Doctors say Sen. Edward Kennedy has a malignant brain tumor; a condition discovered after he had seizure.
Doctors for the Massachusetts Democrat say tests conducted after Kennedy suffered a seizure this weekend show a tumor in his left parietal lobe. His treatment will be decided after more tests but the usual course includes combinations of radiation and chemotherapy.
Update [2008-5-20 14:7:0 by BooMan]: I hate to tell you this but Kennedy has been diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme cancer, which has a dismal prognosis.
Sadly, tumor recurrence after surgery, radiation and chemotherapy is almost inevitable. The treatments usually only increase the symptom-free survival, rather than prolong survival. The median survival from the time of diagnosis without any treatment is only three months. With standard treatment the median survival is about 14 months.
This is very sad news.
a good question is whether Ted Kennedy has been the greatest senator in the nation’s history. I think there is at least an argument for that.
Certainly the greatest Senator in MY time, no doubt. I put up a post on my blog asking people for prayers, whether they are religious or not. We still need this man, very much.
He has always fought the good fight–proving wealth can understand public service. I wish him well.
Indeed.
Umm… No
Cancer should not be wished upon the worst people and this will be a sad end for him, but our greatest senator? I think not.
You can’t get past Byrd’s KKK history (neither can I) but I can’t get past Chappaquiddick. Granted it destroyed any chance he had at the White House, but for me it also takes away any chance at “greatest senator”
I can praise his longevity, the amount of bi-partisan legislation, and his lifelong commitment to liberal causes, but he has not been without “issues”.
Still, today is not the day to criticize his career.
what does chappaquiddick have to do with his senate career? that doesn’t even make sense. I didn’t say he was the most morally upright man. Anyway, here’s his competition.
Because driving drunk and killing someone is usually called vehicular manslaughter. Covering up a crime is obstructing justice. And many think Mary Jo Kopechne lived for 2 hours in the car while Ted figured out what he was going to do.
Look, let’s do this another time.
As for the greatest list, I’ll admit the Senate is a hard place to grow greatness. Vandenberg and Webster stand out for me. Calhoun for not necessarily the right reasons. Taft and Wagner as opponents had a huge impact on the political stage for a long time, which I guess is the right measure and so by that standard I could put TK on that list, just not necessarily at the top.
In just our lifetime, where would you put Humphrey and Bradley?
How about Howard Baker, Barry Goldwater, Sam Houston, Henry Cabot Lodge, McGovern, George Mitchell, Moynahan, Nunn, Proxmier, Thurmond, and Millard Tydings? History has been pretty kind to them. I don’t know about greatness but they’d fit in some mythical Senate hall of fame.
I will grant you that TK has been the heart and soul of a particular wing of the Democratic party since the early 70s. And the prototypical liberal poster boy for the Right.
yes, some other time.
As John McCain has said, Teddy Kennedy is the greatest U.S. Senator because he is the most effective U.S. Senator.
No one in our lifetimes has accumulated a comparable legislative record.
Obviously, Robert Byrd, Daniel Inouye, and Ted Stevens can all be mentioned in the same breath, but Byrd and Stevens are best known as masters of pork and Inouye can’t say he has been as effective as Kennedy.
I don’t know what to say about Thurmond. Not much good.
As for the rest you mentioned, some were excellent senators, but none can match up with Kennedy.
I’d put Kennedy on a short list with Quincy Adams, Webster, and Clay.
Daniel Inouye and Ted Stevens… I was thinking of Inouye but forgot to include him. Stevens I just forgot.
Anyway, my only point is if you put Ted Kennedy at the top, there are more than a few also rans
BTW- I got this from Armando, but it’s a good read.
Actually, in the spirit of generosity, I’d put Goldwater on the short list, too.
Lodge? Goldwater?
Sure, history has been kind. MORE than kind, if you ask me, for what they did to our country. But that’s because history is written by the victor.
If you only believe what you read in history books you don’t have an accurate view of history.
Lodge formed the intellectual geneses for conservatism for the first half of the 20th Century. Goldwater the latter half. Reagan owes his legacy to Goldwater.
You may not agree with their POV, but in terms of longevity and influence they have few rivals.
There’s a lot more to the Chappaquiddick story than we’ll ever know for sure. John Dean said on the Watergate tapes re Kennedy and Chappaquiddick, “If he only knew the bear trap he was walking into…”
To this day I’m waiting for someone to grill the oh-so-saintly (NOT) Mr. Dean re what he meant re this statement. I had a friend ask, and he blew it off saying it was something about “Tony U” (Ulasewicz, a NYPD detective who E. Howard Hunt worked with in the White House.
Indeed, E. Howard Hunt was on Chappaquiddick at least right after this occurred. I’ve not looked into when he arrived, and if EHH was involved in the event. It would not surprise me, given how Nixon tried to have Hunt frame JFK posthumously for the killing of Diem in Vietnam by forging cables.
lisa-
he got blind drunk and drove his car off a bridge. why are we even discussing this right now?
Because I did a lot of research into that at one point and there are huge discrepancies in the evidence. I’m not going into that now except to say don’t assume you know what happened, because after several months of research, I gave up. But I can assure you the ‘official’ story is the LEAST plausible when you consider all the evidence.
And I didn’t bring it up. See what I was responding to.
As usual…people do not want to hear “”the rest of the story”.
Better to take the American Idol version.
Easier.
Life as reality show.
Producers? The CIA.
Keep trying, Lisa.
Keep trying.
AG
my mom would disagree, having nursed a grudge over Chappaquidick, but I do believe he may be the greatest Senator of my lifetime.
To me, Senator Ted Kennedy is something of a god. I idolize the guy. This is very sad news.
See above, re Chappaquiddick.
There’s some evidence to suggest Ted took the fall for another family member, btw, in that event. He made one statement and never said more, publicly. I think we’ll never know just what happened there.
and we have to learn, as people have in other countries, to separate one’s personal life from their political or professional one.
Whatever his personal foibles, politically, he is a giant among mice.
the public
Maybe it is simply an American thing.
I swear to you, Lisa…if Bill Clinton had been able to keep his pants zipped, Hillary would have already won this thing.
Maybe even in 2004.
AG
Last week my boss’s wife, who we all loved dearly, died of a brain tumor. Important to remember there are excellent treatments available now but much will depend on if the cancer has spread to other organs.
His passionate oratory always got me to my feet to cheer. Sen Kennedy will fight this like no other, of that I am certain.
Unfortunately, Kennedy’s cancer is the worst kind:
Wow, just 14 months? This is really sad.
I’m putting politics on hold for the rest of the day elections be damned.
Probably a good idea.
Lost my father to the same cancer 4 years ago. He was a robust 75 year old (both his parents lived into their 90s) and it took him in 4 months. The only positive thing about it is he was in no real physical pain. I hope the Senator fares better.
Very, very sad. It’s hard to imagine the Senate without Ted Kennedy. Prayers for him and his family.
Ted Kennedy has also always maintained a strong interest in Ireland in general and the Peace Process in particular. May he live long enough to see a worthy successor to the Kennedy Clan installed in the White House.
Our prayers, well wishes for the Senator and his family.
Heavy hearts here. Let’s remember he’s a fighter.
Well, this has turned out to be “Bad News Tuesday” both personally and politically.
I kinda needed politics to be my outlet today. Just…damn. We still need him!
OK. That was selfish. The important thing is this: my prayers and best wishes to him, and to the family.
Glioblastoma Multiforme is a terminal cancer of the brain. There is no cure.
We have lost a great liberal Democrat. I am already grieving.
Thanks for all you’ve done Big Guy .
Wishing you all the best .
GF