It's incredible what can still get me riled all the way up here in the big city far away from it all. Certainly the arrest of one of Hillsborough County's most anti-government ex-anti government officials to ever poo-poo rail development, on child abuse charges, is surely one of those things that can pull me away from time I was about to spend cooking me up my special Sunday spaghetti dinner.
Brian Blair has been arrested for child abuse.
Arrest record from the HCSO website. See the full record.
Now, this shocking announcement being made, I'll be up front in saying that I'm not holding my breath for the dude. I don't
like the man's politics, I don't like his approach to people or issues,
and I especially don't like the fact that he slighted HART every chance
he got while in office, and, by association, to preach against the
area's development of fixed urban rail systems. He antagonized the urban rail
agenda endlessly and made no secret of his despise for the Teco Line Streetcar system. A point of issue far and removed from something as henious as child abuse, granted, but, not something I'm not surprised to hear about. I mean, the guy was just...well, I'll leave my words to myself.
As explosive as this story is, it must be treated delicately and with some degree of respect for Brian Blair's family. These are young kids for god's sakes and not only don't need to be knocked around as they may have been if the reports are true; they don't need the burden of pronounced political hatred projected through this incident and blazed squarely on them. Families ebb and flow. If these reports are true, as an individual, Mr. Blair will need counseling as will the family. But strong families can withstand anything and whatever high emotions may exist in that unit now, may not in five years.
Fact is none of us know if Mr. Blair is actually guilty of what the charges put forth describe. And even if he is, we don't know the entire context of what led up to the early morning incident. All this will be forthcoming. The ultimate irony is that he's either guilty or, and you'll all forgive me now, he's being railroaded. We'll see.
