Good Riddance

Kennedy won't seek re-election, marking end of era

Rep. Patrick Kennedy's decision not to seek re-election will leave Washington without a Kennedy in political office for the first time in more than 60 years.

The Rhode Island Democrat's term ends early next year but he says in a television message viewed by The Associated Press on Thursday that his life is "taking a new direction" and he will not seek a ninth term. The video was provided to the AP by Kennedy's congressional office.

Nine terms as a US Representative is 18 years. Since the man is only 42, that means he's been in office since he was 24 and clearly has NEVER held a REAL job. Good riddance. We need people who've truly worked for a living, not rich-kid dilettantes living off their ancestors' legacies.

Plus, clearly the nut doesn't fall far from the tree.

He has been in and out of treatment for substance abuse since crashing his car outside the U.S Capitol in 2006. Still, he has been comfortably re-elected twice since then, after making mental health care his signature issue in Washington.

At least when he crashed his car, he didn't kill a woman at the same time. So that's a step up from his father.