I disagree. Addicts are into the drug for the high, which is not something "the best of people" do. If he had addressed his addiction in a timely fashion he might have case for defending his character. But he didn't. Like countless other "celebrity addicts" he had to be caught before he saw the light and found Jesus.
Heraclitus tells us "a man's character is his fate." This conservative will take Heraclitus' understanding of personal responsibility over Bill W.'s (and apparently yours and Rush Limbaugh's) "disease concept" of addiction any day.