I dislike Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). It's not because I consider their original mission misplaced. to the contrary, it's quite noble. But as Radley Balko (among others) has noted, MADD has gone beyond the mission of reducing drunk driving fatalities and crossed the line into promoting "neo-prohibition". Their push to penalize divorced parents who drink, and their successful campaign to increase the number of drunk drivers in the US by lowering the blood alcohol content for DUI to .08, have not made America's roads any safer; they've merely stigmatized legal adult behavior. Even MADD founder Candy Lightner now repudiates the organization as "overzealous".

How had MADD responded to such criticism? By being even more overzealous than ever! Its latest stunt: cutting ties with Miss Teen USA Katie Blair because she was supposedly seen "partying" with Miss USA Tara Conner. The Miss Teen USA organization, mind you, hasn't cut ties with Blair or moved to strip her of her crown; it's determined that the allegations are much ado about nothing. But MADD doesn't give a damn. For them, a mere association with alcohol is enough to run screaming in the other direction.

As a parent, it pisses me off to no end when MADD pulls crap like this in the name of "protecting the kids". Katie Blair is 18; the only reason her drinking is "underage" is because MADD continues to lobby to keep the legal age artificially high. It's one thing to crack down on drunk driving; it's quite another to demonize all drinking. Do us parents a favor, MADD: stop using our kids in your crusade to return us to the days of Al Capone and speakeasies.