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Monday, August 4, 2008

Novak to retire immediately

Syndicated columnist Robert Novak announces his immediate retirement, explaining that his medical situation is "dire."

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7 Comments:

At August 4, 2008 at 3:34:00 PM EDT, Blogger Doug Shugarts said...

Also, note that the AP is reporting today that Ted Kennedy has taped a video to be played at the Democratic convention later this month.

I had thought that if Kennedy were able to reprise his 1980 convention speech ("the dream is still alive..."), it would be the signature moment of the convention.

Godspeed, to both men.

 
At August 4, 2008 at 3:41:00 PM EDT, Blogger Dan Kennedy said...

I don't know how much we should read into it, but I would have thought that Kennedy could speak at the convention in person. That doesn't sound like good news.

 
At August 4, 2008 at 11:04:00 PM EDT, Blogger Aaron Read said...

Does it make me a bad person to feel that Robert Novak is getting what he deserves after being such a slimeball?

I mean, I confess I'm relatively young (32) and I didn't really pay any attention to Novak before Plamegate. But the overwhelming impression I've gotten of the man is a self-absorbed hack who's a willing shill for the right. A "journalist" in the same vein as Bill O'Reilly.

Is that an unfair characterization?

 
At August 5, 2008 at 1:34:00 AM EDT, Blogger Sean Roche said...

Aaron,

No.

Dan,

I would only read into it that while undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, Ted Kennedy is and will be immuno-compromised. Hardly the time to share the air with thousands of the party faithful. His situation may be dire, but good judgment says he should stay at home even if his prognosis is good.

 
At August 5, 2008 at 5:01:00 AM EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said...

beautiful blog.

 
At August 5, 2008 at 10:30:00 AM EDT, Blogger Aaron Read said...

I would only read into it that while undergoing treatment for a brain tumor, Ted Kennedy is and will be immuno-compromised. Hardly the time to share the air with thousands of the party faithful. His situation may be dire, but good judgment says he should stay at home even if his prognosis is good.

Yes and no...as a cancer survivor myself, I can tell you that they DO warn you about how much chemotherapy compromises your immune system. But exactly how much depends on when in the various chemo cycles you're at...and also your overall health in general. And you are warned to NOT become a shut-in because, for most folks, the psychological impact is too detrimental.

Kennedy probably should avoid crowds but if he wears an air filter/face mask most of the time and stays a slight distance away from folks the rest, he probably would be fine.

Pressing the flesh, however, would be a no-no. Too many germs on the hands to be transferred. But he doesn't need to "work the crowd" quite that closely to have the same impact.

 
At August 5, 2008 at 4:46:00 PM EDT, Blogger mike_b1 said...

Kennedy's tumor is in a horrible spot. It rests atop where much of his vital long-term memory is stored. The prognosis for such patients is lousy at best, and even the surgery could render him too functionally impaired to do much more than sit and gaze. Removing the tumor (and surrounding tissue) could take much of his ability to say, do math, or could reduce his attention span to that of a gnat's. I'm surprised we haven't seen more reporting on this.

 

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