Posted on 05/05/2006 2:05:21 PM PDT by wcdukenfield
Patrick Kennedy & Double Standards 05/05 04:37 PM
I don't wish anyone ill, except our nation's enemies. It's a good thing that Patrick Kennedy is going back into rehab. But I am very angry.
For nearly three years we witnessed the persecution of Rush Limbaugh, who became addicted to painkillers resulting from back and neck problems. We witnessed leaks by prosecutors who spread lies about him being involved in money laundering, drug rings, and doctor shopping. But the media happily repeated them. Some mocked him.
Rush got help. He has been clean for years. And in most cases, when someone becomes addicted to prescription drugs for the first time, the matter is eventually dropped. Most jurisdictions have set up drug courts for this very purpose. But that didn't stop the state prosecutor in Palm Beach County from spending hundreds of thousands of tax dollars pursuing Rush.
Early on, prosecutors claimed they had evidence of over ten felonies. They demanded that Rush plead guilty to some felonyany felony. He refused, always insisting on his innocence. So, they leaked more lies to the media, hoping to intimidate him. They seized his medical records. They gave his medical records to the media. The media took those records and turned them into graphics for television. Reporters and commentators were studying his prescriptions, discussing both the kinds and amount of medicine he had taken. They were beside themselves with glee. Newsweek, AP and the Palm Beach Post, Rush's local paper, were especially vicious, serving as lap-dogs for the prosecutors.
In court, Rush fought these people every step of the wayall the way to the Florida Supreme Court. He spent millions of dollars defending himselfdespite the fact that he had been a first-time abuser, went to rehab, and was clean. And then last October, the lead prosecutor sauntered into court and in response to questioning told the judgewe have no evidence that Rush Limbaugh has committed any crime! None.
So, I am very angry. You will hear commentator after commentator speaking sympathetically about Patrick Kennedy and his addiction to painkillers. You will hear people say that he is addicted, he has a serious health problem, he deserves to be praised for his forthrightness today, and we should leave him alone. And many of these commentators will be the same people who were giddy in their ceaseless attacks on Rush.
I am angry at the double standard, where liberals are regularly treated one way and conservatives another. I am also glad Patrick Kennedy won't be abused as Rush was. But you can be sure that the next conservative with a problem won't be treated like Kennedy.
But there are some aspects to the Kennedy matter that require answers. If Patrick Kennedy, who is not a first offender, is addicted to painkillers, from where did he get them? And there are news reports that he had been drinking earlier at a Capitol Hill bar and alcohol was later smelled on his breath. So, why was the officer on the scene prevented by more senior police officers from performing a routine sobriety test?
I truly wish Patrick Kennedy well. But you bet I'm angry.
so like Vatican city without any holiness.
thanks.
I think Levin's anger is obviously at the outrageous double-standard of the media. I know mine is.
Getting a stern warning from a cop for speeding is not the same as getting a pass for a DUI. If a cop let's someone they suspect of being drunk get back on the road, and that someone kills someone else, you can bet that (a) the cop will be fired, (b) the cop will be sued, (c) the police department/city will be sued. IOW, millions in taxpayer dollars could be paid out and many lives ruined for a wink and a slap on the wrist.
I agree.
Patrick, like his drunk fat dad, rates high on the sociopathic index.
He abused his authority and covered up a crime plain and simple.
Wrong. Drug court is all about revenue.
I would like to know who advised the cops at the scene not to test him. That person should be fired. To begin with.
Sorry forgot...
The police report, PDF file
http://rope.wrko-am.fimc.net/bulger/042506_accident.pdf
look especially for Image Description: Operator # 2
Doctor-recommended. Kennedy-approved.
I cannot believe that Levin is intimating that the MSM is biased. Everyone knows the MSM doesn't inject personal feelings and innuendo into their reporting and are completely objective. On top of that, it is common knowledge that Republicans are more dishonest than Democrats because Democrats are for the common working man and Democrats such as the Kennedys are beyond reproach.
LOL --- IIRC, the old bootlegger dealt in Cutty Sark scotch.
Sheesh, his handwriting looks like something rendered by a four-year-old.
Cynthia McKinney is far more likely to call a press conference to call attention to the difference between how she (a black woman) was treated and how Patrick Kennedy (a white man) was treated. And she will be flanked by Je$$e Jacka$$ and Al $harpton.
*** If he had a script for these for a while and knew what they can do, then why didn't he have someone drive for him? The whole story just stinks of a poor cover for reckless behaviour.***
Awww, but don't you see? The poor darling is NOW claiming that he doesn't remember ANYTHING about the accident. It was the MEDICINE that made him do it. /s
It didn't take them very long to come up with an excuse so that he won't be ticketed for DWI. (It's not my fault, it's the medicine. Sue the drug company.)
If you or I did it, no excuse would be acceptable.
How to find a missing Kennedy? Look under the nearest pile of stenken fly blown fecal Matter.
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