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Patrick Kennedy
Off topic, but ....
1. The Smoking Gun has the police report. Whatever he had in him, he must have been completely plastered. Weaving to where he hit curbs and went into the opposing lanes of traffic, not pulling over when the squad put on its lights, crashing into a barricade....
2. Checked the DC Code and yep, driving under the influence of any drug, including a prescription one, is as much DUI as is driving under the influence of liquor. So the statement "I wasn't under the influence of alcohol -- it was prescription drugs" is actually a confession to DUI.
UPDATE: Riverdog sent the following comment, which for some reason was blocked by the spam filter:
"The two drugs are Phenergan, which is an artificial opiate, I believe, and is given only under direct medical supervision when necessary to calm a bad attack of colitis, usually. I had it recently in the ER in Chandler to reduce a bad colitis/bleeding episode. The drug hit me like a ton of bricks and I felt as if I was floating. It is a major central nervous system depressant.
The second drug is Ambien, a new sleep-inducing drug.
Phenergan and Ambien are NEVER prescribed together, according to my daughter, who, as a third-year medical student, looked it up for me. Ambien actually has a primary warning to never prescribe it with CNS depressants.
The Junior Bloviator HAD to have been "doctor shopping" to get two different doctors to prescribe the two different depressant drugs. Hmmmm....where have I heard about "doctor shopping" lately?
Oh, yes. It was the left-wing talk shows lambasting Rush Limbaugh about his alleged doctor shopping. I wonder of these same lambastors will now excoriate Kennedy for the same thing?
The other thing is that addicts usually only take these depressants drugs to counteract a severe high from a stimulant drug such as methamphetamine. I would bet a serious amount of moolah that Kennedy checked in to rehab not to kick any bad habits, but so that he couldn't be tested for meth for the two to three weeks that it takes to get it out of his system.
Oh, and BTW, there are some interesting details in that "confession": such as hallucinations. The guy drove and put the citizens of DeeCee in danger while undergoing a self-induced hallucination.
It seems to me that transcends driving misdemeanors, and might rise to the level of a felony. Perhaps DeeCee has a felonious Reckless Endangerment law? It would have to be an indictable misdemeanor if not a felony.
Does that fit "high crimes and misdemeanors"?
2 Comments | Leave a comment
No surprise here, since he's a hallowed Kennedy. They are better than us and its impertinent of us to even ask! My question is, was there any independent contracting going on. I would be SHOCKED to learn there was any quid-pro-quo deals taking place.
re Special Treament for DUI
"It happens, live with it."
(post # 3 at http://glocktalk.com/showthread.php?&threadid=509862)
A West Des Moines officer clocked a car at 99 mph in a 55 mph zone. The officer pulled over the car and learned it was an unmarked Des Moines police car. Police said Des Moines police narcotics Officer Stewart Drake was driving.
"He could smell some alcohol and he had bloodshot eyes," said West Des Moines police spokesman Lt. Mike Ficcola.
West Des Moines police called in the Des Moines Police Department's supervisor on duty, who came to the scene and picked up the Des Moines officer.
"Apparently, he had an attitude with the officer, so he thought instead of writing him a ticket and going through that, that it would be better served to call Des Moines and have Des Moines deal with him internally," Ficcola said.
"The watch commander on duty came out to that location and had a conversation with the West Des Moines officer, and subsequently ended up taking that officer home," said Des Moines police spokesman Sgt. Todd Dykstra.
The West Des Moines officer did not test Drake for alcohol or ticket him.
"Traffic stops, arrests, for the most part, is officer discretion," Ficcola said.
"The officer was not on duty, he was speeding excessively and he was driving a city vehicle. As a result, those actions are inappropriate and the administration took the actions they felt was appropriate for the situation," Dykstra said.
Des Moines Police Chief Bill McCarthy suspended Drake for two days and stripped him of his city-owned take-home car.
"The officer has served his two-day suspension, and the take-home vehicle has been taken away from him, so he no longer has a city vehicle to drive, and in our minds he served his punishment," Dykstra said.