Scott Brown's (R-Mass.) election has been shown to be "a joke," the son of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said Thursday.

Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) castigated Brown for having pushed to be sworn in ahead of schedule to permanently fill the Senate seat left vacant by the congressman's father's death in August.

"Brown's whole candidacy was shown to be a joke today when he was sworn in early in order to cast his first vote as an objection to Obama's appointment to the NLRB," Kennedy said Thursday.

Maybe someday you'll have a new generation of Kennedys to cover up for, to point out how they are turning their lives around after (fill in the blank) a cheating scandal, a drug scandal, a rape accusation, a blonde in the pond, an overturned Jeep on Nantucket, an extramarital affair with a polo player, a drug overdose, a waitress sandwich . . .

Not only that, but yesterday we learned that the last of them in Congress, Patrick "Patches" Kennedy of Rhode Island could be knocked out of office. A new WPRI-TV poll showed him with low 35 percent approval rating, and 62 percent disapproval.

Yesterday was Camelot Emancipation Day. For taxpayers, it was Christmas and the Super Bowl rolled into one.