The line above is from Stefan Eriksson (the man behind the high profile destruction of the Ferrari Enzo in Malibu) and not Patrick Kennedy, but in trying to deflect responsibility for his drug/alcohol-related accident Rep. Kennedy did everything but blame ‘Dietrich‘ (the phantom Enzo driver that Eriksson fingered while he thought that Malibu Sheriffs were as dumb as Gizmodo investors). In fact there are several parallels between the two one-car crashes.

“If my dad was Teddy, I’d be out of here”

Both the Kennedy crash and the Enzo destruction involved fully-loaded drivers losing control and crashing. Both drivers were extremely lucky to have not killed themselves or innocent bystanders. Both successfully evaded proper intoxication tests at the scenes. Eriksson accomplished this by running into the hills and lying about being behind the wheel (an ironic adaptation of the senior Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick defense –run like Hell until the alcohol is out of your system) while Patrick Kennedy was aided by accommodating police investigators who didn’t feel like putting a Kennedy in jail that night.

Both are dodging nagging questions about the huge holes in their excuses.

Both are in my opinion pathetic.

But it’s now been well over two decades since MADD educated the country that drunk driving isn’t a victimless crime (just ask the parents of Mary Jo Kopechne). Despite this assumed awareness and sensitivity, when Eriksson slammed his Enzo into a telephone pole the primary media focus was on the loss of an exceptionally rare automobile (1 of 400). In response we took everyone (including the Times) to task for missing the point driving a car on an urban roadway over 160 mph+ is beyond reckless–it’s criminal negligence. The Enzo crash was just a few hundred yards where two bicyclists were killed by another errant driver just last year. In addition to all of his other crimes (of which there are many), Eriksson deserves to go to jail for this alone and so does Kennedy.

That brings us to the case of Rep. Patrick Kennedy driving so out of it that the best excuse he can come up with is that he doesn’t even remember getting out of bed. This is sadly reminiscent of his father’s excuse for not doing what was necessary to save the life of the woman who was unfortunately sitting next to him when his drunk driving led him off a bridge. Only after many hours and several phone calls to his lawyers/advisers did he alert authorities that his lady friend was under 12 feet of water. Senator Kennedy never accepted responsibility for his actions, and other than in the court of public opinion he was never punished. But life has an odd way of evening out and Ted’s worst characteristics appear to have been inherited by his son Patrick–something Ted will have to witness first hand.

Driving as doped up as Patrick admits he was, it is a miracle that he didn’t kill himself or someone else. Even more to the point is why someone on the meds he claims he was would be drinking in the first place. While Patrick denies that alcohol was involved, Lou Canon, president of the Capitol Police Union told CBS News:

“The officers on the scene smelled alcohol about him and based on their experience believed him to be intoxicated.”

We can believe the cops on the scene or the guy who ‘doesn’t remember getting up’ (which if true how does he know that he wasn’t drinking?).

While it is a positive sign that Kennedy is checking into a clinic to address some of his problems (though his last stay there just six months ago didn’t seem to do the trick), since he is a Kennedy one must wonder if this isn’t just more Kennedy PR obfuscation. Step 10 of the 12-step program is to promptly admit when you are wrong–something no Kennedy has done since John and Bobby. In fact, the Kennedy clan can be in such denial one wonders whether they will celebrate Patrick’s discharge from the Mayo Clinic with a night of drinking. It wouldn’t be the first.

“Like father like son” Image Mashup

Additional reading (a little humor):

Hardy Boys “Mystery at Chappaquiddick Bridge” and other children’s books by Ted Kennedy

Photo source and additional Kennedy photos here.

tags: patrick kennedy Ted kennedy kennedy ferrari enzostefan eriksson

On the story: Marathon Pundit, Malkin, All Things Conservative, Riehl World View, Wizbang,

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 6th, 2006 at 8:04 pm by Insider and is filed under Your Tax Dollars In Action, Nemesises ... Nemesi?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.