Free Republic

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (news, bio, voting record) crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had taken sleep medication and a prescription anti-nausea drug that can cause drowsiness. Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. His initial statement said: "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident."'Later, however, he issued a longer statement saying the attending physician for Congress had prescribed Phenergan on Tuesday to treat Kennedy's gastroenteritis.Kennedy said he returned to his Capitol Hill home on Wednesday evening after a final series of votes...

(CNSNews.com) - In clarifying his vision of the Democratic Party's future and its values, U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy Wednesday slammed President Bush for his plan to partially privatize Social Security, his prosecution of the war in Iraq and his attempt at "packing the federal courts with reactionary judges." But Kennedy waited until page 9 of his 10-page speech to discuss the issues of abortion and "gay rights," even though more voters (22 percent) in the Nov. 2 presidential election said moral values represented the single most important issue to them -- more important than the war in Iraq, terrorism,...