The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest those deemed intoxicated. The rationale is to nab people who are considered public dangers before they can do anything harmful to others or themselves. Of course, with that reasoning, perhaps the TABC should just send a paddy wagon to liquor store parking lots and arrest patrons as they exit.
It's hard to believe that this sort of official paternalism is occurring in Texas, generally reputed to be a state that prizes rugged individualism, even if it means allowing good ol' boys to toss back a couple dozen snakebites at the saloon. It's the kind of thing one expects from, say, California, where one can imagine the narcs being deployed to collar overenthusiastic pinot quaffers.
The official explanation in Texas is that public drunkeness is a crime even in a bar. What it really says is that drinking alone, which used to be a sign of dysfunction, now seems to be the epitome of rational behavior.
