07/03/2026
"Holidays are bittersweet.
I look forward to the simplest parts of a day off. Folding laundry. Drinking coffee. Grappling in the middle of the day. Cuddling on the couch with my dog, Cookie Lyon. Enjoying the rare luxury of just chillin with my kids.
But somewhere along the way, holidays became something else. A pang of anxiety that I cannot shake.
I know what’s coming.
Around midnight, my phone will start ringing.
DUI. Domestic assault. Fights. Sexual assault allegations. Protective orders. Families changed forever. Careers destroyed. Lives that divide cleanly into two chapters: before that holiday… and after.
In a life of defense work, I’ve learned there are two constants.
It’s a holiday.
Alcohol is involved.
I’ve traveled enough to know that I still believe America is the greatest country on Earth. We are imperfect, but there is no place I’d rather call home.
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t acknowledge our flaws.
We market alcohol with Clydesdales, puppies, football games, beaches, and fireworks. We have woven it into nearly every celebration we cherish. We rarely stop to ask whether the drug has earned that place.
This weekend, millions of people will celebrate our nation’s independence.
Celebrate it.
Cook on the grill. Watch the fireworks. Hug your kids. Laugh with your friends. Appreciate the incredible privilege of living in this country.
Just don’t confuse celebration with intoxication.
Don’t drive after you’ve been drinking.
Don’t get so drunk that an argument becomes an assault.
Don’t put yourself in the impossible position of navigating sexual consent through intoxication.
Tomorrow is just as important as today. Make decisions tonight that you’ll still be proud of tomorrow morning.
I’d genuinely rather spend my evening folding laundry with Cookie snoring beside me than meeting another good person in a jail cell because one bad decision erased a lifetime of good ones.
Have a safe, happy, and free Fourth of July." - Dave Z.
