Drugs, Alcohol, And Cars In D.C.

You may not have heard about this - but Patrick Kennedy crashed his car at 3 AM Thursday morning. CNN is not talking about it every 15 seconds or anything.

Oh wait - they ARE talking about it every 15 seconds. Maybe because Patrick Kennedy happens to be a representative from Rhode Island. Or maybe it is a good diversion from the CIA guy that recently quit, the price of gas, or whatever else is going on that may be important. Who knows.

What I thought was a bit odd was that when the story first broke on Thursday morning, the very first press release said "no alcohol was involved". But at the time, all we knew was that there was a car accident. Car accidents happen all the time without alcohol being involved. Anytime you drive in a car, there is a chance you could be in an accident. Even sober! Yes, sober people crash cars. Some people are just bad drivers.

So why go out of your way to say "HEY! I was not drunk!!!!"? Huh? I mean, if you were not drunk you really do not need to include that info. At this time, nobody was talking about alcohol or drugs or anything. Kennedy brought up alcohol all on his own.

My cynical brain decided that the man probably did have something to drink, and that the "I did not drink anything" was just the first shot fired in the "trial by media" thing that happens so often. By saying he was perfectly sober, he can then say that anyone who says otherwise is engaged in personal attacks.

More evidence for my theory? It was THREE IN THE MORNING! The late vote was at midnight. That leaves three hours - more than enough time to get a bit toasty.

Anyway, as it turned out he now says he was on prescription drugs. This could be true. LOTS OF PEOPLE have problems with prescription drugs. Doctors hand the stuff out like it is Halloween candy. Even well meaning people can get addicted to the stuff without meaning to.

Kind of like some formerly bloated, balding, right wing talk radio hosts. Radio hosts who, I like to add, once said that "all drug users should be locked up" and that rehab did not work. Until HE became a drug abuser - then suddenly not all drug users needed to be locked up, and rehab was a great thing.

Anyway, Mr. Kennedy is going back for more treatment. Maybe this time he can be helped. Until then maybe it is better if he hires a driver.