THIS "TED-ATIVE" HAS HARMFUL SIDE EFFECTS
Patrick Kennedy, Democratic Congressman from Rhode Island and son of Ted Kennedy, proved last night one of the time-honored maxims of life. Some say there are only three such maxims: life, death and taxes. Some Republicans, however, have managed to escape paying almost any taxes, and, as the Terri Schiavo debacle demonstrated, seek to extend death (or what they call life) indefinitely. While they have erased two certainties, they've probably kept the third, life, in existence, for a long time, notwithstanding their penchant for global destruction. To some of them, a glob of sperm is life, as is a frozen embryo or a second-old lump of cells.
One certainty we all should agree on, though, which I was about to reveal before I got distracted, is this: whether by air, by land, or by sea, never accept an offer of transportation from a Kennedy or an offer of transportation that involves being seated in any kind of proximity to a Kennedy. Better yet, be nowhere near the area in which a Kennedy is known to be traveling. Transportation, by the way, includes skiing.
Let's examine why: Kennedys have died in, or been involved in, the following types of accidents over the years: the sinking of a PT-109, a car crash that left Ted Kennedy fatally injured, a car crash that killed his assistant, a skiing accident that killed a Kennedy cousin, a plane crash that killed a Kennedy and his wife, an assassination while a Kennedy was traveling in a motorcade, a boat near Cape Cod that almost went under that Ted Kennedy attempted to rescue, the shooting down of a Kennedy, a fighter pilot, in World War II, and now this:
Patrick Kennedy, last night, crashed his car into a barricade surrounding the Capitol Building, at approximately 3 A.M. The police officers who arrived at the scene were instructed not to administer a breathalyzer test (shades of the Secret Service ordering the police off the property on which Dick Cheney shot Harry Whittington). Kennedy was escorted home. 19 hours later (God, this sounds so familiar), Kennedy announced that the reason for the crash was not alcohol (he said he had not consumed any that day - although someone who saw him earlier that day said he did several hours earlier - sounds familiar too), but.... Ambien! The Ambien, Kennedy says, made him disoriented, making him think he had to show up for a vote at 3 A.M., and apparently, making him think he had to crash into a barricade. Haven't we all seen the Ambien commercials that tell us to not drive within a certain amount of hours of taking Ambien? I know - he'll say he didn't - but the Ambien (which he says he took the correct amount of) made him do it anyway). One wonders, in addition to HOW this man sleeps at night, WHEN he goes to sleep at night. Congressmen don't work the nightshift. Let's say that the average person's gross motor skills would be compromised within the entire 8-hour period of having taken ambien, plus an additional hour. So, that means, you go to bed at, say, 12 AM, you shouldn't drive until 9 AM, following doctor's orders. Kennedy claims he was following doctor's orders. If his gross motor skills are such (or his reaction to Ambien is such) that he is a "normal" individual, then, assuming he followed doctor's orders, if he went to bed at 6 P.M. (no earlier, and no later), there is a CHANCE that the Ambien might have messed him up (even though he followed doctors orders). Of course, 1)who goes to bed at that time, and 2) he didn't say he went to bed at that time.
Let's consider the possibility that Ambien has a particularly strong effect on him - it takes 12 hours to was out of his system. If he and his doctor knew this, and acted upon this knowledge, he should have gone to bed at 3 P.M. See same "of course" comments above.
I have a personal observation to make as well. Ambien has been known to cause disorientation among individuals not accustomed to having previously taken sleep medications, and there have been isolated reports of individuals falling asleep behind the wheel in the morning who took it the night before (these sleep incidents suggest the effects of the medication didn't wear off/the people didn't leave eight hours for sleep). I have yet to hear of any clinical studies, however, that have held that this LIGHT sedative is capable of doing what Kennedy says it does.
Kennedy says he received "no special treatment" from the police. That must have been the Ambien speaking. He also says that he took "another sleep agent," at the same time he took the Ambien. The name of the other sleep agent "Chappa Quit It!"
One certainty we all should agree on, though, which I was about to reveal before I got distracted, is this: whether by air, by land, or by sea, never accept an offer of transportation from a Kennedy or an offer of transportation that involves being seated in any kind of proximity to a Kennedy. Better yet, be nowhere near the area in which a Kennedy is known to be traveling. Transportation, by the way, includes skiing.
Let's examine why: Kennedys have died in, or been involved in, the following types of accidents over the years: the sinking of a PT-109, a car crash that left Ted Kennedy fatally injured, a car crash that killed his assistant, a skiing accident that killed a Kennedy cousin, a plane crash that killed a Kennedy and his wife, an assassination while a Kennedy was traveling in a motorcade, a boat near Cape Cod that almost went under that Ted Kennedy attempted to rescue, the shooting down of a Kennedy, a fighter pilot, in World War II, and now this:
Patrick Kennedy, last night, crashed his car into a barricade surrounding the Capitol Building, at approximately 3 A.M. The police officers who arrived at the scene were instructed not to administer a breathalyzer test (shades of the Secret Service ordering the police off the property on which Dick Cheney shot Harry Whittington). Kennedy was escorted home. 19 hours later (God, this sounds so familiar), Kennedy announced that the reason for the crash was not alcohol (he said he had not consumed any that day - although someone who saw him earlier that day said he did several hours earlier - sounds familiar too), but.... Ambien! The Ambien, Kennedy says, made him disoriented, making him think he had to show up for a vote at 3 A.M., and apparently, making him think he had to crash into a barricade. Haven't we all seen the Ambien commercials that tell us to not drive within a certain amount of hours of taking Ambien? I know - he'll say he didn't - but the Ambien (which he says he took the correct amount of) made him do it anyway). One wonders, in addition to HOW this man sleeps at night, WHEN he goes to sleep at night. Congressmen don't work the nightshift. Let's say that the average person's gross motor skills would be compromised within the entire 8-hour period of having taken ambien, plus an additional hour. So, that means, you go to bed at, say, 12 AM, you shouldn't drive until 9 AM, following doctor's orders. Kennedy claims he was following doctor's orders. If his gross motor skills are such (or his reaction to Ambien is such) that he is a "normal" individual, then, assuming he followed doctor's orders, if he went to bed at 6 P.M. (no earlier, and no later), there is a CHANCE that the Ambien might have messed him up (even though he followed doctors orders). Of course, 1)who goes to bed at that time, and 2) he didn't say he went to bed at that time.
Let's consider the possibility that Ambien has a particularly strong effect on him - it takes 12 hours to was out of his system. If he and his doctor knew this, and acted upon this knowledge, he should have gone to bed at 3 P.M. See same "of course" comments above.
I have a personal observation to make as well. Ambien has been known to cause disorientation among individuals not accustomed to having previously taken sleep medications, and there have been isolated reports of individuals falling asleep behind the wheel in the morning who took it the night before (these sleep incidents suggest the effects of the medication didn't wear off/the people didn't leave eight hours for sleep). I have yet to hear of any clinical studies, however, that have held that this LIGHT sedative is capable of doing what Kennedy says it does.
Kennedy says he received "no special treatment" from the police. That must have been the Ambien speaking. He also says that he took "another sleep agent," at the same time he took the Ambien. The name of the other sleep agent "Chappa Quit It!"
posted by EnterCenter at 9:39 AM
2 Comments:
I am sure Patrick Kennedy received special treatment, but honestly, I really do not care. The Repugs at this point have done so much ridiculous shit that this is quite minor in comparison.
I do have to agree about not being near a Kennedy, though I do have to comment that I met Kerry Kennedy (RFK's youngest kid, who was born after his death) while eating lunch in my neighborhood. Evidently she lives pretty close by. She was sitting next to me and discussing some documentary film she was making, and I introduced myself and said I was a fan of some of her films. Kerry was actually pretty nice. That said, I wouldn't be in any sort of public transportation with her. ;-)
Well, luckily, you were just sitting next to her. I implicitly excluded walking and sitting from my definition of transportation, but that may have to change soon, depending on the Kennedy!
Yes, the Repugs have done worse, but one point which I should have made explicit in the post was this: the Kennedy family is known for its commitment to "public service." It prides itself on getting disaffected people involved in politics (Bushies pride themselves on getting disaffected people even more turned off). Disaffected people, however, look at the special treatment people like Patrick get, and get repulsed, and do not want to enter politics as a result. Why emphasize that public service is so great on the alleged grounds that you can help people when people only get the message that public service is great because you can get special treatment? The family is a bunch of hypocrites. It goes without saying, of course, that the Repugs are a lot worse - and one of the reasons it goes without saying is because they make no bones about the fact that public service is purely for evil purposes. Not that their "honesty" is better than the Kennedys' hypocrisy. I've criticized the former -which is much worse - enough - but the latter is not immune from criticism.
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