Chip Off the Ol' Block

[MavKikiNYC]

Rep. Kennedy Crashes Car Near Capitol
By ANDREW MIGA, AP

WASHINGTON (May 4) - Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had had no alcohol before the accident.

Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports.
"I was involved in a traffic accident last night at First and C Street SE near the U.S. Capitol," Kennedy said in a written statement released by his office. "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident. <hiccup>I will fully cooperate with the Capitol Police in whatever investigation they choose to undertake."

Kennedy appeared to be intoxicated when he crashed his car 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.

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.

AP file

Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., said in a statement that he consumed no alcohol before crashing his car early Thursday morning.

[Drbio]

Maybe alcohol didn't factor in this. He was probably too high to drink.

[Drbio]

Kennedy carries on family traditions

By Richard Cowan


The liar walks away in shame.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One day after he crashed his car near the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, son of Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, said on Friday he would seek treatment for a long-term drug abuse problem.

"This afternoon I am traveling to Minnesota to seek treatment at the Mayo Clinic to insure that I can continue on my road to recovery," Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat, told reporters.

Kennedy said he was a patient last winter at the clinic, receiving care for an addiction to prescription pain medicine.


His announcement came shortly after a U.S. Capitol Police report showed Kennedy, 38, was charged with three driving violations after he crashed his car into a Capitol Hill security barrier early Thursday.

In an earlier statement, Kennedy said he had become disoriented because of medicine and sleeping pills.

Kennedy said he had been "fighting this chronic disease since I was a young man" and wanted to continue working for his constituents in Rhode Island.

"I need to stay in the fight," said the six-term congressman who was re-elected with 64 percent of the vote in 2004.

Kennedy said he had no recollection of the crash. "I simply do not remember getting out of bed, being pulled over by the police or being cited for three driving infractions."
His father said in a statement, "All of us in the family admire his courage in speaking publicly about very personal issues and fully support his decision to seek treatment."

'EYES WERE RED ... SPEECH WAS SLIGHTLY SLURRED'

According to the Capitol Police report, Kennedy's 1997 Ford Mustang was traveling "at a high rate of speed" on a street close to the Capitol and "swerving into the wrong lane" shortly before his car hit a barrier.

The police report said that Kennedy's "eyes were red and watery, speech was slightly slurred and upon exiting his vehicle, his balance was unsure."


There were no injuries in the crash.

Capitol Police were investigating the incident, as well as the department's handling of it. A police union official said on Thursday officers were stopped from giving Kennedy a test for alcohol consumption following the crash.

Kennedys have been prominent in American politics for decades. Patrick Kennedy's uncles included President John Kennedy, assassinated in 1963, and Robert Kennedy, a former U.S. attorney general and New York senator, who was assassinated in 1968 during his run for president.

Edward Kennedy, a voice for liberal causes, is one of the longest-serving senators.

Several family members have had much-publicized drug and alcohol problems.
According to government statistics, 14 million American adults are alcoholics or abusers of alcohol and more than 14 million people used illicit drugs in 2000.

Reaction in Rhode Island was mixed.

WPRO-AM talk-show host Dan Yorke urged his listeners to fire Kennedy in the November elections, saying he had exhausted his good will and cannot effectively serve constituents.

But some callers to the station said mental health problems are complex and Kennedy deserved the benefit of the doubt.

[Drbio]

It is sickening how much of a pass this family gets from police agencies. Had this been anyone else they would have been jailed for DWI on the spot.

[Drbio]

How appropriate. On Cinco de Mayo, Kennedy is checking into da Mayo.

The Mayo Clinic over the years has become a second Kennedy home. There is a family wing.

[FishForLunch]

If anyone saw JayLeno can you let me know if they made fun of the drunks Dad and Son.

[Drbio]

There was a joke about a Kennedy being in a car wreck and alcohol not being involved. There is an archive of monolgoues at the following link. Pretty good videos there.

http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The_Tonight_S...no/monologues/