It didn't happen on my watch. I was drunk!

Alcoholism Made Me Do It!
By: Joseph Walther


Dateline Wilmington, Delaware ― The News Journal, Delaware’s contribution to Gonzo Journalism, emblazoned its Sunday edition’s front page with one-inch high, bold black print that “Disgraced DRBA chief Harkins gets 14 months”. For those in the dark, Michael E. Harkins was the executive director of the Delaware River Bay Authority and a former Secretary of State. He pleaded guilty about a year ago to filing false tax returns in connection with the misuse of an airplane leased by the Authority. He had even ordered the pilot and an Authority police officer to alter the plane’s records to hide the misconduct.

The amounts involved were substantial and I am not going to get into those details here. Al Mascitti, a News Journal columnist who people love or hate depending on whether they agree or disagree with him, pretty much hit the nail on the head in his Sunday column. You can find the column at www.delawareonline.com. In addition, this story will provide fodder for the talk shows in Delaware for almost a week or so.

The outcries for sentencing leniency were loud and numerous. Their sources involved all social levels, including Delaware’s entire congressional delegation and the powerful wheelers and dealers from its business community. Senator Biden, as well as Harkins’ lawyer, Victor Battaglia blamed alcoholism for the crimes. A city council woman, Loretta Walsh, lamented that the judge probably felt compelled to make an example of him. Of course, others felt that the sentence was too lenient and that we should execute Mr. Harkins, or at the very least, hit him very hard with a brick.

This is all fine and good. Mascitti’s column is worth reading. Harkins supporters think that he has done a lot of good and deserves a break. Other than his alcoholism, it seems they want him canonized as soon as possible. His detractors, though fewer than his supporters, think that he is pond scum and should spend eternity in the fires of hell.

Other than hearing him speak from time-to-time, I really have no basis to form a personal opinion of him as a human being. His family certainly does not deserve the notoriety associated with his crimes and sentence. Therefore, I would like to look at all of this from a different perspective.

Michael E. Harkins earned $190,000 per year as the executive director of the Delaware River Bay Authority. I do not know what he earned in his former role as Secretary of State. I do know, however, that Delaware’s Secretary of State is the highest paid cabinet position. Harkins was also a respected member of Delaware’s Republican Party. He had prestige and POWER. He also possessed a humongous ego along with the commensurate level of arrogance. All of this, combined with alcoholism, amounts to a sure-fire recipe for personal disaster. Ego, if it gets out of control, begets unfettered arrogance and unfettered arrogance begets stupidity in monumental proportions. Alcoholism merely numbs the senses and speeds up the sequence of events.

I have no problems with Mr. Battaglia blaming all of this on alcoholism. As Mr. Harkins’ defense attorney, he was paid to put the most positive spin on a no win situation. I would expect nothing less. The others who did so, however, are so far off base it is beyond ridiculous. They do Michael Harkins, his family, and the rest of us in Delaware a disservice.

Something, in the terms of Michael Harkins’ life to date, was missing. I will not speculate as to what it was because I do not know what it was. Whatever it was, though, it constituted feelings of depression severe enough for him to seek a solution in alcoholic beverages. At first, this makes a person feel “better” about things. The problem is that it takes an ever increasing amount of “feel better” juice to keep on feeling better at previous levels of “feeling better”, if you get my drift.

Every alcoholic, or any other substance abuser I have known, has experienced this phenomenon and it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Michael Harkins held powerful positions. The only difference between Mr. Harkins’ downfall due to alcoholism and some obscure Mr. Nobody’s is opportunity. Mr. Nobody’s destructive behavior ruins his own life and devastates his family. It does not make the News Journal’s front-page headlines. Mr. Nobody lacks both power and influence to generate the public interest that would lead a newspaper to put it on its front page. In other words, the average Mr. Nobody does not sell newspapers.

If Mr. Harkins really wants to convince us that he regrets his conduct because it was WRONG and not because the law caught up to him, He has an excellent opportunity to do so. Here is what he needs to do.

First, he has to accept the fact that he is a convicted felon, no less than the other felons convicted of similar crimes. He has to admit to himself that he is not a victim of circumstance. He did the crime and now he must do the time. He must let the clang of prison doors make him understand that he has done something seriously wrong and that alcoholism has helped get him to this point. Second, he has to apologize to his family for what he has done to them and promise to make amends in some way. They will understand. Third, after the federal authorities release him from prison and he begins his community service, he needs to do so sincerely with no excuses or other rationalizations. Fourth, he should spend regularly scheduled times speaking to groups with problems similar to those that caused the disaster in his life and what he is doing to prevent future personal disasters. In doing so, he may well find some of that missing stuff in his life.

I do not consider Michael E. Harkins evil incarnate. He is a human being. He, like tens of thousands of others in this country, experiences some aspects of depression in his life. Unfortunately, he chose drinking as his antidepressant. It did not work. All it did was increase his feelings of invincibility and immunity, teaching him the hard way that the more power a person abuses, the harder he falls and the greater the embarrasment.

I am not one of those who think prison is for rehabilitation. Prison is for punishment. Rehabilitation is personal and a person must want to rehabilitate him or herself. Otherwise, it just is not going to happen. Will it happen in Michael Harkins’ case? I hope for his sake that it does, but only time will tell.

Joe Walther is a freelance writer. You may contact him by clicking on CONTACT ME above or by email at Joe_Walther@comcast.net