# RIP Ted Kennedy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 17, 2008, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666 "2008-05-17T17:09:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/41 "2008-05-20T17:27:28Z")
They’ve found the cause of the seizures, [it’s a malignant brain tumor](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24728667/). And the prognosis doesn’t look promising. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/42 "2008-05-20T17:31:30Z")
Any medical gurus there that can fill us in on what the left parietal lobe is and what it does? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/43 "2008-05-20T17:43:00Z")
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080520/ap\_on\_re\_us/kennedy;\_ylt=Ah32IvXqufYnyn8b2XrNKVRv24cA](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080520/ap_on_re_us/kennedy;_ylt=Ah32IvXqufYnyn8b2XrNKVRv24cA) Very sad indeed, and I am a conservative. My prayers are with him and his family… ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/44 "2008-05-20T17:46:57Z")
I don’t think you meant to post this here…reported it so mods can move it. And…well, not a fan of Kennedy, but nobody needs that. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/45 "2008-05-20T17:47:40Z")
I’ll combine this with the older thread about Kennedy’s illness. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/46 "2008-05-20T17:56:24Z")
I remember thinking the other day, after they said it was a seizure and not a stroke, that this was probably what happened to him. [QUOTE=kunilou] And the prognosis doesn’t look promising. [/QUOTE] “Brain tumor” is a very scary phrase, but they don’t have a prognosis or a lot of important details at this stage. We don’t know how far advanced it is or how likely it is to spread, for one thing, and personally I don’t know how often these kinds of cancer recur or how well they respond to treatment. It’s serious for anybody and more so for a man of 76, that’s a given, and I wish him the best. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/47 "2008-05-20T18:12:43Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] “Brain tumor” is a very scary phrase, but they don’t have a prognosis or a lot of important details at this stage. [/QUOTE] True enough, but doesn’t “malignant” kind of make it worse? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/48 "2008-05-20T18:17:07Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] True enough, but doesn’t “malignant” kind of make it worse? [/QUOTE] Almost always, yes, and a quick glance at Wikipedia does say it’s bad news for him - they say few patients live for more than three years. And he’s already an older man, although on the other hand, whatever the best treatment is, he’ll have it. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/49 "2008-05-20T18:24:19Z")
This is going to come out snarky and it’s not intended as such, but, will this make him the first Kennedy to die of natural causes? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/50 "2008-05-20T18:33:31Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] This is going to come out snarky and it’s not intended as such, but, will this make him the first Kennedy to die of natural causes? [/QUOTE] First male since Papa Joe, I beleive. Definitely the first of his male siblings. Aside from Jack and Bobby, he also had another brother, Joe Jr. who died in WWII. He’s lost a couple of nephews as well. John John flew into the ocean, and wasn’t there a nephew who skiied into a tree? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/51 "2008-05-20T18:35:20Z")
Michael Kennedy died after hitting a tree while skiing and playing football. I was going to say he pulled a Sonny Bono, but actually, he died a few days before Bono did. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/52 "2008-05-20T18:36:02Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] This is going to come out snarky and it’s not intended as such, but, will this make him the first Kennedy to die of natural causes? [/QUOTE] His mother died of old age, I think. Wasn’t she 101? ETA: Actually, according to Wikipedia, she was 104! ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/53 "2008-05-20T19:03:36Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Michael Kennedy died after hitting a tree while skiing and playing football. I was going to say he pulled a Sonny Bono, but actually, he died a few days before Bono did. [/QUOTE] Wait, he was skiing and playing football at the same time? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/54 "2008-05-20T19:10:57Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] Wait, he was skiing and playing football at the same time? [/QUOTE] The whole family was skiing and playing football at the same time. Wikipedia says Michael Kennedy was filming it when he crashed. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/55 "2008-05-20T19:24:26Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Michael Kennedy died after hitting a tree while skiing and playing football. I was going to say he pulled a Sonny Bono, but actually, he died a few days before Bono did. [/QUOTE] True story: The newscaster on one of NYC’s local news stations came in late the day after Sonny Bono died. He asked the DJ what the top story of the day was. The DJ replied “Sonny Bono died by skiing into a tree, just like Michael Kennedy.” The newscaster said “Yeah, right.” He then went on the air, said “Sonny Bono is dead.” There was about 30 seconds of dead silence before the DJ started laughing his ass off. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/56 "2008-05-20T19:24:36Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] Wait, he was skiing and playing football at the same time? [/QUOTE] I think they were playing ski football when it happened. The whole family has maintained its prominence over many decades but they aren’t the brightest little bulbs when it comes to risk assessment. You could lock them all up in a rubber room and a few of them would figure out a way to get killed or kill someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/57 "2008-05-20T20:53:52Z")
I don’t think Sonny Bono was football skiing, just plain skiing. I remember SNL did a pretty funny joke, but I can’t quite recall the details. It was based on running into a fir tree while wearing a fur coat. Anyone recall? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/58 "2008-05-20T20:59:58Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] I don’t think Sonny Bono was football skiing, just plain skiing. [/quote] Michael Kennedy was the one who was playing football and skiing. I don’t think Sonny Bono was doing anything other than skiing. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/59 "2008-05-20T21:16:26Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] I don’t think Sonny Bono was football skiing, just plain skiing. I remember SNL did a pretty funny joke, but I can’t quite recall the details. It was based on running into a fir tree while wearing a fur coat. Anyone recall? [/QUOTE] I Got Yew, Babe? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666/60 "2008-05-20T21:36:52Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] I Got Yew, Babe? [/QUOTE] Valliant try, but I don’t think that was it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-ted-kennedy/449666.md?page=4)