See No Wrong

Rhode Island Democrats are apparently completely unconcerned by the actions of their favorite son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who not only got two car crashes under mysterious circumstances within the past month (one in Rhode Island, and the second one this past Thursday morning in Washington, DC), but has since checked into drug rehab.

The Rhode Island Democrats will be nominating him for reelection at their meeting tonite.

Rhode Island Democrats are expected to endorse Representative Patrick Kennedy for re-election when they meet tonight in West Warwick.

Party members will endorse candidates for Congress and the state's top jobs -- governor, secretary of state, general treasurer and attorney general.

Are you kidding me? Is there no one better for the job? What does this say about the wisdom of the Rhode Island Democratic organization?

Meanwhile, Baldilocks wonders whether Cynthia McKinney was onto something when she played compare and contrast with her own run in with Capitol Police. The thing is, Patrick's last name is Kennedy. If it were Jones, this would have been handled far differently - namely the perp walk frog march. In other words, would Patrick have even been elected to Congress had he not been a Kennedy?

The only lingering mystery is why national news organizations didn't pounce earlier on the Rhode Island Democrat's long history of alcohol and drug abuse, depression and a series of downright embarrassing incidents.

The answer in large measure is that Kennedy hasn't been a very important House member. But given the journalistic obsession with the Kennedy family and its tragicomic soap opera, he does seem to have gotten an easy ride -- except in the New England press, which has chronicled his every misstep.

While Kennedy, the 38-year-old son of Ted Kennedy, was widely reported to have held a news conference Friday, it was nothing of the sort. He read a statement designed to elicit sympathy, saying he was going into rehab, and took no questions. This amounted to an age-old damage-control technique: changing the subject.

The Eagle Tribune notes that Kennedy's actions must have consequences:

Public service does not grant a license to commit public mayhem. Patrick Kennedy should complete his rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic. But he also should face the same consequences for his reckless behavior that anyone else would.

Agreed.

Prior coverage: Shifting Excuses and Analysis, Very Shifty, Damage Control, Spot the Misconduct.

Technorati: patrick kennedy, misconduct, capitol police, dui.