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May 17, 2008

Ted Kennedy Rushed to Hospital

Rick Moran
CBS and others are reporting that Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy has been rushed to a hospital in Hyannis Port and subsequently airlifted to Mass General in Boston suffering from what CBS news describes as "stroke-like symptons:"

The long-serving Massachusetts senator is a leading liberal voice in the United States who has actively campaigned for Barack Obama in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Kennedy had preventive surgery in Boston in October to unclog a partially blocked carotid artery in his neck.

The blockage was discovered during a routine check of Kennedy's back and spine, doctors said. A blocked carotid artery can lead to a stroke and death, they said.

Kennedy has suffered from back problems since a plane crash in 1964 in which the pilot and one of Kennedy's aides were killed and the senator was pulled from the wreckage with a back injury, punctured lung, broken ribs and internal bleeding.

Elected in 1964, Kennedy has been a punching bag for conservatives almost since he arrived in the Senate. But the man the right loves to hate has made his mark in the history of the Senate largely by being master of the rules and traditions of that body.

He is also considered to be one of the finest orators alive today, still able to wow audiences as he proved barnstorming with Senator Obama prior to Super Tuesday.

Without romanticizing the man - who after all has several personal failings in his past that any ordinary American would have suffered much more severe consequences than Senator Kennedy faced - it is safe to say that he has been one of the most consequential figures in American politics in the 20th century.

Posted at 11:56 AM | Email |

Comments

Consequential, definitely. Not necessarily for the good of American society or for America's future.

Posted by: Pat | May 17, 2008 01:58 PM

Too bad.

Posted by: MJK | May 17, 2008 03:03 PM

The rain, it rainith on both the just and the unjust. Kennedy is undoubtably one of the most unjust figures in American history. Anyone else would have gone to jail by now.

Posted by: Lennis Waggoner | May 17, 2008 11:41 PM

Watching the news coverage you'd think Ted Kennedy died.

Posted by: Coffee260 | May 18, 2008 06:03 AM

Does Kopeckne care??

Posted by: I CLAVDIVS | May 18, 2008 01:15 PM

Yesterday, several blogs (The Corner@NRO, Gateway Pundit et al) picked up this item I published on my blog:

Democratic strategist Bud Jackson appeared as a guest on Fox News Channel early this afternoon and said today's health crisis involving 76-year-old Sen. Ted Kennedy could benefit Democrat Barack Obama's presidential campaign by focusing attention on the issue of age.

Posted by: Bob McCarty | May 18, 2008 03:26 PM

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