Reactions To Ted Kennedy’s Health (Updated)
-
- May
- 20
Here’s some statements on the announcement today that Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy has a malignant brain tumor.
Sen. John McCain:
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to Senator Kennedy and his family. We hope and pray his doctors will be able to effectively treat his condition and that he will experience a full recovery. I have described Ted Kennedy as the last lion in the Senate, and I have held that view because he remains the single most effective member of the Senate.”
Sen. Hillary Clinton:
“Ted Kennedy’s courage and resolve are unmatched, and they have made him one of the greatest legislators in Senate history. Our thoughts are with him and Vicki and we are praying for a quick and full recovery.”
Updated:
Barack Obama:
“Michelle and I were saddened to hear the news about Senator Kennedy’s condition today, and we plan on doing whatever we can to support him, Vicki, and the entire Kennedy family during this time. Senator Kennedy has been a fighter for his entire life, and I have no doubt that he will fight as hard as he can to get through this. He has been there for the American people during some of our country’s most trying moments, and now that he’s facing his own, I ask all Americans to keep him in our thoughts and prayers.”
President Bush:
“Laura and I are concerned to learn of our friend Senator Kennedy’s diagnosis. Ted Kennedy is a man of tremendous courage, remarkable strength, and powerful spirit. Our thoughts are with Senator Kennedy and his family during this difficult period. We join our fellow Americans in praying for his full recovery.”
Sen. Charles Schumer:
“He is the center of the Senate, heart, mind and soul. We pray for him and know he will be back because he is a fighter, and we—and America—need him so.”
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean:
“Senator Kennedy is a true American hero and a leader in the Democratic Party, having spent a lifetime standing up for the values of fairness, justice and equality. On behalf of the Democratic Party, we extend our prayers and well wishes to Senator Kennedy, his wife Vicky, and the entire Kennedy family.”
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 3:20 pm by Joseph Spector.
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Mary Jo Kopechne was unavailable for comment.
that is about as mean a comment as you can get
makes you wonder about whether some people
actually have a soul
Too bad the irony of the comment is lost on you, Mike.
there is no irony..just mean a mean spirited jab..
while the entire republican senatorial delegation was
expressing its concern and best wishes..small minded
bitter conservatives like you are casting invective
and calling it irony..please your comments should be
striken from the blog as vulgar and indecent…
You may have forgiven Teddy for killing that girl and weaseling out of responsibility for it, but I haven’t.
as far as I am concerned forgiving is the lord’s business
any human who pretends to that job, I have little
regard for
Sara appears to believe she is God. You are referring to a terrible ACCIDENT that occurred many years ago. The man has spent a lifetime serving our country .It was an extremely low small minded comment. Are you a Republican?
Sara is a fan of Newt Gringrich who taught her that saying bad things about (or to) people in the hospital is a good thing.
So it’s not her fault.
well sara it looks like you stepped over the line this
time…
Really, Consultant??? So according to you, we should have no laws at all because only the lord can judge people. Funny, but I thought you were an attorney who believed judges, who last time I checked were people, could judge and even punish others. It is self-evident that Kennedy was drunk and drove a car into a river and because of his drunken state; he didn’t bother to try and save his passenger. Usually, drunk drivers who kill people go to jail. You don’t have to have messianic complex to believe that. Kennedy was able to use his family connections to get out of going to jail.
Sara merely pointed this out. Was it the appropriate time to mention it? Probably, not. But how many liberal consultants, bloggers, partisans, etc… showed much concern when Ronald Reagan’s health or Richard Nixon’s health was in danger? Not too many. It was no more a cheap shot than nonabiz. Her comments were not profane or indecent and in no way violate the blog’s policies. It just appears that the consultant does not believe in free speech.
I hope Senator Kennedy recovers. That said, I hope, too, that he retires to the surf of Hyannis and becomes the beach ball that he would have been were he born without the Kennedy name and fortune.
How was pointing out that Newt left his 1st wife as she lay in a hospital bed a cheap shot?
Pointing out that his 3rd wife was an intern…maybe, but not the wife possibly dying of cancer as you leave her thing.
you all take politics way too seriously for your own
good….hope no one in your family gets sick…
this has nothing to do with laws “stinky” this has to
do with death….and a man who has been a respected senator
by both sides facing it ….we only need to wish him
luck…those who don’t are petty and small…
The point is that he should never have been allowed to continue to be a “respected senator” given what he did and how he escaped responsibility for it.
I don’t believe anyone was wishing Kennedy ill will. Pointing out that he has done some bad things or one bad thing in particular is fair game. I imagine when Jerry Faldwell was sick the Consultant did not all of a sudden start talking about what a great man he is and how he wished him a speedy recovery. If you don’t like someone you don’t have to pretend you do just because they are sick. That is different from wishing anyone ill will. I fail to see how that it is taking politics too seriously.
The Consultant’s remark, “hope no one in your family gets sick…” is really troubling. That may even constitute a threat. Because someone disagrees with you on Ted Kennedy does not mean that you personally attack them.
Many people can’t stand Ted Kennedy, going back to that horror with Mary Jo Kopechne, and in ‘91 he also was involved in that scandal with William Kennedy Smith in Palm Beach. He also cheated at Harvard, and has done other bad things. But it’s unlikely many are glad he’s so ill.
Wahoo, very well put. I would also add to the list that instead of giving Robert Bork (who had been a distinguished professor at Yale and federal judge) a fair hearing, Kennedy basically called him a segregationist on the Senate floor before even meeting with him. “In Robert Bork’s America”... That said, I want to reiterate that I hope Kennedy makes a full recovery. I think most can distinguish between disliking one’s politics and personal actions and wishing someone has health problems.
I think almost every person of good will (and even those who are not inclined to dispensing a plethora “good will” on a daily basis) is distressed to one extent or another by this devastating news. As John Donne wrote, and Hemingway appropriated: Ask not for whom the bell tolls. We all feel this common thread of humanity in this still great nation. This does not exempt one from the right to evaluate and mention Mr. Kennedy’s sometimes bizarre background, well-documented selfish actions, and political, holier-than-thou arrogance which some might interpret as hypocrisy. To do otherwise is to lead us down the dangerous path of hypocrisy ourselves. When one voluntarily puts oneself under the lights of the planet’s center stage, one must expect one’s actions and tenets to be challenged and thoroughly evaluated. personal tragedies notwithstanding. To do otherwise is to invite moral and intellectual suicide.
hey listen..i am the only one that has been personally attacked by those who want to suggest that a lifethreatening
illness justifies a repost regarding an incident that
happened a long time ago…however abhorrent you may feel
about it..it is the equivalent of saying “he deserves it”
for what he did..and that is playing god…you don’t
have to forgive him…but that’s not up to you is it..
and my comment about someone getting sick is hardly
a threat..I meant it…when a family member is sick
and you love them you really don;t care if they made
a mistake earlier in life…and my commnents were
meant to point out that a person who is dying may
have warts but it doesn;t lessen the pain for his loved
ones nor apparently for the republican majority of the
senate…and thats the problem with local politics
its petty, its personal, and it involves vendettas
this has nothing to do with hyprocracy..this has to
do with commnon decency..a trait clearly lacking in
some of the posters..and for those I truly do hope
they don;t have a family member in a similar situation
I am sure their opinion would change drastically
Such a shame to have to spell it out to somebody who is ostensibly educated, but obviously lacking in critical thinking skills. But, here goes.
The blog entry is a list of quotes from people lionizing Teddy. Wishing him well is one thing; calling him “a true American hero” is entirely another. Not only is he not a hero in any sense of the word, his cowardice caused the death of an innocent person and his cowardice got him out of the consequences he deserved. And there’s a litany of things he’s done (including the Bork nomination, and the William Kennedy Smith scandal, discussed above) that further disqualify him for the title of hero.
My initial comment was that Mary Jo Kopechne was unavailable for comment. In other words, nobody is speaking for her about whether Kennedy deserves all of the plaudits heaped on him now. So while I don’t wish the senator ill health (and it is either an ad hominem or poor reading comprehension skills to so conclude), I find it disgusting that all of the articles and comments heap praise on him without so much as a mention of the scandals that have tainted his life. The press was never so kind to Ronald Reagan, Charlton Heston, or a host of other conservatives whose deaths and illnesses have been discussed.
So, to clarify your opinion, if Stalin needed a heart transplant he would be exempt, or at least suspended, from any criticism of his previous “indiscretions.” And please don’t do a second-grader thing by saying that I am equating Ted with “Joe.”
ah but that is exactly what you are doing..you are comparing
a mass murderer in a totalitarian state to an elected
US senator, who was re-elected by his constituents after
the incident…that dog won’t hunt…
you know exactly what I mean ..and you can say anything you
want to…I didn;t lionize him…but that is irrelevant..
your dislike for the man has overwhelmed your sense of
dignity..not very christian..if you ask me…of course
do unto others I guess doesn’t come in here does it
just nasty partisan poltical parlence…
GERMANS ELECT NAZIS -SEPT 14, 1930. If you’d like to make “election” in a non-totalitarian state the benchmark for allowable criticism. Being elected to anything or being afflicted with a debilitating disease does NOT exempt one from criticism. You know better than that. The problem is that instead of addressing the issue from the perch of logic and philosophical acuity, you are pleading your specious case to what you thing to be an ignorant jury who will not be able to distinguish guilt from compassion. An old counselor’s trick, but a trick wherein the strings and snaps are showing. You’re welcome to your viewpoint, but you sound more like Cotton Mather than Oliver Wendell Holmes.
you defending the indefensible..and it shows..you
want to criticize a dying US state senator..go right
ahead..I prefer to extend my heartfelt feelings to his
family and collegues
Try it this way. The name of Mary Jo Kopechne will be in about the second paragraph of Ted Kennedy’s eventual obituary. The Chappaquiddick drowning of Ms. Kopechne is something very prominent in Teddy’s biography, not merely a footnote to his life story.
To pretend otherwise is not being real.
that would be after he’s dead..not while he is suffering
its simply a matter of common decency..
If he agrees not to make me suffer by trying to legislate inanity during this period, we have a pact. It is a matter of common sense.
I don’t think you have a thing to worry about..oh and
by the way don’t lose your cell phone..replacing it
is a pain in the “A” as my son can tell you since he
lost his (what else is new)
He’s still 275 off the tee. That’s the important thing.
Easy for you to say, I don’t have anything to worry about, by the way. I expect you to make sure he doesn’t p me off.
I will send him a telegram…but your right 275 off the
tee is more important while daddy gets stuck making
sure the phone works…
You can bet that before Tiger started making the big $ going pro, Mr. Woods said to him more than once” “What the hell’s going on with this phone bill????”
yes ed I am sure earl woods had his issues with tiger
but tiger had huge natural talent…so does my son
the difference is tiger wanted to learn….jeff is
only interested in his girlfriends
LATEST: He’s informed party powers that if he’s incapacitated, he wants his wife to fill his seat. True. As with old Joe K., he thinks the family bought it and owns it. If anything happens to his wife, presumably the dog will take over.
I agreed to give him a break from criticism so long as he didn’t p. me off. It took him only 12 hours!