I couldn’t agree with this more, from a longtime observer of the Kennedys, in an e-mail conversation this morning: “Patrick Kennedy’s decision to leave Congress strikes me as good for Rhode Island and even better for Kennedy. I have never been able to muster up the visceral loathing for Ted and Joan Kennedy’s youngest that some conservatives seem to have, and his decision to retire doesn’t fill me with glee. Quite apart from his father’s death last year, Patrick has always been such a troubled person, and no one can envy his struggles with depression, alcoholism, and drug abuse. Nobody so afflicted and unhappy should ever have gone into politics. The proximate cause of his decision to leave may be his plummeting popularity — a statewide poll last week had his unpopularity at 62 percent — but he should have left long ago. I wish him and his constituents well.”

Politics isn’t a sport. And politicians do not cease to be people when they enter it. Patrick Kennedy’s retirement could be a very good thing for Congress, but even better for Patrick Kennedy. Godspeed, Congressman.