Ah, Patrick Kennedy, scion of the Kennedy clan and former RI Congressman from my very own district. A man who had trouble shaking my hand outside Wholefoods because of the DTs. Or too many prescription meds. Or something drug-related; for which he entered rehab. Like many members of his extended family, Pat also has a little problem in the “taking responsibility” part of the being a human being program. Pat reckons society must shoulder the blame for Jared Lee Loughner’s heinous crime. Not that CNN’s clip reveals Kennedy’s sympathy for the devil. Here’s what CNN edited out . . .
“We failed as society because every time we see someone who’s — and we use the pejorative words ‘crazy,’ you know, ‘psycho,’ ‘nuts,’ we look the other way,” Kennedy said. “We say oh, well, we’re not going to help them.”
I’ve blogged the multiple failures to intervene that could have saved six lives. Even so, blaming society for Loughner’s attack is out. So far, the Arizona man has been held competent to stand trial. The blood of six people is on his hands, not ours.