Kennedy Pleads Guilty

How unusual!

Patrick Kennedy has agreed to plead guilty to driving under the influence.

A Kennedy accepting responsibility for misdeeds?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Patrick Kennedy has reached a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of prescription drugs in connection with his middle-of-the-night car crash last month near the U.S. Capitol.

Two additional charges of reckless driving and failure to exhibit a driving permit will be dismissed under the plea agreement.

Announcing this, Kennedy's chief of staff, Sean Richardson, said the Rhode Island Democrat would appear in District of Columbia Superior Court Tuesday afternoon "to accept the consequences of his actions."

"He is looking forward to closing this chapter," Richardson said. "He's feeling great and is expected to be back to work."

Kennedy agreed to the guilty plea in exchange for having two additional charges of reckless driving and failure to exhibit a driving permit dismissed.

I didn't know Kennedy was driving without a license, too.

I suppose if you claim that you have no recollection of getting out of bed and getting behind the wheel it's easy enough to argue that you didn't remember to take your license along.

I think Kennedy and his advisers probably thought it was best to go with the guilty plea.

Although it's a stain on his record, fighting the charges and playing the lame victim card that he did right after the incident would haunt him much longer and be far more damaging politically in the long run.

The question:

Will the Left subject Kennedy to the same kind criticism that they throw at President Bush for having a DUI in his past?

NO CHANCE.

By the way, Bush was 30 at the time of his DUI charge, not pushing 40 like Kennedy.

Kennedy crashed his green 1997 Ford Mustang convertible into a security barrier near the Capitol about 3 a.m. The officer listed alcohol influence as a contributing factor in the crash and noted that Kennedy was "ability impaired," with red, watery eyes, slurred speech and unsteady balance, according to the accident report.

Police did not conduct field sobriety tests on Kennedy. A police union official has said the officers involved in the accident were instructed by a superior to take the congressman home. Kennedy has denied asking for special treatment.

Police had observed Kennedy's car, with no headlights on, swerve into the wrong lane and strike a curb. Kennedy nearly hit a police car, the report said, and did not respond to the officer's efforts to pull him over. He continued at a slower speed before hitting a security barrier head-on, the report said.

Kennedy told the police officer he was "headed to the Capitol to make a vote," the report said. He was cited for failure to keep in the proper lane, traveling at "unreasonable speed" and failing to "give full time and attention" to operating his vehicle.

The details of Bush's offense are dramatically different from Kennedy's experience.

Bush didn't fail to stop, like Kennedy. He didn't crash his car, like Kennedy.

I don't want to hear the foaming at the mouth libs bring up Bush's PAST drinking problem ever again, unless they want to acknowledge the sins of their own ranks.