# Abysmal judgement gene rears it's ugly head again-Kennedy stupidity **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 5, 2006, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510 "2006-05-05T08:02:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/1 "2006-05-05T08:02:01Z")
[Let’s take a sleep med, and an anti-nausea drug which causes drowsiness, and go to Congress to vote at 0245. Headlights optional](http://www.wusatv.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=49033). Now, there’s a man whose judgement I’d trust. Not. Joe Putz, having committed the same motor vehicle infraction would be in the holding cell downtown without a blink. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/2 "2006-05-05T08:37:28Z")
At least he didn’t drown anybody. You have to give him props for that. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/3 "2006-05-05T08:41:55Z")
But Clinton got a blow job! ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/4 "2006-05-05T08:42:11Z")
I dodn’t know breaking the genetic code has discovered such a gene. 😕 Still if it’s ‘bash the political family time’: - at least he didn’t invade Iraq - at least his wife hasn’t killed anyone (using a car) - at least his daughters haven’t regularly broken the drinking laws, while the Secret Service stand idly by ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/5 "2006-05-05T10:56:45Z")
hmmm… All the good ones taken… Well, at least he didn’t shoot anyone in the face! (Yeah… I got nothing…) ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/6 "2006-05-05T11:15:11Z")
I can theoretically accept that someone’s judgement could be fucked up by taking a few prescription drugs. This is the part of the story that bothers me > [@](#): > > Baird wrote that patrol officers at the scene were prohibited from performing field sobriety tests. These people are not fucking royalty. (congressmen and Kennedys both) They crash their car at 2:45am with no headlights on after nearly clipping a police cruiser, then go staggering around about how they need to get to work at 9am, they get a mother fucking breathalyzer. Period, end of story. You don’t drive their asses home to sleep it off. I guess it’s too much to ask that our lawmakers be subject to our laws as well. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/7 "2006-05-05T12:07:27Z")
I wonder how soon before Cynthina McKinney starts screeching about preferential treatment? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/8 "2006-05-05T12:12:27Z")
> [@glee](#): > > I dodn’t know breaking the genetic code has discovered such a gene. 😕 > Still if it’s ‘bash the political family time’: > > - at least his wife hasn’t killed anyone (using a car) his _father_ on the other hand… The son of Ted and Joan has a drinking problem. Who could have predicted that? (and anyone who thinks the Kennedys aren’t the country’s de facto royal family doesn’t follow the news much). ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/9 "2006-05-05T12:44:47Z")
A friend of mine went to private school with Ted Kennedy’s son and Ted would drive them to soccer practice or whatever, with a scotch and soda in hand complete with swizzle stick and this is after the bridge incident. You have to give a family credit for consistency. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/10 "2006-05-05T12:54:20Z")
I was thinking about this thread after I heard about the accident. I could see the responses in my head already. Mocking Kennedy, then mocking Ted, moving on to the “but Bush is worse” comment…back and forth. All very predictable. Now think about this…let’s substitute Rick Santorum for Patrick Kennedy. All of the responses would be the same…just the posters would be different. Ideology uber alles. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/11 "2006-05-05T13:05:42Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > This is the part of the story that bothers me These people are not fucking royalty. (congressmen and Kennedys both) They crash their car at 2:45am with no headlights on after nearly clipping a police cruiser, then go staggering around about how they need to get to work at 9am, they get a mother fucking breathalyzer. Period, end of story. You don’t drive their asses home to sleep it off. Perhaps a silly question, but prohibited by **whom**? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/12 "2006-05-05T13:20:49Z")
> [@](#): > > …(and anyone who thinks the Kennedys aren’t the country’s de facto royal family doesn’t follow the news much). I imagine the Bushes will be disappointed to hear that. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/13 "2006-05-05T13:54:28Z")
Maybe the ALL Kennedys should just stay away from motored conveyances. Horse buggies, row boats or maybe hot air balloons. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/14 "2006-05-05T13:58:46Z")
Great news for Republicans! ANY Democrat doing ANYTHING wrong is complete justification for ALL crimes, misdemeanors, and incompetence on the part of ANY Republican! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/15 "2006-05-05T14:01:01Z")
Knowing what I do about the medications cited, his story is actually not that off-the-wall. More and more evidence is coming out that Ambien has some wicked disorientation side-effects including sleepwalking, sleep eating (great excuse, no?) and retrograde amnesia. Combined with the antinauseant he was on, I can see it making that scenario even more likely. Having said that, I am very sad to hear that the standard evaluation for presence of alcohol in his system was not undertaken. Too convenient. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/16 "2006-05-05T14:08:16Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Great news for Republicans! ANY Democrat doing ANYTHING wrong is complete justification for ALL crimes, misdemeanors, and incompetence on the part of ANY Republican! Case in point. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/17 "2006-05-05T14:10:27Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Now, there’s a man whose judgement I’d trust. Not. Cut the dude some slack. He was probably out looking for early garage sales, and you know how hard that makes it to see road hazards. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/18 "2006-05-05T14:12:12Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Perhaps a silly question, but prohibited by **whom**? > > -Joe According to [this New York Times article](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/05/washington/05kennedy.html?hp&ex=1146888000&en=6ea5903200b92177&ei=5094&partner=homepage): > [@](#): > > Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, said a police union official had written a letter to the Capitol police chief asserting that Mr. Kennedy appeared to be staggering when he left his car. **But, it said, police officers at the scene were not allowed by their supervisors to perform a sobriety test.** Roll Call quoted the letter as saying Capitol police officials gave Mr. Kennedy a ride home. If that’s true, it’s bad, IMO. Those circumstances surely mandate a sobriety test. If it does, in fact, turn out that the accident was the result of prescription drug side effects, then the person can be excused, but this is something to be determined later. The person should still be tested for alcohol. I’m glad **QtM** has weighed in on the plausibility of the drug story, because it was my next question. Also, if this is true: > [@](#): > > “At the time of the accident, I was instructed to park my car and was driven home by the United States Capitol police,” Mr. Kennedy said. “At no time did I ask for any special consideration.” then it seems that the people who need to be criticized here are the police themselves, not the Congressman. We have had a doctor tell us that his story about the prescription drugs is, on its face and given the known side effects of his drug, completely plausible. And, in terms of police procedure, all we have been told is that the police themselves we prohibited from performing a field sobriety test **by their superiors**. That combination of circumstances leads me to wonder why it is that, in the absence of further evidence, this story is being touted as evidence of “Kennedy stupidity.” But then i see who the OP is, and the knee-jerk idiocy makes complete sense. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/19 "2006-05-05T14:21:18Z")
> [@Evil One](#): > > Ideology uber alles. The only good thing is that our ideology is[kicking your ideology’s butt](http://www.scleroderma.org/medical/pulmonary_articles/sd_lungstudy_update.shtm): > [@](#): > > A majority of Americans say they want Democrats rather than Republicans to control Congress (51 percent to 34 percent). That’s the largest gap recorded by AP-Ipsos since Bush took office. Even 31 percent of conservatives want Republicans out of power. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510/20 "2006-05-05T14:27:58Z")
> [@Evil One](#): > > Now think about this…let’s substitute Rick Santorum for Patrick Kennedy. All of the responses would be the same…just the posters would be different. > > Ideology uber alles. Nah. I got stuff for Santorum, too. He’s a douchebag. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/abysmal-judgement-gene-rears-its-ugly-head-again-kennedy-stupidity/355510.md?page=2)