It’s an excuse that seems to be getting as popular as the old, “the dog ate my homework” routine.

First, Mel Gibson and his bottle of Tequila veered down Pacific Coast Highway, got pulled over and started slurring – literally – insults about Jews.

His excuse: It was the booze talking.

Then, after former Florida congressman Mark Foley was caught engaging in lewd online conversations with teenage boys, he claimed he was nothing but a helpless victim of alcohol’s evil.

His excuse: It was the booze typing.

Last week, former Republican congressman Bob Ney – perhaps most famous for renaming French fries, “freedom fries” due to U.S. anger at France’s refusal to support the invasion of Iraq – was sentenced to 30 months in prison for corruption.

His excuse? Well, you can probably guess.

On Friday, Ney reiterated his apology, saying he had battled “the demons of addiction.”

If you fall down a flight of steps or end up throwing up on your best friend’s shirt, and you blame alcohol, fine, we’ll believe you.

However, if you trade political favors for money and gifts, the excuse that drunkenness or alcoholism had anything to do with it is hardly believable.

Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle agreed, saying his alcoholism was no excuse.

So a message to celebrities, politicians and others who wish to blame the bottle for their inexcusable behaviors: Own up to your mistakes.

Booze doesn’t talk, it doesn’t type and it certainly doesn’t engage in political corruption.

And if taking some responsibility is completely out of the question, future offenders should either blame it on the dog or come up with something more original.