Speed Gibson

I feel a little sorry for the embattled Hatch daughters. Their parents, particularly their father, weren't there for them when they needed them.

Taking the press accounts at face value, they get drunk and disorderly to the point they are tossed out of a Chicago bar. Rather than ask the bouncer to retrieve her coat, one starts a fight that the other quickly joins, slapping a police officer and kicking in a squad car window.

And now the money quote: "You don't know who I am. My dad is the state's attorney of Minnesota."

State Attorney General Mike Hatch's response? Get them acquitted. After dropping counter-charges filed by his wife, the high-priced defense team the family hired argued that all those people over-reacted, that it just didn't happen. Sure enough, they were acquitted.

If I had done something like this to my "Attorney General" father, I know what he would have done. After assessing the situation, he would have issued a press release to say something like this:

"As you know, my son was arrested and charged with simple battery, resisting arrest, and damage to property, all misdemeanors. This took place in Chicago, Illinois and as such, my office has no role or jurisdiction in the matter. Indeed, I have contacted the authorities there to assure them that they have a free hand to act appropriately within the law."

"I do have one duty as your Attorney General to perform, to apologize those involved for my son's unfortunate statement that he deserves special treatment because of my title. He does not. I further assure those involved that the legal representation my wife and I have hired are equally clear on that point."

"As I will be reminding my son, he more than most should share the faith and respect his mother and I have always had for the law."

"Let justice be done."

And I, once sober, would have feared what my parents said far more than any court.