It sounds to me like he still has alcoholic thinking. The Big Book of AA says that as long as the alcoholic continues to have alcoholic thinking, there is little chance of a real change. There has to be a profound change, an upheaval of old thinking, before recovery can begin. This can only come from within that person, and can't be brought about by circumstances like DUI's, loss of jobs, loss of relationships, etc.
Al-anon teaches us that we either contribute to the stinking thinking, or we work on cleaning up our side of the street. Working on my spiritual growth, learning how to stop enabling, how to stop jumping into the chaos, how to stop being mad with the world are the things I had to focus on when I was beginning. Instead of going crazy, crashing and burning, I had to learn how to detach, stay positive, and take care of myself. It took a village (or at least a strong group of Al-anons) to give me the support to do this. It wasn't easy, and I can still fall into old patterns, even after years of practice. The difference is that I can see it sooner, and keep the damage to a minimum.
Active alcoholism is the pits, but there are things you can do to learn to let the alcoholic trip and fall without pulling you down with him. Hugs, Magic