Kennedy to Undergo Rehab

Rhode Island state representative Patrick Kennedy announced recently that he planned to enter rehab to treat an addiction to prescription pain medication. As soon as the words left his mouth, however, conservative talk radio shows began buzzing like wasps, reaffirming their long-maintained ideology: just because you're a Kennedy, it doesn't mean you're special. The incident that prompted the congressman's decision was the highly publicized car crash in Washington that Kennedy says he doesn't remember. Suuuure, Kennedy. Go ahead. Play the "I-don't-remember" card. Your dishonesty is doing nothing but helping to guarantee your party won't win the elections this fall. Take a look at history. Name one time a politician furthered his campaign by lying. And no, the president doesn't count.

Bottom line: I'm tired of Republicans and Democrats taking cheap shots at one another, hoping to make each other look unfavorable so the public favors their party in coming elections. Why doesn't everybody just take a non-prescription chill pill and do their best to make themselves look good without compromising the reputations of others? Kennedy has a lot of guts to acknowledge and deal with his problem in the public eye. Rhode Island should let his skills as a politician decide whether or not he's re-elected—everyone's got their issues, but not everyone can be a strong leader. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)