May 20, 2008

An emotional Sen. Robert Byrd pays tribute to Kennedy on the Senate floor.

The news that Kennedy has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor has brought forth a wellspring of good wishes for Kennedy. All three candidates made a point of sending good wishes to Kennedy in statements and speeches tonight, as have President Bush, Sen. John Kerry, Boston Mayor Tom Menino, Rep. Edward Markey, Rep. Barney Frank, Rep. Mike Capuano, Marty Meehan, Former Mass. Congressman, UMass Lowell Chancellor, Sen. Harry Reid, Majority Leader, Howard Dean, Democratic National Committee Chairman, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, Sen. John Sununu, Mass. Rep. Sal DiMasi, Mass. Speaker of the House and State Sen. Therese Murray, Mass. Senate President.

Unfortunately, not everyone was as humane (or is it just human?) as Media Matters chronicles:

Following the announcement that Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, nationally syndicated radio host Michael Savage opened his May 20 show by interspersing audio of Kennedy singing "Ay Jalisco No Te Rajes" with clips of news reporters discussing Kennedy's diagnosis and audio from the 1990 film Kindergarten Cop in which Arnold Schwarzenegger's character says, "It's not a tumor." Later, Savage played the Dead Kennedys song "California Über Alles" after stating: "The poor guy's been suffering for years, you know? Unfairly he's been accused of alcoholism, but we see now that it was something much more deep-seated. And so, to cut this out in some respect for Ted Kennedy, here's a tune coming at you from the Dead Kennedys. Go ahead and play it, please."

Classy. I wonder if his advertising sponsors know about this one.

UPDATE: Kennedy has left the hospital this morning, the Boston Globe has the video.

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