I about fell off the chair when I read that at Michelle’s, but I could not agree more with the person that wrote this over at The Daily Kos:
Patrick Kennedy’s in a lot of pain; I feel sympathy.
But if he can’t remember even getting into his car, if he was in rehab over Christmas, if there’s an allegation he’d been drinking before the accident — well maybe he needs to resign.Here’s the problem folks: most Americans who aren’t partisans truly believe the democrats and The Republicans are “all the same” and that the power-elite takes care of its own.
Democrats can talk about Abramoff and Cunningham and the Republicans’ toothless ethics bill, but so long as the People see us as just the “other side of the coin”, they have little reason to go to the polls to vote for Dems.
Now we’ve got Congressman William Jefferson who despite allegations of bribery won’t resign, and Patrick Kennedy who announces he’s “going to vote” and so dodges a Breathalyzer test, and now will go into rehab rather than resign.
This gives all the justification in the world to independents who will say that the Dems are “just as bad” and that “all of them are corrupt”.
The Democratic Party needs to show it’s different, that it’s not a club of the elite taking care of the elite.
Much as I feel for Congressman Kennedy, it’s time for him for his own good and for the good of the Party, to resign with dignity.
If you take the time to read what the majority of the other commentators say, they try to justify the behavior and give kudos to Kennedy for admitting his problem. Well that would be all good and well if that is what he did, but he didn’t. He has changed his story 3 times since the story broke! According to Kennedy, this will be his third trip to rehab in the past 6 months. Either he is not serious about his addiction and recovery or he is in need of a different, more in depth treatment. The first step to recovery is admitting your problem. Telling the American people that you are going to rehab for drug addiction, drugs that you have been on for 2 days, is not taking responsibility for your actions!
That being said, we the people need to start speaking up and making our elected officials take responsibility for their actions. I am saying that as a partisan person that feels that the inmates, on both sides of the aisle, are running the asylum! It should not matter what political party that Patrick Kennedy belongs to. The fact of the matter is, he is a member of The United States Congress.
I’m not sure of that yet…
The comment immediately below the one you posted here has a good reply to this call for resignation:
“What he did cannot be excused, but why should people who battle chronic mental health problems like addiction be denied the right to serve in public life? He needs to do what needs to be done to take care of this situation, which includes possibly using his inheritance to pay for a chauffeur. But the guy is obviously dedicated to serving his constituents.”
Yes, and the one below that says it all.
Yes, he should have the opportunity to serve in public life. and I hope in the future he’ll return to public life. His best service now would be to resign and to show the American people neither a Congressman or a President is above the law.
But if you agree his actions “can’t be excused”, what makes him the best guy to represent his congressional district?
For now, he should resign. If by November he feels strong enough to resume office, let the people ion his District decide.
Patrick has many problems, I am not denying that. BUT, he needs to address them honestly. In another thread, I quoted him reflecting on the Bush tax cuts…I think that was Patrick Kennedy. And that Patrick Kennedy needs a dose of tough love. People need to quit enabling him. Kennedy needs to take care of himself. There is nothing stopping him from getting well and running for office. Shouldn’t his health come before the party?
It is time for him to go. Followed by his Father.
I still don’t understand why you think having a disease prevents someone from serving their county in public office is grounds for resignation…
This wasn’t bribery, this wasn’t money laundering, this was a traffic accident involving prescription pills.
The blood lust for a Kennedy from some folks on the Right is amazing!
At least this man admits his problem 24 hours after the fact and seeks treatment, instead of accusing a prosecutor and just about everyone else of a committing political witch-hunt.
4- No San Fran he has not admitted his problem. Admitting your problem would include the fact that he made sure to say 3 times that he did not drink any alcohol. He did drink alcohol. This is a man that is covering his ass and thinks this can be swept under the rug. If he is serious about taking care of the problem..admit that there is a problem, admit what the problem is, and then deal with the problem. Let’s now deal with the admission. 24 hours after? No San Fran, it was 24 hours after the news broke. Major Garrett was correct. There was nothing he said today, that he could not have said yesterday at 9:00 a.m. He didn’t just learn about this when the story broke. He bought some time is what he did. That is not a person that is seeking help.
A disease? Oh, please, not that again. That was invented so that health plans and SSI could be made to pay for rehab.
It’s nonsense.
SFL why can’t you see what everyone here is saying? This is so obvious, so cut and dried, what is there not to understand?
4: Does he have to kill someone while he’s under the influence of his “disease” before you begin to understand?
What about ChappaTeddy?
They tore Rush apart for the same admission .. and are still ripping him to shreds, and he’s not in power to make policy like Kennedy. The whole family stinks from the inside out … they both should go.
One word, YES!
Not only should patrick kennedy resign but so should ted i mean they should never be allowed to drive again not even a bicycle or horse:lol:
Am I the only one astounded by how the media treats Kennedy, as opposed to say….Rush Limbaugh??? Again, you’d think Rush was ass fucking a toddler at noon on Sunday….
Early on, prosecutors claimed they had evidence of over ten felonies. They demanded that Rush plead guilty to some felony”any felony. He refused, always insisting on his innocence. So, they leaked more lies to the media, hoping to intimidate him. They seized his medical records. They gave his medical records to the media. The media took those records and turned them into graphics for television. Reporters and commentators were studying his prescriptions, discussing both the kinds and amount of medicine he had taken. They were beside themselves with glee. Newsweek, AP and the Palm Beach Post, Rush’s local paper, were especially vicious, serving as lap-dogs for the prosecutors.
In court, Rush fought these people every step of the way”all the way to the Florida Supreme Court. He spent millions of dollars defending himself”despite the fact that he had been a first-time abuser, went to rehab, and was clean. And then last October, the lead prosecutor sauntered into court and in response to questioning told the judge”we have no evidence that Rush Limbaugh has committed any crime! None.
So, I am very angry. You will hear commentator after commentator speaking sympathetically about Patrick Kennedy and his addiction to painkillers. You will hear people say that he is addicted, he has a serious health problem, he deserves to be praised for his forthrightness today, and we should leave him alone. And many of these commentators will be the same people who were giddy in their ceaseless attacks on Rush.
I am angry at the double standard, where liberals are regularly treated one way and conservatives another. I am also glad Patrick Kennedy won’t be abused as Rush was. But you can be sure that the next conservative with a problem won’t be treated like Kennedy.
But there are some aspects to the Kennedy matter that require answers. If Patrick Kennedy, who is not a first offender, is addicted to painkillers, from where did he get them? And there are news reports that he had been drinking earlier at a Capitol Hill bar and alcohol was later smelled on his breath. So, why was the officer on the scene prevented by more senior police officers from performing a routine sobriety test?