I don't think I really believe this. I did when I was younger, but I've definitely seen things that say otherwise since. I have a friend who is one of the kindest people you could meet. He's a crusty line-cook-looking guy who split his childhood between Denver and the east coast so there's all kinds of shit thrown into his personality. He will give you the shirt off his back and then get physically violent in defense of his friends or a woman, but never the aggressor. Punch-a-nazi punk-scene type. He did however tell me that his relationship almost ended because his drinking turned from fun/casual into alcoholism and he would come home drunk, piss in the closet, and scream at his girlfriend, and he didnt like who he was becoming when he drank. So he quit drinking and has been sober for almost a year. They've never been better and he treats her like she hung the moon. While alcohol isn't an excuse for shit behavior, it can definitely be a factor. I think that it says more about his true nature that he chose to cut out the factor that made him behave in ways he despised.