Kennedys Says $700 Billion Bailout Is Equal to What U.S. Spends Annually on Oil

RFK Jr.

Story by Jeff Berman, Group News Editor — Logistics Management

BOSTON—While it is no secret these days that the proposed Wall Street bailout plan comes in at $700 billion, that sum is basically equal to what the United States spends per year on oil, according to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., an environmentalist, activist, and attorney.

 

In his keynote speech for executives of nearly 200 independent truck leasing companies at NationaLease’s 64^th Annual Meeting held in Boston, Kennedy explained that the $700 billion tally represents the costs for purchasing oil, but explained the actual cost is trillions of dollars, including military and other expenses. And with oil and fuel expenses reaching record levels in 2008—and having a major impact on transportation carriers and consumers alike—Kennedy said a major challenge for the future will be to get off of dependence on hydrocarbons and oil, which is particularly acute in all forms of freight transportation that are heavily dependent on oil.

 

“If you have the question of ‘how do we operate trucks without diesel,?’” said Kennedy, “we are moving in that direction now. There are technologies out there that can dramatically reduce the use of diesel. Those that can adopt these technologies more quickly are going to be more competitive in the future, and the more efficient we can make ourselves, the more competitive we can become globally.” Illustrating this point, Kennedy noted that the U.S. spends 12 percent of its GDP on energy. In comparison, Japan and Germany spend seven and eight percent, respectively. Despite this disparity, Kennedy said this expenditure provides the U.S. with a competitive advantage.

 

Energy savings at work:

 

On a practical level, Kennedy cited how Wal-mart installed auxiliary power units for its entire private fleet in 2006, which allowed drivers to heat and cool truck cabs with a hydroelectric communications system that could be deployed without turning on the truck engines. This change, he said, allowed Wal-mart to save $40 million.

 

Kennedy added that Wal-mart is also active on other energy-efficient fronts, including a plan—slated to kick off in 2009—to begin work on super-efficient diesel engines that are plug-in aerodynamic hybrids that Wal-mart expects to reduce its fuel costs by 50 percent by 2015 and by 25 percent in the next two years.

 

“The faster we can get people to adopt and push for [these types of things], the better it is going to be for this industry and for all of us,” said Kennedy.

 

In an interview with LM, Kennedy said that Wal-mart serves as a good example of a shipper going about energy efficiency the right way, as it has added 100 new stores and cut shipping costs by seven-to-eight percent by being more strategic about its route planning, how it loads trailers and reducing packaging materials.

 

“There are many ways you can reduce packaging and still ship the same amount of items or dramatically increase the number of items you out on your truck,” said Kennedy. “If you insist to your suppliers to reduce the packaging, that is another way to do it.”

 

When asked about continued U.S. dependence on foreign oil, Kennedy said the current situation will eventually result in everyone making the move to electric power, because it is a quarter to a sixth of the expense of diesel. And those who switch to electric quicker by driving plug-in hybrid vehicle and leveraging hydrogen-powered fleets are the ones that “will triumph in the marketplace,” he added.

 

“If you are really looking to the future and looking to save money, and there is anyway you can take these steps with your fleet, that is the way to go, because you want to get your energy off of the grid rather than from Saudi Arabia,” Kennedy explained. 

 

Tips for the next President:

 

In order to steer the nation to become less oil dependent in the future, the next President needs to focus on ways of eliminating the nation’s dependence on oil by using domestic energy resources, as opposed to offshore drilling, which he suggested may not amount to more than a short-term fix.

 

And taking the domestic energy route may be able to provide millions of energy jobs that cannot be outsourced, enrich the U.S., and stop the hemorrhaging of money to Saudi Arabia, said Kennedy.

 

“If we can get off oil, we will all be richer,” he said. “By using alternative energy more efficiently, we can dramatically improve our balance of payments [as a nation], our trade deficit, our national debt, and have healthier and cleaner air.”

 

Other ways for the U.S. to reduce oil dependence include implementing a market-based carbon cap and trade system, which Kennedy said is endorsed by both Barack Obama and John McCain, and rebuilding the country’s national grid, which he said is inefficient and archaic.

 

Story from Green Logistics

http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/CA6600604.html

Op-Ed: Whoops, They Did It Again

OK, THIS IS NOT AMUSING ANYMORE

The mainstream media continues to fail us day after day (just ask Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who regularly reports stories establishment media won’t go near) – and here lately their reporting on the Kennedy family in particular has gone from bad to worse to positively abysmal.

If you’ve been reading this blog in recent weeks, you know we’ve been highly critical of the media’s hysterical coverage of Sen. Ted Kennedy’s illness, and the endless, pointless pontificating on Hillary Clinton’s recent comments about the RFK assassination.

We’ve also given `em hell (and rightfully so) when they failed to demonstrate a basic ability to spell and fact-check stories about the Kennedys prior to publication — and then for not printing corrections once the damage was done. 

We’re not complaining about trivial little errors here. We’re talking whoppers, the kind of stuff that makes you scratch your head and wonder what qualifications one needs to become a journalist, or a copy editor, these days.

We’re not talking about small newspapers or independent bloggers making mistakes – oh, no – we’re talking about the biggest names in media: The New York Times, CNN, NBC, CBS, Fox News…you name it, they’ve mucked it up.

Most recently, we tore ABC News a new one for printing perhaps the most absurd wonder blunder we’ve ever seen – a story which asserts that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is, quite incredibly, the son of John F. Kennedy. (See related story, “ABC News Can’t Keep Their Kennedys Straight.”)

And we’re not just bitching about isolated errors popping up every once in a while. What we’ve witnessed over the past month alone in the media sphere of nonstop Kennedy coverage is an epidemic of poor research and reporting, combined with sloppy editing and irresponsible choices at the top levels of these newsroom hierarchies.

To run stories chock full of inaccuracies — when it’s so damned easy to catch and fix these massive screw-ups before they wind up embarrassing you (and your illustrious news organization) in print — is a transgression these great bastions of American journalism should have to answer for. But so far, no one is holding them accountable.

THE BOSTON GLOBE’S BIG BOO-BOO

Latest infuriating case in point: The Boston Globe’s May 11th review of Ted Sorensen’s new White House memoir, “Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History.” (The book itself is a marvelous read, by the way. If you don’t have it, get it!)

The book review was penned by Douglas Brinkley, distinguished author, history professor and “presidential historian.” Not that he doesn’t have the academic cred to back up that fancy pants title – he does – which leaves him absolutely no excuse for the colossal faux pas he committed in his recent Globe article. (Brinkley is a former director of the Theodore Roosevelt Center for American Civilization and taught history at Tulane University before he was “relocated” to Texas by Hurricane Katrina. Now we have to contend with him.)

By far the most astonishing thing about this latest media mistake is that it appeared in the Boston Globe, for crying out loud, the Kennedy clan’s hometown newspaper.

To my mind, and to that of many Americans, no U.S. news publication should bear a greater responsibility than the Boston Globe for accurately reporting All Things Kennedy. Of course, we expect every news organization to do their homework, but the Globe has only to look in their vast archives of Kennedy coverage — or even out their own back door — to get the story straight.

This time, they didn’t even bother. Not only has the Globe damaged its’ credibility among readers in Boston and elsewhere (who do know better) with this foul-up, they have also done a disservice to history; to Theodore Sorensen, and to the memory of President Kennedy.

John F. Kennedy (left) and Ted Sorensen in the late 1950s. Sorensen began working for Kennedy as a research assistant in 1953. (PAUL SCHUTZER)

SAY WHAT?????

Upon reading the lede of the Globe’s book review, a smoking, flaming bomb of a boo-boo flies right up and smacks you in the face. (Hey, if you’re going to goof, do it big. And always make sure to put it in the first paragraph.)

Here’s the intro as originally published. How many of you can spot what’s wrong with this version of events?

When Ted Sorensen first heard the news on Nov. 22, 1963, that President John F. Kennedy had been shot, he fell into a state of zombie-like mourning. Struggling to control his emotions, he rushed to the Fish Room – the lounge across from the Oval Office – to watch CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite grimly report on the tragedy. Earlier that morning Sorensen had chatted with JFK near the White House helipad just before the president left for Dallas. Now, watching TV in a sullen trance, Sorensen doubted whether he would ever laugh again. The assassination had hit the 35-year-old special counsel harder than even his father’s death. “The news kept showing clips of the president delivering a speech earlier that day at a breakfast in Texas,” Sorensen recalled, “the same speech I had gone over with him in the Oval Office on the morning of his departure.”

Anyone who has ever done more than a cursory study of President Kennedy’s last day on earth know that he was not at the White House on the morning of November 22, 1963.

The President of the United States had been in Texas since the previous day on a goodwill tour, working to reunite warring factions of the state Democratic party and raising funds for the `64 campaign. Kennedy awoke that morning in Suite 850 of the Hotel Texas to a steady rain and 5,000 hardy souls standing in the parking lot beneath his window — all of them hoping for a smile; a word; a wave from their president.

Kennedy did brave the weather to address the crowd that morning, uttering that now-famous line: “There are no faint hearts in Ft. Worth!”

Apparently, the Boston Globe editors never heard this story, despite the fact that it is told in every printed account of Kennedy’s Final 24.

Don’t the copy editors up in Beantown at least have a copy of William Manchester’s JFK Assassination primer, The Death of a President, sitting on a reference shelf somewhere? All they had to do was hit the index.

Or maybe they could just read Ted Sorensen’s book. You know, the one they are reviewing here. Had anyone bothered to actually read it, there is no implication whatsoever from Sorensen that he spoke to Kennedy in person on Friday morning. As he describes that awful day in Counselor:

“The news kept showing clips of the president delivering a speech earlier that day at a breakfast in Texas,” Sorensen recalled, “the same speech I had gone over with him in the Oval Office on the morning of his departure.”

The morning of Kennedy’s departure was Thursday, November 21st, the previous day. I’d say that’s a rather important date to Mr. Sorensen. He remembers well the last time he saw the president – his dear friend – alive.

Nope, one doesn’t forget memories like that. But the Boston Globe does.

Have no doubt: photographic proof of the President’s whereabouts on the last morning of his life. JFK (with Vice President Lyndon Johnson and Texas Governor John Connally behind him) addresses the crowd at Fort Worth’s Hotel Texas, November 22, 1963.

BUT WAIT…THERE’S MORE

While your head may still be reeling from a goof like that ever making it into print, hang on to your helmet because here comes another one.

Following right on the heels of the first flub, the second paragraph goes on to say:

With a writing style as smooth as ice cream, Sorensen’s “Kennedy” focused on such Cold War flashpoints as Cuba, Laos, Berlin, and Oxford, Miss. It recounted the famous “Ask Not” inaugural address that Sorensen had so brilliantly written.

Oh, brother…do we have to go through that again?

Sorensen did not write JFK’s inaugural address. His role would be best described as that of collaborator (actually, there were several cooks in Kennedy’s literary kitchen whose suggestions made the finished draft). The record on this has been clarified time and time again by none other than Sorensen himself.

For example, in his 1969 book The Kennedy Legacy (guess the Globe editors never read that one, either), Sorensen states that “the final shape of every text was always the President’s decision alone.”

Furthermore, we know that oftentimes throughout their decade-long collaboration, Kennedy would frequently carry a Sorensen speech to the podium only to ignore most of it, delivering instead his own extemporaneous oration. Sorensen was probably the greatest presidential speechwriter of the 20th Century, but his greatest skill lay in channeling Kennedy’s intellect. He himself has admitted this, writing that “in the vast majority of cases” Kennedy did not follow the speech he had prepared.

Sorensen has always loyally affirmed Kennedy’s authorship of the inaugural address. In Kennedy (Sorensen’s 1965 book noted above in the Globe’s review, which no one at the Boston Globe apparently bothered to speed-read), he insists that “the principal architect of the Inaugural Address was John Fitzgerald Kennedy.”

Could the man be any clearer than that? Then why does the mainstream media continue to get it wrong year after year, decade after decade?

Don’t Believe the Hype: one of JFK’s early drafts of the inaugural address, in his own practically illegible but nonetheless distinctive handwriting. Clearly a work in progress at this point, Kennedy is still toying with the language of “ask not what your country is going to do for you” instead of “can do for you.” (Larger images available for study at the National Archives’ website.)

FOR THE RECORD

If you might be tempted to think all this is much ado about nothing, think again. The issue of whether Kennedy composed his own inaugural address, or simply delivered Sorensen’s beautiful words, is not some arcane historical footnote. The speech is generally acknowledged to have been the greatest oration of any twentieth-century American politician. To deny the rightful author (JFK) full credit for it not only diminishes his legacy and weakens his claim on the hearts and minds of future generations, it also distances him, and us, from a speech that is a distillation of his experiences, philosophy, and character.

Erroneous assertions that Sorensen wrote JFK’s inaugural address have appeared frequently in the popular media through the years. In 1988, for example, Time magazine essayist Lance Morrow described Sorensen as “the author of so many of Kennedy’s speeches, including the inaugural.”

Even as late as 2002, PBS’s Great American Speeches series instructed U.S. schoolchildren everywhere that “John Kennedy’s inaugural address has been praised as one of the best public speeches ever…Kennedy, however, did not write the speech himself. Ted Sorensen did.”

None of these writers — including the illustrious Dr. Brinkley — offer any evidence that Sorensen wrote the Kennedy inaugural (but we offer clear and convincing evidence to the contrary; see image of Kennedy’s handwritten draft above). Instead, one detects the assumption that since speechwriters wrote the inaugural addresses of other presidents, one must have written Kennedy’s too, and that because Sorensen was the author of so many other Kennedy speeches, he must have been the author of this one as well.

But just because so many other media outlets made the same error before you is never an excuse to continue to perpetuate a falsehood, especially when there is clear documentary evidence to the contrary readily available. If a media outlet should do so knowingly, they might be well considered part of some elaborate conspiracy to undermine President Kennedy’s historical importance and intellectual abilities.

Now of course, we know the mainstream media has too much integrity to ever engage in such a thing, let alone an eminent historian like Douglas Brinkley, so therefore we must conclude that errors like these are not made out of any sense of spite or jealousy, but are rather the result of either laziness or ignorance.

That’s no comfort to me. How about you? What does it say about us as a society if our “best and brightest” historians and news editors are so ignorant of basic facts regarding any American president? And what kind of future historians, journalists and editors will we be sending into the workforce of the Fourth Estate in years to come? Isn’t that a scary thought?

Here’s an even scarier one: Douglas Brinkley is not only an esteemed “presidential historian,” he also is a Professor of History at Rice University in Houston. He’s a Senior Fellow at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and was asked by former U.S. Secretaries of State James A. Baker III and Warren Christopher to be part of a commission studying Presidential War Powers. Obviously, Professor Brinkley has friends in very high places, and is often called upon to “interpret” history for them.

And if that doesn’t sufficiently frighten you, he’s also the staff historian at CBS News.

PROFESSOR OF POP HISTORY 101

Now let’s throw another log of irony on this already-searing fire: Brinkley was once a friend of John F. Kennedy Jr.’s and a contributing editor at Kennedy’s George magazine. But in the days immediately following JFK Jr.’s 1999 fatal plane crash, Brinkley quickly became “the William Ginsberg of the Kennedy Death Circus” (so said Slate’s David Plotz), appearing on MSNBC, Late Edition, Meet the Press, Good Morning America, Dateline, Today (twice), and NPR (twice). He also penned columns about his relationship with Kennedy for Newsweek and the New York Times, and was quoted everywhere else ink touches paper.

According to the Washington Post, Brinkley cut a $10,000 deal with NBC for a week of exclusive Kennedy commentary after JFK Jr.’s death, but then agreed to provide it pro bono. Editors at George were reportedly so annoyed about Brinkley’s death punditry that they dropped him from the masthead.

But Brinkley somehow managed to work his way back into the family’s good graces after that, and over the next near-decade became known as some sort of Kennedy authority; the talking head to call for analysis whenever something happened in the Kennedy kingdom.

He even won the prestigious 2007 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award for “The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” a work which was highly praised by his fellow presidential historian and Kennedy aide Arthur Schlesinger before his death. 

Brinkley has been touted as one hip history professor, an historian for a new generation of Americans. He believes Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson are the giants of American literature. He quotes Ramones lyrics. He’s an idealist and a Democrat who by all accounts loves the Kennedys. So how could he make such glaring, easily avoidable mistakes in this Globe piece? What kind of reputable historian and “authority on the Kennedys” could let those elephants silp quietly by?

And why on earth didn’t the Boston Globe editors catch them before the story was allowed to be printed?

I’ll leave that question to our readers. I’m quite certain you will have a few thoughts to add on the swift deterioration of our intellectual and journalistic standards in America, of which this is just another shining example.

For those who actually do care about what our children and grandchildren will be taught as “history,” it’s enough to make you want to home school. And for those in the news profession who still care about accuracy, credibility and earning the people’s trust, it’s enough to make you want to go out and start your own media empire, dammit.

With the explosion of independent media and the blogosphere, these new contemporary documentarians often do a better job of reporting the news than their overpaid brethren over at World News Headquarters in New York, Washington D.C. or even Boston.

Perhaps fortunately for Brinkley, the Boston Globe did not open his book review to public comments, or they likely would have been besieged by a rein of rotten virtual tomatoes over the past two weeks. But you can still write a Letter to the Editor through their website if you’d like to let them know of your displeasure.  We heartily encourage you to do so.

THE GOOD NEWS: WE STILL HAVE C-SPAN

If you’re looking for unfiltered coverage of news and events the mainstream media won’t touch (or perhaps because they screw up everything they touch) – such as important testimony before Congress, how your elected reps are voting, or the libertarian party convention, C-SPAN is the only place you’re going to get it. 

And if the mainstream media’s butchering of the Kennedy legacy is starting to get tiresome; if you’re weary of all the nonstop, fawning punditry we’ve had to tolerate lately in the wake of Sen. Kennedy’s cancer diagnosis, Clinton’s “Assassingate,” and the 40th anniversary of RFK’s murder, you might want to keep an eye on C-SPAN over the next couple weeks. They will be broadcasting several programs to remember RFK’s legacy in a low-key, respectful manner.

The first of which we caught live last week; a special symposium and panel discussion on the 1968 campaign of Robert F. Kennedy. Hosted at Washington D.C.’s Newseum, the program featured many of Kennedy’s closest surviving friends sharing their memories of him and was deeply moving to watch.

“To Seek a Newer World: A Symposium on the Life and Legacy of Robert F. Kennedy” was sponsored by the Freedom Forum, Vanderbilt University and the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial. Kennedy’s widow Ethel and daughter Kathleen Kennedy-Townsend also attended the panel discussion, and were on hand to present the annual Robert F. Kennedy Book and Journalism Awards later that evening.

Former Kennedy associates John Doar, Peter Edelman, Frank Mankiewicz, John Nolan, John Seigenthaler, James E. Tolan, William Vanden Heuvel, and Charles McDew spoke at length about RFK’s 1968 campaign and the transformative effect his all-too-brief bid for the presidency had on America.

C-SPAN will most likely rebroadcast this program in the days ahead, so keep an eye out for that. You can also watch the video online for free once it has been added to the C-SPAN Archives website.

And just thank your lucky stars (or your cable/satellite provider) for C-SPAN. In the barren desert wasteland of cable news these days, C-SPAN is an oasis, the only network we have left which still serves the public interest, not corporate interests.

 

* Copyright RFKin2008.com. The opinions expressed in this editorial are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Kennedy family, or the owners of this website.

RFK Jr.: Don’t Be Offended

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. walks down the pier in Hyannis Port to go sailing in the Figawi race Saturday. At far left is his sister Kerry Kennedy. (Photo by Jennifer Longley)

KENNEDY JR. SAYS “NO OFFENSE TAKEN” AT HILLARY RFK REMARK

From The Boston Herald

HYANNISPORT — Robert F, Kennedy Jr. emerged from the Kennedy family compound Saturday morning but responded only with a smile and a “hi” when asked about Hillary Clinton’s remarks concerning his assassinated father.

Friday night, however, responding to the daylong outcry over Hillary Clinton’s statement regarding the 1968 murder of his father, a former New York senator, Kennedy Jr. said in a written statement that the mention by Clinton should not be taken as offensive.

Kennedy Jr., who lives in New York and has endorsed Clinton, wrote:

“It is clear from the context that Hillary was invoking a familiar political circumstance in order to support her decision to stay in the race through June. I have heard her make this reference before, also citing her husband’s 1992 race, both of which were hard fought through June. I understand how highly charged the atmosphere is, but I think it is a mistake for people to take offense.”

The next morning, Kennedy Jr. stepped out alone onto the private dock at the family compound here and was soon joined by other family members. They were expected to spend part of the day sailing with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the family patriarch, whose diagnosis of brain cancer last week has shaken the Kennedys and the political world.

Kennedy Jr. said “he’s good” when asked about the health of Sen. Kennedy, who quietly took a seat on the compound’s back porch this morning so he could watch the day’s Figawi boat race.

“He’s in good spirits,” his nephew Chris Kennedy said of the senator as he arrived with his family at Fortes Beach, where the senator’s boat, “Mya,” is docked.

Copyright 2008, The Boston Herald.

Kennedy Out of Hospital, Headed for Hyannisport

(Stephan Savoia/Associated Press photo)

Senator Edward M. Kennedy walked out of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston on Wednesday.

TED KENNEDY RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL

 

By PAM BELLUCK and ANAHAD O’CONNOR

THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

BOSTON — One day after learning that he has a malignant brain tumor, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the longtime Massachusetts Democrat and patriarch of the Kennedy family, walked out of a hospital to a crowd of well wishers on Wednesday, appearing strong and cheerful.

Mr. Kennedy was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital on Saturday after suffering a seizure at his Cape Cod compound. After several days of tests, a preliminary biopsy of the brain revealed that Mr. Kennedy, 76, has a malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe on the upper part of his brain, a cancer that often carries a bleak prognosis.

But if there were any signs that the diagnosis had slowed Mr. Kennedy or dampened his spirits, they were not evident as he left the hospital on Wednesday morning. Holding hands with his wife and walking side by side with his children, Mr. Kennedy exited the hospital to cheers and cries of good luck from a few dozen supporters who had gathered outside the hospital. Mr. Kennedy waved and gave a thumbs up sign as he walked to his car, then circled back and played with his two dogs before getting into a car and driving off.

The only evidence of the procedure and diagnosis appeared to be a two-inch by two-inch bandage on the back of Mr. Kennedy’s head.

Dr. Lee H. Schwamm, the hospital’s vice chairman of neurology, and Dr. Larry Ronan, Mr. Kennedy’s primary care physician at the hospital, said in a statement that Mr. Kennedy “has recovered remarkably quickly” and would be awaiting further test results and treatment plans while recovering at his Cape Cod home.

On Tuesday, they explained his treatment options, saying that the usual course for someone with his history and diagnosis includes “combinations of various forms of radiation and chemotherapy.”

News of the brain tumor jolted people in Washington, Massachusetts and beyond, generating reaction from around the world, where Mr. Kennedy’s family legacy and his 46 years in the Senate have made him a well-known figure.

Aside from an unsuccessful run for president in 1980, Mr. Kennedy has focused his energy on issues including health care, education and civil rights. Despite his liberal ideology and occasional loud clashes on the Senate floor, Mr. Kennedy is held in high esteem by the opposition for his determination, understanding of the issues, and a willingness to work in a bipartisan fashion on subjects like education, health care and immigration.

“Senator Kennedy enjoys great respect and admiration on this side of the aisle,” said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader. “He is indeed one of the most important figures to ever serve in this body in our history.”

In a statement, President Bush said, “Ted Kennedy is a man of tremendous courage, remarkable strength, and powerful spirit.” Mr. Bush said he and his wife, Laura, “join our fellow Americans in praying for his full recovery.”

Senator John McCain echoed that sentiment, and both Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton invoked Mr. Kennedy at length on Tuesday night in their speeches following the Oregon and Kentucky primaries.

Doctors and people close to Mr. Kennedy said on Tuesday that while he was in the hospital he was “in good spirits and full of energy” and “in overall good condition.” He has not had another seizure since he was hospitalized, they said.

“Right now, he’s his normal self, except for the news that he’s dealing with,” said a close friend who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “I bet he’ll be back at the Cape sailing this weekend. I expect he’ll go back to work” after the Memorial Day recess.

Senate Democrats and Republicans learned of Mr. Kennedy’s condition as they were gathered for their weekly closed-door party luncheons, and members of both parties were visibly shaken by the news.

As he opened debate on the Iraq spending bill, Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, at 90 the only current senator to serve longer than Mr. Kennedy, was distraught. “Ted, Ted, my dear friend, I love you and miss you,” Mr. Byrd said in halting remarks on the floor.

Malignant glioma is the most common form of brain cancer, accounting for about 9,000 cases diagnosed each year in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. They are more common in older people, especially those between the ages of 75 and 84, according to the American Cancer Society.

The prognosis varies depending on the type and severity of the tumor, and the patient’s age. The American Cancer Society said survival rates dropped with increasing age.

Dr. Patrick Y. Wen, clinical director of the Center for Neuro-Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, said the average prognosis for the most aggressive type of glioma was 14 to 15 months, while the prognosis for slower-growing tumors was two to four years.

“This is a sad situation,” Dr. Wen said. He said that such tumors can sometimes affect sensation, speech, or vision, and that tumors in older people tend to be harder to treat. “These are unfortunately aggressive tumors.”

Alain Charest, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at Tufts Medical Center, said if the tumor could be removed surgically doctors would do so, although gliomas are difficult to remove because cells from the tumor tend to travel to other parts of the brain. Radiation and chemotherapy usually follow surgery.

Dr. Carl B. Heilman, chairman of the department of neurosurgery at Tufts Medical Center, said that most people went back to work after a biopsy, and that many patients responded well to radiation therapy and oral chemotherapy at first.

Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts said on Tuesday in Washington that he had visited Mr. Kennedy over the weekend.

“He’s in a fighting mood,” Mr. Kerry said. “He is asking questions about what the choices are for him. He’s deeply involved in making all the kinds of personal decisions that any of you would.”

Mr. Kerry added: “He would call you and help arrange a discussion with a bunch of doctors to talk about a wife who was sick or a child or any number of things — now everybody needs to do that on behalf of Ted. Everybody needs to pull for him and his family and remember that this guy is one unbelievable fighter.”

In Massachusetts, the impact of Mr. Kennedy’s persona and political legacy is hard to overestimate.

“There’ll never be another Ted Kennedy,” said Paul S. Grogan, president and chief executive of the Boston Foundation, which finances nonprofits involved in economic development and other state issues. “He’s sort of Horatio at the bridge. He’s been such an outsized figure, so influential, so effective.”

Mr. Grogan said that Mr. Kennedy had given Massachusetts a level of political prominence beyond what would normally be accorded a state of its size, and that he had helped engineer policies and financing mechanisms that benefited important sectors of the state, including universities and medical centers.

“He’s single-handedly postponed the onset of Massachusetts’s political decline,” Mr. Grogan said, adding, “His vigor, his vitality and his longevity has kind of encouraged us all to believe that he’s immortal, and we’ve gotten used to the idea that he’s going to be around forever. But this is a reminder that he’s not.”

Cameron Kerry, a lawyer who is the brother of Senator Kerry, said the news of the brain tumor was “like an earthquake,” adding, “He’s just such a colossus that this kind of shakes the ground underneath everything.”

Mr. Kerry said that “on a political level, he’s just been so good to my brother and to the whole family. He really is like family.”

Jack Connors, a businessman who is active in Democratic causes, said: “Ted Kennedy raised public service to an art form. Ted Kennedy has really been a hero for people who don’t really have much of a voice.”

Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, called him “clearly the most influential senator in U.S. history.” Mr. Frank added: “His personality, his understanding of the legislative process, his dedication. He has a good sense of other people, a lot of empathy. And he hires first-rate people and knows how to benefit from them.”

Legislators close to Mr. Kennedy, like Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, said on Tuesday that they were certain Mr. Kennedy would return to work and would battle the tumor with his characteristic tenacity and energy.

“He’s a fighter,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, “and he’s definitely ready for this fight.”

Pam Belluck reported from Boston. Carl Hulse contributed reporting from Washington and Katie Zezima contributed reporting from Boston.

World Awaits News of Sen. Kennedy’s Condition

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., applauds during a ceremony to award the Profile in Courage Awards, Monday, May 12, 2008 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. His wife Victoria Reggie Kennedy is behind him. Kennedy was hospitalized with apparent stroke-like symptoms, Saturday morning, May 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole)

TED KENNEDY HOSPITALIZED WITH SEIZURE

From the Associated Press

BOSTON (AP) — Sen. Edward M. Kennedy was airlifted to a hospital early today after suffering a seizure at his home, and did not appear to have had a stroke as initially suspected, his spokeswoman said.

The 76-year-old Democrat, the lone surviving son in a famed political family, was undergoing tests at Massachusetts General Hospital to determine the cause of the seizure, spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said.

“Senator Kennedy is resting comfortably, and it is unlikely we will know anything more for the next 48 hours,” she said. Kennedy’s wife, Victoria, was with him at the hospital, Cutter said.

Kennedy went to Cape Cod Hospital on Saturday morning “after feeling ill at his home,” Cutter said. After discussion with his doctors in Boston, Kennedy was taken to Massachusetts General.

An official who declined to be identified by name, citing the sensitivity of the events, had earlier said that Kennedy had stroke-like symptoms. The hospital declined to comment on his condition.

In October, Kennedy had surgery to repair a nearly complete blockage in a major neck artery. The discovery was made during a routine examination of a decades-old back injury.

The hourlong procedure on his left carotid artery — a main supplier of blood to the face and brain — was performed at Massachusetts General. This type of operation is performed on more than 180,000 people a year to prevent a stroke.

The doctor who operated on Kennedy said at the time that surgery is reserved for those with more than 70 percent blockage, and Kennedy had “a very high-grade blockage.”

On Saturday, Hyannis Fire Lt. Bill Rex said a 911 call came in from the Kennedy family compound at 8:19 a.m. A man was transported to Cape Cod Hospital and transferred by air at 10:10 a.m. from Barnstable Municipal Airport to Boston.

David Reilly, a spokesman for Cape Cod Hospital, said that Kennedy was brought to the hospital around 9 a.m. and stayed for about an hour before being flown by helicopter to the Boston hospital.

Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts did not talk to reporters when he arrived at the hospital shortly after 1 p.m.

Kerry later issued a statement, saying that Kennedy “been a fighter who has overcome adversity again and again with courage, grit, and determination. Teresa and I are praying” for Kennedy’s family.

Kennedy, 76, has been in the Senate since election in 1962, filling out the term won by his brother, John F. Kennedy.

Kennedy is the lone surviving son in a famed family. His eldest brother, Joseph, was killed in a World War II airplane crash. President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and his brother Robert was assassinated in 1968.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, beginning a tour of hospitals in Eugene, Ore., told reporters that he had been in touch with the senator’s family.

“Ted Kennedy is a giant in American political history. He’s done more for health care than just about anybody in history. We are going to be rooting for him. I insist on being optimistic about how it’s going to turn out,” he said.

Obama’s rival for the Democratic nomination, New York. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, also issued a statement.

“My thoughts and prayers are with Ted Kennedy and his family today,” she said. “We all wish him well and a quick recovery.”

Kennedy gave Obama’s presidential campaign a big boost this year with his endorsement and has campaigned actively for the Illinois senator.

Kennedy was preparing to host the annual Best Buddies Challenge event on Saturday afternoon, a fundraiser for the Best Buddies organization founded by Anthony Kennedy Shriver that helps people with intellectual disabilities.

Hundreds are expected to participate in the event, which started with a 100-mile bicycle ride from the Kennedy Library in Boston to Hyannisport, and closes out with a concert at the Kennedy compound.

A man walking by Massachusetts General was startled by the news when he asked about the reason for the large media presence.

“Ted? Is he all right? Jeez, I’m taken aback. I just saw him on television yesterday,” said Jerry Leonard, 76, a retired bartender.

“He’s a Kennedy. His name is synonymous with this area. I’m a Bostonian, too, and he’s done a lot for us around here and for the senior citizens in particular. I don’t know him but I feel a connection.”

 

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

BREAKING: Sen. Ted Kennedy Rushed To Hospital

BREAKING NEWS: SENATOR KENNEDY HOSPITALIZED

Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) was hospitalized early this morning with “stroke-like symptoms,” according to the Associated Press.

Authorities recieved a 911 call at about 8:15 a.m. this morning from the Kennedy home at Hyannisport. Senator Kennedy was rushed to a nearby hospital on Cape Cod, then flown to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston for treatment.

The 76 year-old Senator is now undergoing a battery of tests at the Boston hospital, while family members, friends and an army of reporters eagerly await word of his condition.

One bit of hopeful news, at least for now: the Kennedy family released a statement about an hour ago saying that it appears Senator Kennedy did not suffer a stroke, but he did have a seizure. They remain “guardedly optimistic” and hopeful that within the next 24-48 hours, we will know more.

Stay tuned for updates as they become available…everyone here at RFKin2008.com sends out our prayers to the Kennedy family. We know Teddy’s mighty tough, and have absolute faith he will pull though this.