What Now?

That's what a lot of people are asking following Patrick Kennedy's car crash last night. Here's a key portion of Drudge's report:

According to a letter sent by Officer Greg Baird, acting chairman of the USCP FOP, the wreck took place at approximately 2:45 a.m. Thursday when Kennedy's car, operating with its running lights turned off, narrowly missed colliding with a Capitol Police cruiser and smashed into a security barricade at First and C streets Southeast.

"The driver exited the vehicle and he was observed to be staggering," Baird's letter states. Officers approached the driver, who declared to them he was a Congressman and was late to a vote. The House had adjourned nearly three hours before this incident. It was Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy from Rhode Island.

While it's possible that we'll never know for certain, it'd take a ton of partisan kool-aid to think that Patrick Kennedy wasn't drinking last night. His car's headlights weren't on. He almost hits a police cruiser. It's almost 3am. And he tells the Capitol Police that he's late for a vote. Factor in that he's sought treatment for substance/alcohol abuse in the past and I'm not buying into him being sober at that time of night.

That said, I don't want to villainize Mr. Kennedy because alcoholism is a disease. While it's mandatory that he be held accountable, it's proper for him to get treatment if it's found that he wasn't sober last night. I also think that it's wrong to even ask if this is like Chappaquiddick.

I think that it's fair to ask why the Capitol Police didn't check Mr. Kennedy's sobriety last night. It seems like a simple thing to do.

UPDATE: Here's what the AP is reporting :

Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness.

Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. His initial statement said, "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident."

Later, however, he issued a longer statement saying the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan on Tuesday to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis, an inflammation of the stomach and intestines.

Kennedy said he returned to his Capitol Hill home on Wednesday evening after a final series of votes in Congress and took "prescribed" amounts of Phenergan and Ambien, another prescribed drug that he occasionally takes to fall asleep.

"Some time around 2:45 a.m., I drove the few blocks to the Capitol Complex believing I needed to vote," his second statement said. "Apparently, I was disoriented from the medication."

I just looked up Phenergan and I'm getting more red flags on this. Here's what I found:

What is the most important information I should know about Phenergan?

• Call your doctor immediately if you experience uncontrollable movements of your eyes, lips, tongue, face, arms, or legs. These could be early signs of dangerous side effects.

• Use caution when driving, operating machinery, or performing other hazardous activities. Phenergan may cause dizziness or drowsiness. If you experience dizziness or drowsiness, avoid these activities.

The doctor who prescribed Phenergan would've told Kennedy not to drive while taking this medication. I can't believe that a doctor would give a patient this type of medicatiton without that warning. I'm curious how Kennedy is still awake 3 hours after taking this sleep-inducing medication. That's another red flag to me.

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Posted Thursday, May 4, 2006 9:18 PM

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