However the plagiarism happened exactly, she had already come to understand that her success so far was not just a matter of talent and discipline but of buying the right connections, cutting deals for behind-the-scenes assistance, cunning …For all her sweet Hogwarts dreams, an observant, canny, IvyWised-up kid is bound to draw certain conclusions about the way the real world works.

I don't care whether it's Ambien or alcohol; I wonder whether Patrick Kennedy isn't — unconsciously — seeking a way out of politics with his latest run-in with the law. Kennedy last went into rehab just five months ago. According to the Almanac of American Politics he has been involved in several bizarre incidents in recent years, including shoving an airport security guard in 2000 and, in 2003, saying, "I haven't worked a [expletive] day in my life," as a way of attacking Bush's tax cuts.

Kennedy doesn't have his father's political temperament, let alone charisma. His achievements have been middling …including supporting the Iraq war and then accusing the administration of deceiving him. And, maybe more revealing, twice ducking a chance to run for Senate. He was obviously pushed into politics by family pressure, internalized or otherwise; he got in at age 21, and who doesn't question career choices made at that age?

It's interesting to consider that he had his crackup at the Capitol. Some hostility there toward symbols of authority? By leaving the place for good, he would do a real favor to his under-served constituents, and probably himself too.