, Rehberg headed back to D.C. on Amtrak
By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian | Posted: Friday, September 4, 2009 7:05 pm |

With doctors warning him not to fly following a violent boat wreck, Congressman Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., is taking the train back to Washington, D.C.

"I'll be at my desk in D.C. on Tuesday morning," Rehberg said in a Friday press statement.

He will travel via Amtrak, on the Empire Builder, with his wife Jan. The trip, which includes a train switch in Chicago, takes about two days.

Although the Republican will be back to work on Sept. 8 - the first day after the August recess - no House votes are scheduled for that day.

Rehberg sustained a head injury and a broken ankle, which required surgery, in the Aug. 27 crash on Flathead Lake. Montana state Sen. Greg Barkus, R-Kalispell, was driving the powerboat when it ran aground at high speed, at about 10:20 p.m.

Rehberg's state director, Dustin Frost, remains hospitalized and in stable condition, with a serious head injury.

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by: BJ N @ Sat Sep 05, 2009 at 14:21:40 PM UTC