Goodbye Patrick Kennedy
Washington without a Kennedy -- what a wonderful thing to behold.
From the
UK Telegraph:
An overdue farewell to the Kennedy dynasty
There will soon be no Kennedy holding political office in Washington for the first time since 1947. That's a good thing, argues Toby Harnden in Washington.
In the end, the burden was too much for Patrick Kennedy. After spending half his life in elected office, the 42-year-old announced that he would not seek re-election for a ninth term in the House of Representatives in November.
The unmarried congressman was left utterly bereft by the death in August of his father and Capitol Hill compatriot, Senator Ted Kennedy.
Last year was the annus horribilis of the Kennedy dynasty. It also saw the death of Ted's sister Eunice and the political humiliation of Caroline Kennedy, his niece and President John F Kennedy's daughter, as she abandoned her unconvincing bid to be appointed Senator from New York in Hillary Clinton's place.
Like Caroline and the diffident Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a daughter of Bobby Kennedy who lost what should have been a relatively straightforward gubernatorial race in Maryland in 2002, Patrick was deeply uncomfortable as a politician.
The Rhode Island congressman is painfully awkward, a poor public speaker and has suffered from alcoholism, bipolar disorder and addiction to prescription drugs. Apart from his surname, he is best known for crashing his Mustang into a barrier outside the Capitol at 2.45am in May 2006 and then promptly booking himself into rehab at a Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
He was in rehab again last year. Various commentators have made sterling attempts to portray the congressman as a canny inside player who toiled away on behalf of humble constituents. But the truth is perhaps closer to what the man known as "Patches" to his detractors told Young Democrats in 2003: "I don't need Bush's tax cut. I have never worked a f---ing day in my life." The congressman tried to strike a statesmanlike pose in his retirement announcement � a two-minute video replete with plaintive references to his father and family, accompanied by maudlin piano music as he talked.
At least he sees the sea-change that is happening and is stepping down gracefully.
Boxer, Reid and Pelosi should have the same grace...
Posted by DaveH at February 14, 2010 6:11 PM