As you know, I continue to be supportive of the Bush doctrine, but this version of pre-emption strikes me as a little too drastic: the State of Texas is now arresting people in bars for being drunk. And why you ask is this a pre-emptive move? The true and committed nanny-staters have some excellent reasons as to why they should be doing this:

The goal, she said, was to detain drunks before they leave a bar and go do something dangerous like drive a car. "We feel that the only way we're going to get at the drunk driving problem and the problem of people hurting each other while drunk is by crackdowns like this," she said.

"There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when they're intoxicated, other than get behind the wheel of a car," Beck said. "People walk out into traffic and get run over, people jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss."

Or try to retain their balance sitting on a barstool after downing ten pints, but somehow not being able to quite accomplish that. Well, you won't have to worry about things like that any longer when you're in Texas. Your local officer will ensure your safety by pre-empting your fun.