Nice Comment on Patrick Kennedy by Conservative Blogger A. Sullivan.

[KoKo]

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

[KoKo]

1. Kick for nice comment from Conservative...

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. The Kennedys got dissed in a very subtle british way.

Here's how I read it:

"I guess I'm biased because I'm old friends with some members of the family. (Which means, Sully is setting himself up as an authority on the family.) But I have deeply admired how some Kennedys have sustained sobriety. It's not easy for addicts. (Suggesting that the family has some genetic flaw.) And as a society, we should do more to support sobriety and less to demonize and criminalize addicts" (This would be the "boom-boom." He's not being charitable at all. Just twisting the knife in their backs.)

[Grateful for Hope]

3. I agree with this

The Kennedys are much more than simply "addicts". JFK comes to mind.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. Not quite the reaction I was looking for...

I just think Sully was trying to insult the clan as a whole. To suggest the Kennedys actually have some inner genetic flaw, I thought, was farfetched and part of the insulting nature of his comments.

However, since you opened the door, I guess the Kennedy family is like the families in the Octavia books? Incredibly powerful, but their superhuman traits also leave them vulnerable to self-destructive behavior?

[Grateful for Hope]

5. Addiction is a very common problem

and it is not something that should be used as the sole descriptor of anyone, let alone an entire family lineage.

The Bush family, for instance, is riddled with incidents involving drugs and alcohol. Yet, we do not hear the Bush family described in terms of "addicts".

This is what I meant. And, no, I don't think that the Kennedys have some inner genetic flaw, but, I do think that pressure to achieve might be conducive to a tendency to self-medicate.

Edit: typo

[H2O Man]

6. We need to move in

the direction of being a more compassionate society. That, of course, is what Patrick's father and uncles set as a goal. Probably no American was able to articulate this need better than RFK in 1967-8, and no Senator has done more of the work in the federal government than Ted.

I enjoyed this OP. It may be true that a conservative didn't say it perfectly, but I am encouraged when I read this attempt, or when I see Joe Scarborough put Tucker Carlson's nasty attack on Patrick in check on MSNBC.

[KyuzoGator]

7. Nice to see a Con accept the Rush Limbaugh defense.

You know, when you do something stupid (like sending your maid to buy your drugs in bulk or saying on national television that Donovan McNabb is overrated because he's black)...just blame addiction a few days later.