Don't hold the the Mayo please...

PatPatriot · May 6, 2006

Patrick Kennedy To Seek Treatment
Congressman Says He Doesn't Recall Crash

[SIZE=-1]By Del Quentin Wilber and Allan Lengel
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, May 6, 2006; A01
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Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy said yesterday that he is entering treatment for an addiction to prescription medications, an announcement that comes as police continue their investigation into a car crash involving the congressman near the Capitol.
Calling his addiction a "chronic disease," Kennedy said he does not even recall the accident, which occurred early Thursday and raised questions about his behavior and how U.S. Capitol Police deal with members of Congress.
The congressman's office has said Kennedy (D-R.I.) was disoriented behind the wheel because he had taken prescription medication to calm stomach inflammation and to help him sleep. No one was injured in the crash, but Kennedy almost hit a Capitol Police car head-on before slamming into a security barrier, authorities said.
Kennedy, 38, said yesterday that he has been battling problems with addiction and depression since he was a young man and that he will seek immediate treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He was a patient there during Congress's winter break, he said, and thought he had returned to Washington "reinvigorated and healthy."
"I am deeply concerned about my reaction to the medication and my lack of knowledge of the accident that evening," he said during a brief news conference at the Capitol. "But I do know enough that I know I need help."
Kennedy did not answer questions at the news conference or address a controversy surrounding the Capitol Police department's handling of the matter. The union representing Capitol Police officers has said that Kennedy should have been given a sobriety test because officers at the scene suspected he had been drinking. The union suggested that Kennedy got special treatment because supervisors took over and drove him home.
Acting Capitol Police Chief Christopher M. McGaffin declined requests for comment yesterday. He told Roll Call, a newspaper that covers Congress, that managers had made mistakes in judgment and that "significant" administrative action has been taken.
The news conference was Kennedy's first public appearance since he crashed his green 1997 Ford Mustang convertible about 2:50 a.m. Thursday into the security barrier at First and C streets SE. New details emerged in a police report made public yesterday.
Before the crash, an officer saw the Mustang speeding through a construction zone and swerving into and traveling in the wrong lane of traffic, the report said. The car's lights were off, and the Mustang almost hit a police car before it smacked into the barrier.
In the report, an officer noted that Kennedy's eyes were "watery, speech was slightly slurred . . . and his balance was unsure."
Kennedy told the officer that he was "headed to the Capitol to make a vote," the report said. The House was not in session at the time.
Although the report includes a notation that alcohol played a role in the crash, police union officials said that supervisors did not allow officers to administer field sobriety or breathalyzer tests.
Kennedy, the son of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and a scion of one of the country's most prominent political families, was not charged with any crimes but received three traffic citations: failure to keep in the proper lane, driving at an unreasonable speed and failure to give full time and attention to his car. Police said they are contemplating other charges.
Kennedy's office issued a statement Thursday night that said he was on prescription drugs and had not consumed alcohol before the crash. Under D.C. law, people who take prescription medications that hamper their driving can be charged with driving under the influence. The charge carries a penalty of up to 90 days in jail and a $300 fine for a first offense.
Within hours of the accident, union officials had written a letter to the Capitol Police chief that criticized the supervisors' decision to forgo sobriety tests.
The actions called "the integrity of our organization into question by creating the appearance of special favor for someone who is perceived to be privileged and powerful," wrote Officer Gregrey H. Baird, acting chairman of the Capitol Police labor committee for the D.C. Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 1.
Former chief Terrance W. Gainer, who left the force last month, agreed that sobriety tests should have been performed. "It appears there was a mistake made by police and by command officials, not the troops," he said.
Gainer said he understood that McGaffin was not immediately told about the crash. He said a lieutenant in the command center has been reassigned.
Authorities are trying to track Kennedy's activities before the accident. Detectives were canvassing bars near the Capitol to determine whether he had been spotted in them in the hours leading up to the crash, law enforcement sources said.
For his part, Kennedy said the accident "concerns me greatly." He has said that he returned Wednesday night to his home on Capitol Hill, took the medications and inexplicably wound up driving to the Capitol in the belief that he needed to vote.
"I simply do not remember getting out of bed, being pulled over by the police or being cited for three driving infractions," he said. "That's not how I want to live my life, and it's not how I want to represent the people of Rhode Island."
Kennedy has been taking Ambien, a sleeping medication, his office said. Then, on Tuesday, he caught a stomach virus and visited a doctor in the Capitol who prescribed Phenergan to ease inflammation.
Each drug can cause confusion and poor coordination, with the effects heightened when taken together. The drugs in combination can also cause memory loss.
Kennedy said the "recurrence of an addiction problem can be triggered by things that happen in everyday life, such as taking the common [medication] for a stomach flu. It's not an excuse for what happened . . . but it is a reality of fighting a chronic condition for which I am taking full responsibility."
Lou Cannon, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 1, said Kennedy did "the stand-up thing" by admitting his addiction and seeking treatment.
The episode follows another incident involving Capitol police and a member of Congress. In March, Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) got into a scuffle with an officer as she tried to bypass a metal detector.
Police asked prosecutors to charge McKinney with assault, and a grand jury is investigating the case.
Staff writers Karlyn Barker, David Brown and Shailagh Murray and news researchers Rena Kirsch, Bob Lyford and Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.

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PatPatriot · May 6, 2006

LMFAO

[SIZE=+1]Howie Carr: Ted K Passes Keys to his Son[/SIZE]
<SMALL>Boston Herald ^ | 05/05/06 | Howie Carr</SMALL>

Bad news for Patches Kennedy, good news for Cynthia McKinney.
At the risk of sounding like Jesse Jackson, do you think there’s a bit of a racial double standard at work here?
White congressman swerving around Capitol Hill at 2:45 a.m., with no lights on, smashes up his car, staggers around outside, claims he’s on his way to a “vote,” inquires if the cops know who he is, and . . . is given a lift home.
That’s how Patches Kennedy got treated. Then there’s Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, a black congresswoman who strides through a security gate, is chased by a Capitol cop, punches cop but doesn’t endanger anyone’s life and . . . is the target of a federal grand jury.
Poor Patches. For the second time in four years, he’s the poster boy for white privilege. Remember the old black lady he assaulted at LAX, a security guard making close to minimum wage? Didn’t she know who he was?
And for the umpteenth time in his life, Patches has made a pluperfect ass of himself while he was, well, what exactly?
The statement issued by Patches’ spokeswoman last night made the claim that alcohol was “not involved” in his late-night accident.
But was something else perhaps coursing through his bloodstream? After all, it was less than three weeks ago in Portsmouth, R.I., that he was T-boned as he tried to make a wild left turn into oncoming traffic.
Patches was in a hurry to get to a CVS drugstore, where, among other things, they sell many little bottles that have labels pasted on them that say “Do Not Operate Heavy Machinery” after ingesting.
And what “vote” was he headed for - a vote on whether to cancel last call and just keep the joint open all night long?
Talk about Kennedy deja vu - how many times have we all seen the headlines that were moving across the wires late yesterday?
First: “Kennedy involved in early morning accident.”
Which was followed, moments later, by the equally traditional, “Officers claim brass interfered in investigation of Kennedy accident.”
His father, Ted, was the runt of the litter, and Patches is the runt of the litter of the runt of the litter. And the martini olive doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Has Mothers Against Drunk Driving checked in yet to demand a full investigation of the alleged cover-up? Didn’t think so - no need to rush to judgment just because the Capitol Police union says its uniformed members were forbidden to perform field sobriety tests, and that the “collection of evidence” was not permitted.
So what if the cops say the kid gloves for the Boy Congressman “create the appearance of special favor for someone who is perceived to be privileged and powerful.”
Privileged? That’s for sure. Powerful? Not yet, thank goodness.
Just yesterday, Patches’ father, Sen. Ted Kennedy, was promoting a new book purportedly written by his dog, Splash.
From Splash to Crash.
The smoking gun here is the fact that Patches neglected to turn on his headlights. Guys like Patches always remember everything else, but they always forget the lights. Fortunately for Patches, the cops drove him home, which was quite sporting of them. They do that for everybody who gets into a wreck at 2:45 a.m.
So what happens to Patches next? I believe he’s one of the guardians of his mother, Joan. To paraphrase Juvenal, who will guard the guardians themselves?
I just have one final question for Patches’ guardian, his old man: I know Dropkick’s is gone, Ted, but dammit, why can’t you get the kid a driver? Or at least let him use yours?

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TheRightWing · May 6, 2006

He'll be at the Hanger Bar last call......

CAPNCRUNCH · May 6, 2006

Why wouldn't these powerful people/drunks have drivers?

BASEHEAD · May 6, 2006

[SIZE=+1]Kennedy's behavior, driving is questioned by eyewitness( R.I. accident, last month, more coverup.)[/SIZE]

<SMALL>www.boston.com ^ | May 6, 2006 | Jonathan Saltzman</SMALL>

NEWPORT, R.I. -- A woman who witnessed a two-car collision involving Representative Patrick J. Kennedy outside a Portsmouth, R.I., drugstore last month said he had been weaving and driving aggressively beforehand and was impaired when she confronted him outside his car afterward.
''He was swaying, and his eyes were glazed," said Sheila Lash, 75, of Newport, who alleges that Kennedy briefly drove against traffic on April 15 before he turned his car into the CVS parking lot and collided with another car turning in from the opposite direction. ''Then he said the most unlikely thing: 'I'm so sorry for the fuss.' "
Portsmouth police provided copies of the accident report yesterday but declined to comment.
Lash, who said Kennedy almost struck her car before the 10:09 a.m. accident, added that she could not tell whether he had alcohol on his breath because she has a poor sense of smell from having broken her nose years ago.
But the part-time antiques saleswoman was so appalled by Kennedy's appearance and driving, she said, that she gave her phone numbers to the other driver and told him to give them to police because she had to leave for Providence. The responding officer called her later that day, she said, and she described what she saw.
But Portsmouth police cited no one in the accident between Kennedy and Thomas J. Guthlein, 46, of Bristol. Given that no one was injured, Lash said, she dropped it. ''They are the Kennedys," Lash said with a sigh at Newport China Trade Company, one day after Kennedy was involved in another car accident near the US Capitol that he blamed on medication but that Capitol Police union officials said might have been alcohol-related. ''I don't need that [aggravation] in my life."

JoeContrarian · May 6, 2006

:lolBIG:

BASEHEAD · May 6, 2006

My new faves The Canadians getting in on it

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Patrick Kennedy- Go Speed Racer, Go Speed Racer, Goooo

By John Burtis
Saturday, May 6, 2006
Imagine the terror that Mr. Patrick Kennedy must have felt, having gone to bed after ingesting a handful of Ambien, as he came to in his automobile, fully dressed, barreling along, the radio on psywarop, feeling slightly giddy, having no idea where he was going, wondering why his automobile lights were off, as the impact clock quickly ticked down, looking up and spying a parked Capitol police car heaving into view through his dirty windshield.
Remembering to move his foot toward the break pedal, he continued pumping it madly, feeling no immediate effect, swerving to avoid the marked car, then finally, almost too late, the car slows and, in extremely slow motion, finally slamming into that gradually appearing mirage of a wall materializing from the mist that was clogging his tunnel vision.
Whoa, the slightly addled Representative said to himself after enduring the sudden deceleration, as he staggered from the steaming vehicle as the police officers approached him.
Wait, there’s got to be a reason for driving around the Capitol in the middle of the night with my lights off and wrecking my new car.
Think, dammit, think what you’re doing here. Pull yourself together.
Oh, yes, I’m here to vote, for chrissakes. That’s the magic word, too. Vote. Tell the cops you’re here to vote and they’ve got to let you go--like magic words--that’s it!
What, the voting ended three hours ago? I don’t believe it.
One of the first lessons they teach you when you learn to drive is to flick on the lights at night. Flying blind will get you into nothing but trouble, let alone when you toss some Ambien into the painfully volatile mix.
Of course, the second thing they--the driving instructors and the local gendarmes--bang on about is the need for reasonable speed and for making the proper decisions.
She, being a hostess at the Hawk and Dove, a notorious Washington watering hole where Marines drink beer from dog bowls from the floor and where G-Men routinely lie prone on the bar performing stunt drinking while preparing for the Bob Bondurant School, says he had a couple of toddies, just before taking another wrong fork in the road of life.
In any case, Patches, as Mr. Howie Carr, of the Boston Herald, appends the all too hapless spalpeen of the senior Massachusetts senator, had a bit of a rough ride the other night and is still reeling from his highly publicized run in with the errant hammer head and his less relatively well known recent driving fracas three weeks ago in Rhode Island.
But, showing their best enabling capabilities, riding to the poor pol’s rescue comes the divining rod of truth, CNN, carrying the lad’s water, with their endless line of medical experts going in the box for the boyo with terror stories of madcap behavior attached to Ambien’s soporific effects, describing the horror of mixing chocolate cake with the sleepy time pills and how Pat’s just another victim of big pharmacology gone mad.
Another spot on predictor, they delved into, of growing trouble is the increasing sense that many people you don’t know are inhabiting your bathroom, whose presence becomes noticeable after you’ve washed down additional Ambiens, especially when the later--a sure contraindication-- compulsion to drive to Congress for participation in a fictitious vote overcomes the unwary.
At least Patrick was able to avoid the dreaded lines below a perp walk to jail photo which might have read…
The obsessive and careless behavior evinced by Representative Kennedy from Rhode Island, in his latest bout of beastliness behind the wheel, convinced the jury that the junior member was a careless sociopath capable of wantonly destroying the lives of both the police officers who apprehended him and the public at large, given half the chance, and that he deserved a guilty verdict, delivered in a swift and fair fashion to send the community proper message.
Of course, according to Rush, at DrunkBastards.com, Phenergan, Mr. Kennedy’s other drug of choice on his highway to hell, is trumpeted as an excellent hangover medication.
Maybe Patches is on to something.
Luckily, for everybody on the road, he’s entering rehab.
Go Speed Racer, Go!
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