Cops told Pat K was at watering hole before crash

I guess a crazed maniac behind the wheel of a 2000-3000 lb hunk of metal is of no interest to you to keep off the roads.

...by the name of George W. Bush get popped for DUI some time ago?

Kennedy lied, probably because he was sick and trying to hide it. He has since admitted to having a substance problem and is in rehab.

... taking out a cop car. You are really getting pathetic.

Admitting to being a junkie does not absolve him of his responsibility under the law.

...because he didn't almost hit a cop car. Uh-huh.

Nice spin, as usual and the personal attack is a nice touch, as usual.

DUI isn't any less of an offense if you don't hit anything, Evie. It's based solely on the level of alcohol/drugs in your system.

... you have NO basis to claim otherwise, as even the arrest report only states a DUI. Hardly the description of Kennedy's degree of inebriation that was documented in the police report, and his supposed admission of being so out of it he doesn't remember a thing. Alcohol has been known to cause blackouts too ... especially when combined with Ambien, phenegran AND narcotic painkillers.

No it's not what you do, but it IS what you DO. Kennedy is a garden variety junkie who is playing up the sympathy factor of his "sickness". He just got out of rehab. Somehow one accident after that wasn't enough for him to stay off the roads and out of the bars.

.....when someone driving drunk is ''a crazed maniac behind the wheel of a 2000-3000 lb hunk of metal'' and when he isn't. (Hint -- he always is. I just enjoy watching you apologize for Bush.)

Irrespective of political party, of course.

... when they have red watery eyes, slurred speech and are unstable on their feet, driving the wrong way with their lights off at almost 3am in the morning not noticing that a cop is following them and claiming to be on their way to vote when the last vote held was six hours earlier. Then barely miss a cop car and slam into a barricade.

If you can't see the difference between that and someone pulled over for a driving violation and pleading to a misdemeanor, I can't help you. A large number of DUI's are handed out to people who do nothing more than minor traffic infractions or even nothing but seen leaving the parking lot of a bar when a cop is bored on a slow night. It is irresponsible to drive drunk, but I don't believe that anywhere near all DUI's constitute "crazed maniacs" on the roads. Bush was given no special treatment for the way DUI's were handled at that time. You and I both know that, but your view of Bush clouds your judgment.

...has probably saved countless lives. If you can't see that, then it's not my judgment that's clouded.

Continue to make excuses for Bush's DUI (make a couple for Cheney too since he has TWO of them) and I'll keep laughing.

... and destroyed a few too. I don't have any statistics but I've linked before to a plethora of studies demonstrating that other things impair driving ability as much or more as having a BAL of 0.8 (DUI in many states these days). The vast majority of DUI deaths and serious accidents are from repeat BLOTTO offenders with much higher BAL's. Kind of like Kennedy, who should at the very least be taken off the roads after this last incident.

This has nothing to do with Bush. I've been consistent with my opinions on DUI in general here. They really should concentrate on putting away the habitual offenders (and why Patrick wasn't subjected to a breatholyzer and/or a pee test after filling out his accident report for the RI accident is beyond me. No sober person writes like that!). A person who is impaired enough to be driving in the manner that Kennedy was driving should be behind bars or in some pretrial diversion program if appropriate. TTBOMK, Bush got caught once, there is NO indication that he was so totally blotto that he didn't remember the incident in the morning, and it never happened again. Patrick is 38 y.o. and has had the best rehabilitation and therapy that money can buy.

Too bad you can't buy character.
http://www.projo.com/lifebeat/markpatinkin/projo_20060511_mark11.1c90a823.html

Keep laughing. You look silly doing it.

oh i forgot its the killer kennedys who do that and you think highly of them so telling.

and no insult intended josh dont want you to be upset again.
you aproval of woman killers
and woman abusers clinton says more about some people much better than i could ever say

If you mean Laura, then the body count matches Teddy's:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/laura.asp

I hope if Aimee ever is involved in such an accident, nobody would be so low as even try to compare her to Kennedy.

not like your drunken kennedy your man did and wait till next night.

bbut then there special there kennedys your kind of people.
shuch high standards you show josh no wonder the democratic partys a shambles no one has any morals look what they have and your a supporter oh how sad
but then remember you work for us

And you both know what you can do with your attacks on me and your disgusting comments about my daughter.

I am out of this thread.

eveie said she hopes it never happens to aime and you claim thats an attack no wonder you get outraged you misinterpit what people say.
but when you make outragious statements and are called about ot you cry "your insulting me your atacking me geesh

Pointing out that members of your party are also capable of irresponsible and even deadly behavior behind the wheel is crossing the line.

I get it, don't worry.

How below the belt the swipe at the President's wife for an ACCIDENT when she was 17 was to make some point. And if you look back, you will see that I didn't attack your family -- I wished that your family never has such a tragedy or encounters such small minded political sniping if it ever did.

There are literally tens of thousands of people in this country who have probably caused the death of someone in an accident that involved no alcohol, etc. Many if not most of those were true accidents, as Laura's was by all accounts. Your comkparison of her "body count" with Ted Kennedy's was just uncalled for.

If you want to excuse Kennedy and claim he doesn't fit the description of "crazed maniac" by comparing this incident with Bush's DUI, go ahead. It demonstrates that it is all about party for you. Do yourself a favor and leave Laura's teenage tragedy out of it.

Nobody is saying that DUI is not serious. BUT, if you are going to compare anyone that has ever had a DUI (no, I haven't) with Kennedy, you are mistaken. Like everything else, there ARE degrees. Not remembering (if that is to be believed) and all the factors of that incident, vs. being stopped by the cops after having a few beers DOES have levels of impairment. Just as someone that hasn't had enough sleep is a menace on the road, or someone who is rushing to some important meeting and drives like a maniac to get there, etc. You seem to be confusing my acknowledgement of these levels with excusing or dismissing Bush's DUI. I'm not.

and note the adequate short comeback post to Mark. Of course there is no comparison to Ted's, as Laura was not DUI, even though she was neglect by violating the law in running a stop sign which resulted in a death.

The hecklings/hassles/admonishments with zingers like being sickening, and posting disgusting are expected....aren't you a Democrat?

I'm not minimizing Kennedy's offense. YOU are minimizing George W. Bush's. He was also operating "two tons of steel" you know; the way you try to downplay it you'd think he'd been pulled over for DUI on a moped!

And Ted Kennedy's incident was an accident too; IF he was driving (which is in doubt by some theories), he didn't drive off that bridge on purpose.

IF he was driving? WHO cares! He was in the car and left a woman to die.

I didn't bring up George Bush, you did. Stick to Patrick Kennedy rather than throwing in irrelevant comparisons.

Kennedy's situation is in the here and now. He is a danger to society and should have been put in a jail not driven home that night. Rehab for him, should be mandatory under the auspices of the judicial system.

And Robie, butt out. This has NOTHING to do with Josh being a Democrat.

My post was to Josh and I don't take or will never take orders from you, and especially from anyone who cannot be civil.

I made an attempt to wash the impact of your uncalled for zingers/insults by indicating he is a Democrat. An educated person, such as you claim to be, should be able to articulate without the insults and zingers. One civil reply to Josh should be adequte instead of trolling/bating. Why do you have to denigrate.
I could have said in my post to Josh, ''consider the source'', but that would not be civil, or would it for those remarks of ''being sickening'' and ''posting disgusting''. How ladylike your are..not. At least Josh posts in a civil manner.

Josh's postings in this thread have been far from civil. Worry about your own posting style and I'll worry about mine, OK?

get off it he walked away didnt go get help, if he wasnt driveing why didnt he?
hes a kennedy a drunken bum and you still wont see it geesh

....only to see if Evie would apply the "crazed maniac at the wheel" language to one of her own party. As expected, she tried to downplay it into a minor infraction.

Drunk driving is a serious offense regardless of the political party of the person doing it.

There is no evidence that Bush was a crazed maniac behind the wheel that day. Not all DUI's are alike. QED.

You bring up Bush to excuse Patrick Kennedy. You brought up Laura to be petty is all I can think.

the car -- that he and another unnamed aide were in the front seat and both escaped, while she was sleeping in the back seat and they didn't realize she was in the car until later. The point no one on the right seems willing to acknowledge is that anytime anyone (including GWB) drives under the influence, a positive result is possible. To argue "but at least he didn't kill anyone" is making a virtue of pure good luck.

BTW, I have deleted some of the more egregious personal attacks from this thread, largely based on whether there's any other useful content in a particular message.

-- Dave K, Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

... there was nothing egregious. The pot shot at Laura Bush was uncalled for.

I didn't say "at least he didn't kill someone", but there IS a huge difference between getting pulled over (and aware enough to notice a cop trying to pull you over and having the mental faculties to comply) for DUI and what Kennedy did.

Believe all the theories that excuse Teddy that you want. They just don't wash.

....there are different levels of DUI -- one for Democrats and one for Republicans. Other than that, DUI is DUI, period. Blood alcohol level may influence sentencing but the crime is the same.

The only one here trying to exuse anyone for drunk driving is you, Evie.

... but it is your double standard.