Why are so many here on DU lining up to crucify Patrick Kennedy?

[saracat]

I have seen threads calling him selfish spoiled and completely denouncing him. Some have even called for his resignation! How exactly does that differ from the GOP endless Kennedy bashing? Why do so many jump in to eat our own? The GOP wpould never allow this to happen to one of theirs. I agree his accident and his checking into rehab do not look good but people jumping to all kinds of conclusions and refusing to give him any benefit of the doubt withour access to any facts is deplorable.It is no wonder that we can't win elections with such a "holier than thou" attitude.

[Stand and Fight]

1. Where are these posters?

I've not seen anything but empathy and some sympathy, and rightly so at that.

[saracat]

4. Check it out. I just replied to one.

I think rules don't let me link. Sorry.

[MrModerate]

6. On another thread, some guy with pretty serious projection problems,

A history of addicts in his family, and really fast typing skills has been popping up in some of the Kennedy threads. It doesn't seem to the the mainstream of thought.

[rman]

49. drawing conclusions in spite of not knowing

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1107970&mesg_id=1107970

[BOSSHOG]

2. Not me

He needs help. He recognizes that. He's getting help. Good for him.

[Missy M]

3. Thank you for saying it....

I agree with you 100%. Joe Scarborough stood up for Patrick Kennedy better than so many on DU. He said if Patrick said it was the Ambien, then he believes it.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

5. telling the truth is a problem? He admitted he has a problem and he

is getting treatment. What is wrong with that? Nothing.

[xultar]

7. I will admit I was skeptical. But if a Rethug had done it we would have

been screaming from the rafters how we knew his story was fulla shit.

[The_Casual_Observer]

10. Not only that, but many would be crucifying the rethug bastard too.

[Lindacooks]

46. The difference is, the Kennedys and Democrats in general

don't go around screaming about obeying the law and judging others. Repukes are so holier-than-thou and judgmental, that when they make a mistake we HAVE to point out the hypocrisy. There's no hypocrisy here.

[killerbush]

56. I' m not crucifying Kennedy, but he is a congressman

We supposedly hold him to a higher standard. I don't give a flip if he's a Kennedy or not. 80% of this story is name recognition. In order to slam Republicans, we need to hold Democrats accountable as well, maybe even more so.

[OneBlueSky]

8. in the scheme of things, it's a non-issue . . .

which means, of course, that the corporate media will run with it for the next year or so . . . maybe longer . . .

[peacetalksforall]

9. Certain things that happen out of the blue require more constraint

prior to jumping to conclusions.

[secretmouse]

11. There But For The Grace Of God...

..go I! I wouldn't dream of dissing Patrick Kennedy; he has always been candid about his addiction and mental issues...and I know from personal experience that taking Ambien affects your memory.

Did any Repug diss Limbaugh? Did they tell him to get off the air? No, they had his back and that's what we need to do too!Maybe we could use this to close ranks and present a united Democratic front for once!!!

[KoKo]

55. Even Conservative Blogger A. Sullivan had nice comments about Patrick

Good for Patrick



Yes, it's bad if U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy got preferential treatment by the cops after a driving accident caused by substance abuse of some kind. There seem to be inconsistencies to his story. But he has acknowledged his addiction problem; he is going into rehab; and Kennedys have human rights too. They're human beings as well as celebrities and politicians. I guess I'm biased because I'm old friends with some members of the family. But I have deeply admired how some Kennedys have sustained sobriety. It's not easy for addicts. And as a society, we should do more to support sobriety and less to demonize and criminalize addicts. Patrick deserves no legal special treatment; he shouldn't be let off the hook if he did something wrong. But he also needs help. I hope he gets it.

http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/2006/05/good_for_patric.html

[BlueManDude]

12. He's not a particularly impressive man

he's only in congress because of his name. the party could do better.

[saracat]

15. Really? Know his voting record , do you?

On what do you base that? Have you heard him speak in person? I think it says something that the voters reelect him and he doesn't live in Mass. The voters clearly see something more "impressive "in him than you do.

[BlueManDude]

37. The every two years drug/alcohol faux pas are getting a little stupid

dontcha think? He should resign and get himself healthy on his own time.

Look - I've proudly voted for Ted 3 times and will continue to do so as long as he runs but that doesn't mean I check my brain at the door when it comes to Patrick's foolishness.

Yes his voting record is fine but that doesn't necessarily make him a guy to be proud of. He's not real bright - that's just the reality.

[Missy M]

20. And why is Bush the president?

[BlueManDude]

35. that's kinda my point. n/t

[haab]

21. so what if he got in with his name

Others get into Congress because they have the financial support....


Which is worst?

[BlueManDude]

39. and his name is the reason why this is a story

so maybe he needs to get his shit together and stop dragging his family's name thru the mud. you're a kennedy - have some freaking self respect or get out of congress.

[saracat]

42. My aren't you perfect? Not only do you think more of the "party"

than Patrick but you are also more capable of protecting the "Kennedy " name. Isn't this a bit self rightuous? But I am sure you have contributed far more effort to the Party than Patrick. After all , he has only been elected to Congress several times and you have??????? And I am sure that you are far more aware of the respect due the Kennedys. After all Patrick is only a son and nephew. What would he know that a complete stranger doesn't?

[BlueManDude]

50. It's his job to honor the family name - not mine

and where did say I was perfect? That's a pretty childish response. I can tell you this, if I were serving you in congress I wouldn't be caught on tape shoving airport security personnel or having drunken incidents aboard boats or crashing my car into security barriers and not even realizing that's what I'm doing or checking into rehab every six months.

When do you say enuf is enuf with this guy? The DCIA resigns under a cloud and I gotta go to my website home newspage and see NOTHING about it but what I do see is a huge headline about Patrick Kennedy and his inability to act like a responsible adult human being. Please. Enuf is enuf.

You're not a bad person Patrick, but you shouldn't be in congress.

[saracat]

60. As long as he casts decent votes and proposes sensible legislation

he belongs in Congress. Thank goodness the voters see things differently! Patrick Kennedy's public admission of his problem and his taking responsibility for his actions shows far more maturity than the response of those who think themselves better as a result of not having a problem. I can only hope that such people be shown the same understanding as they face difficult situations in their lives.

"I can tell you this, if I were serving you in congress I wouldn't be caught on tape shoving airport security personnel or having drunken incidents aboard boats or crashing my car into security barriers and not even realizing that's what I'm doing or checking into rehab every six months."

The thing is, you are NOT serving in Congress, and are unlikely to face any of the circumstances that involve Patrick.You will never know the burden of being a Kennedy either. Your ability to project what "you" would do as an elected Congressman is irrelevant as you cannot compare circumstances. I say "enuf is enuf" with this kind of unwarranted condemnation.It smacks of a bigotry toward mental health problems.I appreciated that the final quote of Patrick's press conference was to ask for passage of the Mental Health Bill.
Good may come out of this yet!

[BlueManDude]

64. Did it ever occur to you that perhaps

his high pressure and high profile job is contributing to his substance abuse and depression problems?

[GymGeekAus]

24. Oh bunk.

He is in Congress because he ran, and he won--not simply because of his name. The party could do better perhaps, I don't know--it's not my district, I have other things to worry about. The point isn't what the party could do, the point is what the party does.

And let's not forget who the party is.

[BlueManDude]

38. I am thinking of the party and the party does not need any more

of this man's absurd behaviour.

[GymGeekAus]

45. What the party needs....

is for people to stop thinking they are the manifestation of the party. :) We vote in primaries to establish compromise, thanks.

But by all means, share with me examples of his absurd behavior. He's not my congresscritter, but I like to hear about the Kennedys.

I bet my behavior is more absurd.

[BlueManDude]

52. Car crash on 4/15/06 outside a CVS pharmacy in RI,

he shoves a female airport security worker in 2000, the Coast Guard is called to escort a woman from his rented yacht, said yacht is found abandoned with thousands of $$$ in damage.

I don't know you, maybe your behavuious is more absurd that Patrick's - but you are not representing the Kennedy family or hundreds of thousands of constituents who have entrusted you with leadership. You may be the most wild irresponsible guy on the planet GymGeek but I bet that kind of responsibility would change your behavious a little.

Look the guy has problems. To his credit he's admitted these problems but maybe the best place for him right now is not the US congress?

[GymGeekAus]

63. Certainly there's some info to consider.

So what are the primary dates in Rhode Island?

[OzarkDem]

26. You're wrong

He has an impressive legislative record for someone his age.

[guidod]

33. WRONG. He's in office

because he was elected to that office.

[BlueManDude]

36. A Kennedy wins in a Dem district in RI - stop the presses. n/t

[stray cat]

13. What would the attitude be from DU if it were Dick Cheney?

I don't have enough info to judge one way or another but I am not about to have a double standard for democrats and republicans - if something is wrong its wrong, if it deserves compassion in deserves compassion.

[saracat]

16. Double standard? Who is asking for that?

We don't know the details on Patrick and many are jumping to conclusions. But I feel we should at least show more constraint in our evaluation of one of our own than we would of a member of the GOP! We should not be so quick to eat our own. We damage ourselves. No comment would be better. After all, the GOP will attack anyway.

[CTyankee]

17. Cheney is a thuggish, lying, hypocritical SOB

He is responsible for a lot of crap happening in this country today. As such, I don't have much sympathy or compassion for him. If that's a double standard, well, I stand guilty I guess...

[the observationist]

14. Rep. Kennedy's situation should keep us all a little more humble. n/t

[izzie]

18. If he is in the paper he must have done it? I do not think so

To many people taking to many pills I do think. Just think we are out on the road with them all the time. Lets wait and see what he really did.

[stillcool]

19. one of us? Please don't include me in that...

bunch...unless you're refering to the human race. Those Arrogant, Self Righteous, Small-minded, Prigs are loathesome slugs, slithering where they can, in an effort to slime anything within their reach. Inhumane, thoughtless dolts, regurgitating whatever morsels of bile, they've barely digested.

[yellowcanine]

22. It is good that he didn't let it drag on. By getting treatment he

minimizes the negative fall out. How many people in this country have an alcohol problem? And he didn't pull any * bullshit about "I have a problem but I kin handle it myself in my manly way.

[GymGeekAus]

23. How about an attempt to answer?

I'll give it a shot.

Patrick Kennedy, based upon the reports I've looked at, was taking Ambien.

Anyone in here familiar with Ambien? It's a sleep-aid, a very potent one at that. I'm HIV+, 7 years known now but probably longer (I suspect I had some false-negative tests). I take a drug cocktail, in fact I've taken four different ones. Most of these drug cocktails have a lot of side-effects, including depression, fatigue, indigestion, nausea, diahrea, and insomnia. I'm not very good with side-effects, so sometimes I get my doctor to write me a script for the ones which are interfering with my life.

I have a script for Ambien right now. I don't take it currently, because I'm going through a good stage of tolerance with my medications. I'm not suffering from insomnia right now, probably because watching all the crap going on in our country is exhausting and so I don't need much help to get to sleep.

A lot of people have very strange relationships to drugs, in particular with drugs which they have no experience. Ambien has a recently discovered and discussed side effect which might be called "sleep-walking" but would be more accurately called "sleep-living." You can literally start and complete certain activities while you are basically asleep, going through patterns of behavior that you really should be awake for. My boyfriend has actually cooked dinner and eaten it while asleep once, for example. Ambien can create windows of time where you engaged in activities, were not aware that they were happening, and had no memory of them after the fact.

This isn't the fault of the prescription itself, by the way. The pill bottle quite clearly says not to operate machinery, and I'm pretty sure it says to take before you go to bed, meaning "go lie down." However, our country has a very flippant attitude towards prescription medication. It's practically written on our psyche that medical drug prescriptions aren't bad for you. Some people don't think of medical drugs as drugs at all. Hah hah!

Point? If someone takes Ambien and has a reaction like this, then there are an awful lot of circumstances that need to be considered before one passes judgement. The pill is prescribed as a sleep-aid (not a pain-killer or a mood-altering drug), and this side-effect is not well-understood or documented.

I suspect people are jumping to conclusions because of their personal relationships with drugs, medical or otherwise. I'm a child of the eighties (born 1973, graduated 1991, that makes my childhood the eighties, don't argue with me). I went through eight years of Nancy Reagan demonizing drugs moment after moment after moment. As a consequence, I have an innate fear of drug-use, an innate prejudice against drugs. However, I have recognized this bias.

I do not consider self-awareness to be a commonplace trait. In fact, I think self-deception is much more prevalent. People have knee-jerk reactions because they're afraid, because they're confused, because they're ignorant, because they have another prejudice lying in wait, or for any of a hundred other reasons. Each case is different.

But what is common to them all, in my opinion, is a lack of connection to the experience that Patrick Kennedy is having right now. We don't know what is going on in his life. We have a system in place already to get to the root of the matter, and that process is underway. How would anyone else be more qualified to decide "what happened" than those we entrust with finding out?

This is a red herring issue, people. We're not qualified for or entrusted with rendering judgement here.

[JanusAscending]

28. EXCELLANT!!

Welcome to DU !!:hi:

[Minnesota Libra]

25. Yeah, like nothing else is going on in the world these days so we.........

....have so much time on our hands that we can focus on whether ONE OF OUR OWN was loopy on prescription drugs or possibly drunk too. Did Kennedy get preferential treatment?:shrug: Yeah, probably, but so what???:shrug:

Not like we don't have an entire administration being given preferential treatment these days. Kennedy didn't kill anyone but this administration has killed 2400 people and counting.:cry:

:wtf:Come on people get your priorities straight!!!:banghead:

[ChiciB1]

27. I'm Not Crucifying Him... I'm Glad He Came Forward....

but should WE here look the other way?? I just heard that the officer's who responding have been re-assigned. Now, I don't KNOW if it's just FEAR of the WH or IF the police just don't want to look like they are covering up, but what is done is done!

This in NO WAY compares to ALL the scandals that have been ongoing since these corrupt evil idiots set their fat asses in the WH, but given the climate in D.C.... well, I think I would have tried to keep a keen eye out. Dems surely KNOW that it would only take a little tip of the hat for all out MSM-emming of them!!

I do wonder what other Dems in Congress are thinking right about now. I'm SURE they aren't jumping for joy!

[GymGeekAus]

29. Came Forward?

Came forward as what, a person with insomnia?

[Breeze54]

30. so ?? Did everyone forget about Cheney shooting a 'friend'..

in the face and NOT reporting it for 15 or so hours??

Or RushLimpDick's escapades with street drugs??

:shrug:

Kennedy stood up and went on national tv and announced his mistake!

The day after......not 18 months later!!

Good for him!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Monday CBS News (.pdf) released a survey showing 71 percent of Americans
believing the country is headed in the wrong direction and just 33 percent of
Americans approving of President Bush, an all-time low for a CBS News poll
but well within the range of recent polling.

But one of the more interesting pieces of data -- one that should really scare
GOP strategists in Washington -- comes on page 3 of the .pdf:

One in five Republicans think the Democrats would do a better job
seeing to it that gas prices are low.

Even 31 percent of conservatives want Republicans out of power.

http://www.mydd.com/

;)

[barb162]

41. good points

[Generator]

31. This story is so unimportant to me I can't even bother

to click on the many links for the details. I guess he took drugs and had a car crash or drank or something. Whatever. Another Kennedy with problems-BIG NEWS! Or he OH MY GOD-lied about it. Wow. That's important. That's irony. Meanwhile, Bushco is working at destroying the world-just another day at the office. I sit here stunned by the world waiting for war in Iran or another terrorist attack to justify it. I sit here waiting for Rove to be indicted or something to happen to show there's justice in the world. A Kennedy scandal is like something I would have cared about in 1994. I think my world is a little different now. And ONCE AGAIN I'm so grateful I don't watch cable news. It's a beautiful world missing shit that is manipulated to affect me but doesn't. I like my bubble.

[cassiepriam]

32. Many of us fall for the repug propaganda:

A Dem sneezes, and it is a crime.
A repug commits a crime, it is only a sneeze.

[AtomicKitten]

34. Kennedy has taken the appropriate steps IMO.

There is nothing more he can do other than not take drugs and drive. This is a non-issue in light of the myriad of GOP crimes de jour.

I'll leave the bashing to the Republicans.

[Dr Fate]

40. Many "Liberals" simply hate winning anything. n/t

n/t

[Jade Fox]

53. Too true......

They take it as a sign that, as a loser in a corrupt world, you are proved to be a good guy. Thus the opposite is that anyone who wins is automatically corrupt.

[Vadem]

43. I sent him my prayers and best wishes and a group hug......n/t

[wiley]

44. We thought he had Rush Limbaugh Disease

It was a knee-jerk reaction. Now that we are more informed of the facts, it turns out he's human. And deserving of more compassion and love than Rush Limbaugh will ever deserve.

[incapsulated]

47. I'm on your side, sara.

:hi:

[saracat]

62. Thank you!

[LaPera]

48. We know why, lets not thread more...and give them fuel.

[zanne]

51. And Sunday is coming.

The Patrick Kennedy thing is just the distraction of the week. Gee, I wonder what they'll be talking about on all the talk shows Sunday?

[Jade Fox]

54. This board has picked up a lot of high post count trolls....

is what I think. We've seen them on the Mckinney threads and the Duke University threads and others IMO.

DU has become a powerful force in the world. And we are picking up sophisticated, dedicated trolls.

[Zynx]

58. The sort of thinking borders on Stalinesque paranoia.

I'm sorry, but I don't believe that there are dozens of trolls with thousands of posts. It would take very very very sick people to do that.

[Jade Fox]

59. Sorry you disagree....

but Stalinesque paranoia? :rofl:

By the way, in the past, trolls with over 1000 posts have outed themselves proudly here on DU.

[saracat]

61. And you don't think that there are some very very sick people who do that?

Trust me, we have had some famous outings on this board. They do do this and they are sick! Whatever.

[Zynx]

57. Well, the fact is that the Kennedy's do come from a lot of money and

have a lot of problems that have come from being so privileged.