Another Kennedy car crash

[Hurin_Rules]

I include this because, if you've ever seen the excellent documentary, "Taking on the Kennedys", you'll know how much of a doofus this guy is.

Conservatives note that I'm attacking a fellow liberal. I call them as I see them.

Rep. Kennedy blames crash on sleep medicine
R. I. Democrat says combination of prescription meds led to accident in D.C.

Updated: 10:22 p.m. ET May 4, 2006
WASHINGTON - Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness.

Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. His initial statement said: “I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident.“’

Later, however, he issued a longer statement saying the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan on Tuesday to treat Kennedy’s gastroenteritis.

Kennedy said he returned to his Capitol Hill home on Wednesday evening after a final series of votes in Congress and took “prescribed” amounts of Phenergan and Ambien, another prescribed drug that he occasionally takes to fall asleep.

“Some time around 2:45 a.m., I drove the few blocks to the Capitol Complex believing I needed to vote,” his second statement said. “Apparently, I was disoriented from the medication.”

Police noted Kennedy staggering
Kennedy appeared to be intoxicated when he crashed his Ford Mustang into a barrier on Capitol Hill early Thursday morning, said Louis P. Cannon, president of the Washington chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Cannon, who was not there, said the officers involved in the accident were instructed by an official “above the rank of patrolman” to take Kennedy home.

No sobriety tests were conducted at the scene.

A letter written by a Capitol Police officer to Acting Chief Christopher McGaffin said Kennedy appeared to be staggering when he left the vehicle after the crash about 3 a.m. The letter was first reported by Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper.

Kennedy said he was late for a vote, officer Greg Baird said in the letter to McGaffin. Baird is acting chairman of the Capitol Hill chapter of the FOP police union. The last vote of the night had occurred almost six hours earlier.

‘I simply complied’
Kennedy said he was driven home by Capitol police. “At no time did I ask for any special consideration,” he said. “I simply complied with what the officers asked me to do.”

Kennedy, the son of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and his staff declined to discuss any further details of the accident. The congressman took part in House votes Thursday.

Capitol Police did not immediately return phone calls for comment. They issued a one-line statement saying they were investigating a traffic violation that occurred early in the morning at that location.

Baird wrote McGaffin that two sergeants who responded to the accident conferred with the watch commander and were ordered to leave the scene.

He said that after the officers left, Capitol Police officials gave Kennedy a ride home.

Kennedy spent time at a drug rehabilitation clinic before he went to Providence College. He has been open about mental health issues, including being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12634639/

[discovery1]

No sobriety tests were conducted at the scene.

Who here thinks he was drunk?

I do.

[Papewaio]

Well his posts earlier in the backroom certainly were under the influence. Sorry DA I had to out your real ID.

[Major Robert Dump]

I dont have any idea what the previous post meant but....



I'd rather go hunting with Dick than driving with a Kennedy

[Proletariat]

The Rhode Island Democrat said that drug was Phenergan, "which in addition to treating gastroenteritis, I now know can cause drowsiness and sedation."

What a dope. This guy takes Ambien, an incredibly confusing and powerful sleeping pill, and then says he now knows Phenergan can cause drowsiness and sedation? Wtf did he think a prescription strength sleeping-aid like Ambien would do? Make him clear headed and spry?

[Vladimir]

Well the apple certainly doesn't fall from the tree...in less it's had a few too many and gets behind the wheel.

Does anybody here who's been in law enforcement or knows any cops think this is odd? This kind of stuff happens all the time, even happened once to my white trash brother (minus the wreck). It seems like the police union is just using this as a political football against the department.

[Major Robert Dump]

Well, the joke is it was in DC

If this had happened anywhere else he would not have had the Capitol Police to babysit him, the local yokel cops would likely not have cared who he was, and his rear would have been arrested and his car impounded. But then 500 dollar-an-hour attorneys woiuld get it reduced to a faulty tail ight ticket and he's back in Congress, doing a swell job for the commonfolk. Maybe next time he should try skiing to the Capitol for that vote.

-- on a similar note, the OSU basketball coach in Stillwater got liquored up while taking non-prescription painkillers, ran another vehicle off the road, and ended up with 2 years probation before the "victim" of the car accident was even out of the hospital. I love justice.

[Vladimir]

Well, the joke is it was in DC

If this had happened anywhere else he would not have had the Capitol Police to babysit him, the local yokel cops would likely not have cared who he was, and his rear would have been arrested and his car impounded. But then 500 dollar-an-hour attorneys woiuld get it reduced to a faulty tail ight ticket and he's back in Congress, doing a swell job for the commonfolk. Maybe next time he should try skiing to the Capitol for that vote.

-- on a similar note, the OSU basketball coach in Stillwater got liquored up while taking non-prescription painkillers, ran another vehicle off the road, and ended up with 2 years probation before the "victim" of the car accident was even out of the hospital. I love justice.

Well your average policeman would have done that but a "local yokel" would definately babysit an official providing he had any influence in the cop's district.

[Major Robert Dump]

So then the cop grows some balls and talks to the press instead of being a pansy and hiding under the golden umbrella. Fat chance of that happening.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Hurin Rules, your non-partisan actions are duly noted.
He does look like a doofus:


An update from http://news.bostonherald.com/localRe...95&format=text

WASHINGTON -U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy insisted yesterday that he had consumed “no alcohol” before he slammed his Mustang convertible into a concrete barrier near his office, but a hostess at a popular Capitol Hill watering hole told the Herald she saw him drinking in the hours before the crash.
“He was drinking a little bit,” said the woman, who works at the Hawk & Dove and would not give her name.
Leaving his office late last night, Kennedy refused to say whether he’d been to the Hawk & Dove the night before.

He's a drunk driver, a liar, and probably a bad congressman. Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree...

Crazed Rabbit

[Devastatin Dave]

I guess the good news is that he wasn't on a bridge with a young lady passenger at the time of the accident.

[Hurin_Rules]

Hurin Rules, your non-partisan actions are duly noted.

Thank you sir

[Hurin_Rules]

CNN is now reporting Kennedy has announced he will enter rehab at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

[Vladimir]

Rehab for what? Prescription medication? Did he ask Rush for his advice?

[Ronin]

Who here thinks he was drunk?

I do.

Who here cares one way or the other?


I don´t.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Rehab for what? Prescription medication? Did he ask Rush for his advice?

Yup. His problem doesn't seem to have gotten much notice or prosecutorial attention, though.

Thank you sir

Credit where credit is due.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/05/05/D8HDQ9FG1.html

The congressman said he became concerned about his condition after the Thursday morning car accident.

"I simply do not remember getting out of bed, being pulled over by the police, or being cited for three driving infractions," Kennedy said. "That's not how I want to live my life. And that's not how I want to represent the people of Rhode Island."

This contradicts somewhat with his earlier recollection:
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/05/05/D8HDNTT82.html

Some time around 2:45am, I drove the few blocks to the Capitol Complex believing I needed to vote. Apparently, I was disoriented from the medication. At that time, I was involved in a one-car incident in which my car hit the security barrier at the corner of 1st and C St., SE. At no time before the incident did I consume any alcohol.

At the time of the accident, I was instructed to park my car and was driven home by the United States Capitol Police. At no time did I ask for any special consideration, I simply complied with what the officers asked me to do.

The announcement came shortly after U.S. Capitol Police reported that the younger Kennedy was charged with "failure to give full time and attention" and "failure to keep in proper lane" after he crashed his car Thursday night into a security barrier near the U.S. Capitol.

The report made no mention of possible alcohol consumption.

Kennedy told reporters he will seek re-election in November. "I need to stay in the fight," he said.

He needs to stay in the fight? For what purpose? And the police report did mention possible after effects of alcohol (red eyes, staggering, etc.) Lousy reporting.

Crazed Rabbit

[Tribesman]

Lock him up , then revoke his license .
Driving when your abilities are impaired by substances (legal or otherwise) is a crime .

[rotorgun]

Chapequitic, DC aquittal, hmm....it almost rhymes. Ofishher, I wash jusht shrying to be in chime for phthe bote Reeeally I washhh! I hfen't had anyshing to zzhrink, itsh the dzzruggs I'm on.

Police officer radios to headquarters in a voice like Fred Sanford's: .....but it's Ed Kennedy's boy! What should we do?


Response in the voice of Lamont: 10-4, 1 Adam screwed, er....give him a ride home, and make like a reactor and scram.

Officer: er...roger that Keystone headquarters. Wilco.

Another Kennedy that I would not vote for shows his true colors.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Who here cares one way or the other?


I don´t.

See, this kills me. If it were a member of Bush's staff or something, you'd be either up in arms or guffawing.

[Ronin]

See, this kills me. If it were a member of Bush's staff or something, you'd be either up in arms or guffawing.

Bush is the president of the united states....and altough not not elected by me he can make my life more dificult as result of his bull**** politics.... So I might be pissed off at something he does while in office......if he did it in his personal life I personally couldn´t care less...

now explain to me why I should care that this guy had a car accident?....that´s between him and the other parties involved and the police......the fact that his last name is Kennedy is supposed to make this mean something to me?

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Bush is the president of the united states....and altough not not elected by me he can make my life more dificult as result of his bull**** politics.... So I might be pissed off at something he does while in office......if he did it in his personal life I personally couldn´t care less...

That response doesn't even answer my snarky comment. Here, let's review.

If it were a member of Bush's staff or something, you'd be either up in arms or guffawing.

Not Bush. I could understand remarks about him. But if one of his staff (not even a major post) did what Kennedy did, I suspect you would care.

Why should you care? Because this is an political duel in the Backroom and apathy is submission!



PS - Why does Hurin care? He's not represented by Kennedy (something he is probably grateful for). It's an opportunity to make fun of a politician (and an opportunity to be non-partisan, especially for you Ronin).