The U.S. Senate has 13 freshmen this year, and we hope more than a few of them have signed up for Jon Kyl's seminar on how to make a difference in what can be the world's most dysfunctional body. If it's not a formal class, it should be.

Mr. Kyl, who announced yesterday that he won't seek re-election in 2012, has been as consequential as any Republican in Congress over the last decade and a half. The Arizonan, who is now second in the GOP leadership, has made his mark the old fashioned way--by knowing what he is talking about.

Senator Kyl has been a vital player in criminal justice issues, especially habeas reform.  We sorry to hear we will be losing him in the next cycle.

The fact that he would leave despite the likelihood of being the Majority Whip in the 113th Congress says something about him.  Not everyone in Congress is there just to aggrandize his own power.  The best people are not.  The unfortunate and ironic consequence is that many of the most effective good guys move on, while those who are effective at causing harm seem to hang around forever.