Cheney admitted drinking a beer, at lunch, five hours before the accident. Law enforcement was notified at the time it happened. The press was not.

Seriously, you think the secret service was just standing around letting people (including their charge) get drunk with guns around the vice president? There's your BS.

The absolute lust for something to make the VP look bad was partisan. This response is not partisan, it's common sense.

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Is it possible to move away from partisan politics? Is it just too late for a meeting of the minds...

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That would kind of require everyone to have a mind, right? People who think these discussions are intelligent or prove a point are just killing time before lunch. The good thing is that it keeps them from applying their superior intellects to their job. I hope their employers are properly grateful.

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Cheney admitted drinking a beer, at lunch, five hours before the accident. Law enforcement was notified at the time it happened.

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You are totally missing the point. Both Cheney and Rep. Kennedy had accidents in which substances may have been involved. Neither had blood alcohol testing done. Some have suggested earlier on this thread that this recent case was different treatment than a Republican would have received and the Cheney situation is being used to show that it was not.

How did this turn into a Cheney thing. Cheney did not drive drunk, Kennedy did.

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I don't see a soul begging you to stay and give your input.

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An invitation was required? Where's yours?

Going to Au Bar for lunch. Anyone coming? Meeting some old friends there, Ted, Will, and Patrick.

Au Bar. isn't that where trust fund idlers and obscure blue bloods congregate?

Capitol Hill Police Report

Must be Bushes fault.

No, it's gotta be Clinton's fault!


Suzy

Thought this could add to the discussion... -

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060505/ap_o...zkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

Rep. Kennedy entering rehab after crash
'I struggle every day with this disease,' Democrat says

Friday, May 5, 2006; Posted: 4:21 p.m. EDT (20:21 GMT)


Police said Kennedy's car swerved before it crashed into a barricade on Capitol Hill.

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Patrick Kennedy entering rehab (2:52)
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy said Friday that he will enter a rehabilitation program after crashing his car on Capitol Hill a day earlier.

"I know that I need help," the Rhode Island Democrat said at an afternoon press conference, detailing what he called a long-term struggle with depression and addiction.

"I struggle every day with this disease, as do millions of Americans," Kennedy said.

He said he would be traveling Friday afternoon to Minnesota to seek help at the Mayo Clinic, where he was treated during the congressional recess at Christmas for an addiction to prescription pain medication. He said he returned "reinvigorated and healthy."

Kennedy, 39, said he had no recollection of the events surrounding the crash into a barricade on Capitol Hill early Thursday morning.

He said in a statement Thursday evening that he was apparently disoriented at the time of the crash after taking the prescribed amounts of a sleep aid and an anti-nausea drug.

"I am deeply concerned about my reaction to the medication and my lack of knowledge of the accident that evening. But I do know enough to know that I need to seek expert help," he said Friday.

"I hope that my openness today and in the past, and my acknowledgement that I need help, will give others the courage to get help if they need it," he said.

Asked as he left the room if he planned to resign, the six-term congressman responded, "I need to stay in the fight."

Kennedy's father, Sen. Ted Kennedy, said Friday he has "enormous respect for the work Patrick has done."

"All of us in the family admire his courage in speaking publicly about very personal issues and fully support his decision to seek treatment," the Massachusetts Democrat said. "He has taken full responsibility for events that occurred."

Preferential treatment allegation probed
Police labor union officials said earlier that officers were told not to give Rep. Kennedy a sobriety test after his traffic mishap.

Superiors told the officers instead to drive Kennedy home after the accident, according to Greg Baird, acting chairman of the U.S. Capitol Police union, who called for an inquiry.

The Capitol Police said Friday that it is investigating the accident, the procedures followed, and whether the evidence would support traffic charges.

The lawmaker said Thursday police drove him home afterward but that he did not "ask for any special consideration."

Asked if he thought he got preferential treatment, Kennedy said, "That's up for the police to decide, and I'm going to cooperate fully with them."

The police report, seen by CNN, includes an observation that Kennedy appeared to have been drinking and his ability was impaired.

"At no time before the incident did I consume any alcohol," Kennedy said in a statement Thursday.

The report shows Kennedy was cited for three infractions -- failure to keep a proper lane, unreasonable speed and failure to give full time and attention to the operation of a vehicle.

According to the report, Sgt. Kenneth Weaver said he saw Kennedy's vehicle "traveling at a high rate of speed in a construction zone and also swerving into the wrong lane of travel" with its lights off.

Weaver said Kennedy's vehicle hit a curb and swerved back into the wrong lane. He said he was driving east and used "evasive maneuvers in order to avoid a collision" with Kennedy's car.

The officer said he turned around and pursued Kennedy, whose car did not stop but did slow, "finally stopping after colliding head-on with a vehicle barrier."

The report said that when Weaver approached Kennedy, he noticed that his "eyes were red and watery, speech was slightly slurred, and upon exiting his vehicle, his balance was unsure."

Baird said when two sergeants arrived at the accident scene after the initial two officers, they conferred with the watch lieutenant on duty.

Afterward, the sergeants told the other officers to drive Kennedy home. His car had been damaged, police said.

"I think he was extended a courtesy by virtue of his position," union President Lou Cannon told CNN. Cannon was not at the scene of the crash.

Capitol Police declined CNN's request for an interview Friday.

Kennedy: 'Disoriented' from medications
In his Thursday evening statement, Kennedy said he had returned home after final votes in the House of Representatives around midnight Wednesday and taken the sleep aid Ambien and an anti-nausea drug.

The lawmaker identified that drug as Phenergan, "which in addition to treating gastroenteritis, I now know can cause drowsiness and sedation."

"Sometime around 2:45 a.m., I drove the few blocks to the Capitol complex believing I needed to vote," he said. "Apparently, I was disoriented from the medication."

In his comments Friday, Kennedy said, "The recurrence of an addiction problem can be triggered by things that happen in every day life, such as taking a common treatment for a stomach flu.

"That's not an excuse for what happened Wednesday evening, but it is a reality of fighting a chronic condition for which I'm taking full responsibility," he said.

CNN's Ted Barrett and Brian Todd contributed to this report

Here's my favorite part of the story linked above:

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his green 1997 Ford Mustang convertible

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What a tool!

Good for him to go into rehab to get help with his problem. I wish him luck.


Suzy

"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."

I didn't see this in this thread yet, but I believe his quote above, is a lie, and he was actually trying to get out of the "incident" when stopped by the police. (this was also reported by the national news over the weekend). Here's why I think this: Apparently, a congressman on official business, such as traveling for an official vote, is immune to prosecution. -- That's why he came up with the voting story. So much for his 'inability to remember'.

And if there was in fact a vote, it is comforting to know he is stoned and/or drunk when going to represent the people of Rhode Island....

Amen.