Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Charlottesville, VA, USA. more »
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13 replies on “Driving under the Kennedy.”
I’m genuinely shocked that you would so blithely state that Patrick Kennedy was drunk without knowing the facts of the case. He denies having consumed alcohol. Staggering in itself does not equal drunkenness. I’m lucky that I’ve only been in one semi-serious car accident in my life (when I was 16 and completely sober) but I staggered out of the car and had a hard time communicating from shock.
Kennedy has said he was taking Ambien, a medication that has had many reported cases of people doing things in semi-conscious states and not remembering them afterward. Kennedy also suffers from bipolar disorder.
Could he have been driving in a manic state and lost control? Yes.
Could he have been driving after taking Ambien and not in control of his faculties? Yes.
Could he have been drunk driving? Yes.
All of these are possibilities, and drunk driving is not necessarily the most likely one, since he has already said he was taking Ambien.
Waldo posted at 11 PM last night and you can see that the reuters article made no mention of Ambien. When it first happened, early word was that Kennedy was drunk. Obviously, the news was wrong (surprise!).
Having spent my college years in Providence (Patrick went to my alma mater), I’ve heard stories about his drug problems and run ins with the law long before this. I wasn’t a bit surprised to read about this latest incident.
I don’t know nothin’ ’bout no Ambien. But the Kennedy family does have rather a drinking history. :)
I’ll have to read up more on this story this morning, eh?
How is driving under the influence of Ambien any better than driving under the influence of alcohol? Anybody taking Ambien is well aware of the fact that you’re not to get behind the wheel of a car on this stuff. He deliberately allowed himself to become intoxicated and then decided to drive a car.
If his bipolar disorder affects him to the extent that mania is causing him to crash cars then he is not mentally fit to hold his office.
The worst part is his bullshit lie about how he was ‘running late for a vote’ late at night when the House hadn’t been in session for hours. The accident it’s self is something that I could almost forgive. It’s the way he lied about it that reveals his character and says to me that this is not someone I think ought to be holding office with a ‘D’ next to his name.
There’s no plausible excuse for this debacle. He can get the hell out of Washington and bring Rep. William Jefferson with him.
Well, yeah. I’m on Benzonatate (generic for Tessalon) right now, to keep me from coughing up a lung, and one of the side effects is that it makes me a bit dizzy. So I simply don’t drive within 8 hours of taking it. It’s made it awkward to function, because I have to choose between coughing or driving, but that’s better than crashing my car. I think I’d have to be pretty stupid to try to drive under the influence of this stuff, and it can’t pack close to the punch of Ambien.
To be fair, Jack, Ambien is known to cause confusion and sleep walking. Kennedy could have thought he was due at work.
I’m not saying it’s fine to drive under the influence of Ambien, Benadryl, alcohol, or any other drug that could impair a person’s ability to drive safely.
As Jeannine mentioned above, there have been many well-known cases of people who have gotten in their cars after taking Ambien — not “deliberately” or “knowingly”, but in a confused, sleep-walking-like condition. People who think they’re driving to pick up their kids at school, even though it’s the middle of the night, etc. So it’s not entirely outrageous to imagine that Kennedy might have been completely out of it, thinking he DID have a vote.
With Kennedy’s openness about his struggles with substance abuse and with his family history of alcoholism, it’s not crazy to assume that he might have been drunk. I was just shocked that Waldo would be so blithe about it, especially not knowing any of the facts.
Besides, having “rather a drinking history” in one’s family doesn’t automatically mean one will become a drunk driver…I’m probably hypersensitive about this since my family has rather a drinking history itself. ;-) I guess I’m just annoyed because the SCLM is having such a field day with this story, even with no proof whatsoever that Kennedy was drunk. It’s just another story about one Democrat’s personal foibles that is going to eclipse the ongoing horror of Republican outrages…as if one member of Congress having a car accident is more newsworthy than what’s going on with the war, the economy, the corruption scandals, etc.
When Republican Congressman Bill Janklow of South Dakota KILLED a motorcyclist while reckless driving just a couple of years ago, I don’t remember even a hundredth of the media coverage that this Patrick Kennedy accident (in which no one was injured) or the Cynthia McKinney scuffle has gotten in the SCLM. Arrrgh.
There’s having a history of drinking in one’s family and there’s being a Kennedy. It’d be like finding out the guy was having an affair. Is sleeping around genetic? Not that I know of. But, c’mon, he’s a Kennedy. :)
This just in: he’s going back to rehab.
BTW, here’s one of the articles I remember reading about sleep-driving after taking Ambien:
I know what you’re saying about the Kennedys, Waldo. I’ve actually never had any major fondness for the family, but I guess I’ve had sympathy and empathy for Patrick. I’ve met him twice and he has come off as incredibly shy, down-to-earth, and humble.
He was just a little kid when his dad was involved in the Chappaquidick scandal. His mother had a miscarriage in the glare of the scandal after the accident…so both of his parents were major drinkers when he was growing up. Then his brother got bone cancer and had a leg amputated. Then his dad ran for President in ’80. It can’t have been an easy childhood, despite the money in the extended family. Patrick has been great as a Congressman as a leader in seeking parity in health coverage for mental health, and he’s been really open with his struggles with addiction and bipolar disorder.
BTW, I guess he’s now going back into rehab and has been cited for a few minor traffic infractions. His public statement was pretty powerful, and I think his taking responsibility so quickly and so publicly is to be commended.
It’s got to suck to be a Kennedy.
Janklow’s accident had plenty of coverage. And it ended his career.
At the end of the day, I think that the only thing worse than Kennedy trying to vote at 3 in the morning would be him showing up at the correct time. He’s not mentally fit to hold office at the moment. It’s all well and good that he took responsibility and fessed up immediately. Good for him. But the fact remains that we should not have mentally ill people holding high office in the federal government. He should either resign or step out of his race for re-election.
Actually, Janklow getting convicted of manslaughter ended his career. But the accident itself never garnered the kind of news coverage that Kennedy’s fender bender has done in the national media.
I’m genuinely shocked that you would so blithely state that Patrick Kennedy was drunk without knowing the facts of the case. He denies having consumed alcohol. Staggering in itself does not equal drunkenness. I’m lucky that I’ve only been in one semi-serious car accident in my life (when I was 16 and completely sober) but I staggered out of the car and had a hard time communicating from shock.
Kennedy has said he was taking Ambien, a medication that has had many reported cases of people doing things in semi-conscious states and not remembering them afterward. Kennedy also suffers from bipolar disorder.
Could he have been driving in a manic state and lost control? Yes.
Could he have been driving after taking Ambien and not in control of his faculties? Yes.
Could he have been drunk driving? Yes.
All of these are possibilities, and drunk driving is not necessarily the most likely one, since he has already said he was taking Ambien.
Waldo posted at 11 PM last night and you can see that the reuters article made no mention of Ambien. When it first happened, early word was that Kennedy was drunk. Obviously, the news was wrong (surprise!).
Having spent my college years in Providence (Patrick went to my alma mater), I’ve heard stories about his drug problems and run ins with the law long before this. I wasn’t a bit surprised to read about this latest incident.
I don’t know nothin’ ’bout no Ambien. But the Kennedy family does have rather a drinking history. :)
I’ll have to read up more on this story this morning, eh?
How is driving under the influence of Ambien any better than driving under the influence of alcohol? Anybody taking Ambien is well aware of the fact that you’re not to get behind the wheel of a car on this stuff. He deliberately allowed himself to become intoxicated and then decided to drive a car.
If his bipolar disorder affects him to the extent that mania is causing him to crash cars then he is not mentally fit to hold his office.
The worst part is his bullshit lie about how he was ‘running late for a vote’ late at night when the House hadn’t been in session for hours. The accident it’s self is something that I could almost forgive. It’s the way he lied about it that reveals his character and says to me that this is not someone I think ought to be holding office with a ‘D’ next to his name.
There’s no plausible excuse for this debacle. He can get the hell out of Washington and bring Rep. William Jefferson with him.
Well, yeah. I’m on Benzonatate (generic for Tessalon) right now, to keep me from coughing up a lung, and one of the side effects is that it makes me a bit dizzy. So I simply don’t drive within 8 hours of taking it. It’s made it awkward to function, because I have to choose between coughing or driving, but that’s better than crashing my car. I think I’d have to be pretty stupid to try to drive under the influence of this stuff, and it can’t pack close to the punch of Ambien.
To be fair, Jack, Ambien is known to cause confusion and sleep walking. Kennedy could have thought he was due at work.
I’m not saying it’s fine to drive under the influence of Ambien, Benadryl, alcohol, or any other drug that could impair a person’s ability to drive safely.
As Jeannine mentioned above, there have been many well-known cases of people who have gotten in their cars after taking Ambien — not “deliberately” or “knowingly”, but in a confused, sleep-walking-like condition. People who think they’re driving to pick up their kids at school, even though it’s the middle of the night, etc. So it’s not entirely outrageous to imagine that Kennedy might have been completely out of it, thinking he DID have a vote.
With Kennedy’s openness about his struggles with substance abuse and with his family history of alcoholism, it’s not crazy to assume that he might have been drunk. I was just shocked that Waldo would be so blithe about it, especially not knowing any of the facts.
Besides, having “rather a drinking history” in one’s family doesn’t automatically mean one will become a drunk driver…I’m probably hypersensitive about this since my family has rather a drinking history itself. ;-) I guess I’m just annoyed because the SCLM is having such a field day with this story, even with no proof whatsoever that Kennedy was drunk. It’s just another story about one Democrat’s personal foibles that is going to eclipse the ongoing horror of Republican outrages…as if one member of Congress having a car accident is more newsworthy than what’s going on with the war, the economy, the corruption scandals, etc.
When Republican Congressman Bill Janklow of South Dakota KILLED a motorcyclist while reckless driving just a couple of years ago, I don’t remember even a hundredth of the media coverage that this Patrick Kennedy accident (in which no one was injured) or the Cynthia McKinney scuffle has gotten in the SCLM. Arrrgh.
There’s having a history of drinking in one’s family and there’s being a Kennedy. It’d be like finding out the guy was having an affair. Is sleeping around genetic? Not that I know of. But, c’mon, he’s a Kennedy. :)
This just in: he’s going back to rehab.
BTW, here’s one of the articles I remember reading about sleep-driving after taking Ambien:
http://tinyurl.com/z4l3s
I know what you’re saying about the Kennedys, Waldo. I’ve actually never had any major fondness for the family, but I guess I’ve had sympathy and empathy for Patrick. I’ve met him twice and he has come off as incredibly shy, down-to-earth, and humble.
He was just a little kid when his dad was involved in the Chappaquidick scandal. His mother had a miscarriage in the glare of the scandal after the accident…so both of his parents were major drinkers when he was growing up. Then his brother got bone cancer and had a leg amputated. Then his dad ran for President in ’80. It can’t have been an easy childhood, despite the money in the extended family. Patrick has been great as a Congressman as a leader in seeking parity in health coverage for mental health, and he’s been really open with his struggles with addiction and bipolar disorder.
BTW, I guess he’s now going back into rehab and has been cited for a few minor traffic infractions. His public statement was pretty powerful, and I think his taking responsibility so quickly and so publicly is to be commended.
It’s got to suck to be a Kennedy.
Janklow’s accident had plenty of coverage. And it ended his career.
At the end of the day, I think that the only thing worse than Kennedy trying to vote at 3 in the morning would be him showing up at the correct time. He’s not mentally fit to hold office at the moment. It’s all well and good that he took responsibility and fessed up immediately. Good for him. But the fact remains that we should not have mentally ill people holding high office in the federal government. He should either resign or step out of his race for re-election.
Actually, Janklow getting convicted of manslaughter ended his career. But the accident itself never garnered the kind of news coverage that Kennedy’s fender bender has done in the national media.