Kennedy: Hey, It Isn't Like He Killed Someone

Ya think maybe Patrick Kennedy knows he's beyond reach because of his family name? Item number 1,165 on my why I don't like politicians named Kennedy list.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy said Tuesday he's not returning $6,600 in donations he got from Norman Hsu, a prominent Democratic donor whose criminal past was recently revealed.

Several top Democrats, including 2008 presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and Kennedy's father, Sen. Edward Kennedy, have said they will return Hsu's donations or give them to charity.

Rep. Kennedy will keep the money because there is no indication that Hsu's contributions to him were illegal, according to his chief of staff, Adam Brand.

Comments

[BobInStamford]

Speaking of killing, it would appear that the NOBLE surge and the silly little Iraq adventure is dead in the water

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/Story?id=3556742&page=1

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/04/gao.iraq/index.html

Surge off, heroes!

[wardmd]

It's just more PROOF of the "culture of corruption" which is rampent in the DEMOCRATIC PARTY! Illegal campaign donations is nothing new for the Clinton "machine"... You all remember Johnny Chung and Charlie Tree, don't you? And of course we all believe AlGore had NO IDEA that those bags of cash were, in fact, bags of cash from those Buddist Monks!

And what of Congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) and his $90,000 in cash in his freezer? Mayor Marion Barry and his crimes?

As to your off-topic Surge/Iraq war comments... You realize that the so-called "benchmarks" expected of the Iraqi Government is something that OUR Government cannot achieve either? Why is it that PASSING LAWS is believed to be the SOLUTION to any problems? We have such a GREAT track record of Gun Control legislation (I can't even count the number of individual laws which have been passed banning this or that gun, yet people STILL refuse to respect the very basic of the laws: DON'T MURDER ANYONE [whether that be with a gun or not]).

And OUR Government can't seem to "get along" (thank goodness) enough to pass much more than non-binding resolutions (big F'ing deal) - oh, wait, that's not fair - they DID name some Post Offices (Thank's Hillary - I knew you'd really pass the much needed legislation to move American forward)!

And who says being First Lady (and sitting by and letting Bill do all those things he and Monica were doing) doesn't constitute "experience" necessary for being president?

[BobInStamford]

Marion Barry? Comparing the CHAOS in Iraq to the US?

Sorry patriot, but you sound like a 'rampent' moron.

Surge off!!

[Scrapiron]

Kennedy= crime, money, murder, drunk driving. That is the legacy of the entire Kennedy family. Is there another nut out there?

[seekeronos]

Isn't it time for one or another Kennedy to die off as a result some really weird, inexplicable cause?

Maybe God has cursed that particular clan. I mean, for a few years going, they were dropping like flies that got too close to al-BoobInStamford's heinously stinky body.

[seekeronos]

Oh, nebbermind. I just heard that Tedward "where's my Chambourd and Percocet Cocktail" Kennedy made a deal with the Prince of Darkness himself. So he'll be around to embarrass the fine state of Taxachussetts for quite some time.

[bloodrage bob]

am pretty sure the famous kennedy clan 'curse' is caused by the actions of the kennedy patriarch, joe. this was the guy who

A) smuggled hooch during prohibition
B) publicly cheated on his wife on a clintonian scale (screwing hollywood superstar gloria swanson, among many others, was not something that could be kept quiet. maybe he just didn't *care*, huh?)
C) publicly supported the nazis; so much so that FDR had to fire him from his ambassador job
D) gleefully taught his sons to be amoral misogynistic scuzzbuckets "just like daddy!"

aaaaaand, my personal kennedy favorite,

E) "lobotomized **his own daughter** to make her more manageable."

i see where young patrick is doing his best to live down to the family name. (also, could someone explain to me why JFK is considered a 'war hero' rather than a 'world-class screwup'? top speed of a ww2 jap destroyer = 25 knots. top speed of JFK's PT boat = *50* knots. getting his boat t-boned by a destroyer he was *twice as fast as* really doesn't constitute "heroism", last i checked. ah well. maybe, like teddy at chappaquiddick, maybe he was just drunk.)

[BobInStamford]

Wait, didn't Laura Bush get drunk and mow down her boyfriend? Now she looks like the Joker. I wonder what meds they have her on?

[seekeronos]

JFK's PT-109 was of the PT-103 class patrol boats, which ran ahead full at 28kts, but could make 41kts. going flat out (and presumably with minimal weight).

From what I've read about the PT-109 incident, it was really poor dumb luck that he was smack in the path of the Japanese DD moving at flank speed on a "Tokyo Express" run through the Slot Strait (New Georgia/Solomon Islands), and had little ability to maneuver into a torpedo run out from a idling pace.

A typical WW2-era DD (Destroyer) would make over 30kts. easily, and flat out (at grave risk to boilers) probably nearing 37-40kts. DDE's (Destroyer Escorts) seldom made 30kts, and 25kts was typical in both American and IJN fleets.

The Japanese DDEs - (at least in our usage, as the Japanese really didn't purpose build any DDEs until the end of the war), were mostly older classes of DDs from the inter-war years were pressed into service, until the effective US anti-shipping raids forced the IJN to procure purpose built escort ships, such as the Matsu class.

According to Wikipedia, the particular destroyer JFK got T-boned by was the IJN Amagiri, a Fubuki-class destroyer capable of 38kts. The Fubuki class was a pretty sharp DD - quite advanced for its time, and possibly was one of the best designs of the war, surpassed only by the Kagero class (in terms of damage output/torpedo load) and the Akitsuki class (raw speed and AA armament, although realized much too late into the war)

We really didn't have anything to match knot for knot and gun for gun until the Fletcher class started coming off the shipyard lines in late 1942-1943, although a close match would have been the Benson class (not quite as fast, but nearly equivalent firepower, being short a couple of five-inchers to the Fubuki's six... but of course, we ultimately had quantity that overwhelmed their quality).

[wardmd]

Hey BobInStamford,

That’s exactly what I’m doing… SURGE is WORKING… I’m WORKING… What’s YOUR excuse?

IRAQ is not CHAOS (a state of complete disorder and confusion). “Insurgents” are Terrorists causing terror (not chaos). NO ONE is running around Iraq like chickens with their head cut off (maybe that’s a bad turn of a phrase) – businesses are open, schools are open, and DESPITE being murdered by these terrorist “insurgents”, Iraqis are STILL becoming police officers and members of their military. There is a FREELY ELECTED Government, a Constitution a Parliament, and with the SURGE reducing violence, things are getting better.

NOW, if we could just get the “insurgents” to stop blowing up Muslims and the infrastructure, Iraqi life would be a LOT better (a LOT sooner)… But the “insurgents” (just like Democrats here in the U.S.) don’t want peace and prosperity in Iraq – they want TERROR and defeat for the United States (and for Iraq).

Oh, and moron, the subject of discussion was NOT Iraq, but the CORRUPTION of several prominent Democrats. I was simply pointing out a few other glaring examples of corruption by other Democrats (which is either ignored or condoned by the Democrat party) - hence the reference to Marion Barry (et al).

p.s. Pardon my spelling errors (I'm sure you're 100% perfect in every way).