Ted Kennedy hospitalized

I found out very accidentally around noon today on MSNBC that Ted Kennedy had been hospitalized for a possible stroke.

Since then, I've had the TV on in the background while facilitating my online class and monitoring a few other things (including Carli and her little friend, Victoria Leeder). Of course, I quickly switched to Fox, which is only fitting. :) They have had a great set of guests on, both by phone and in person through the day since then, including Michael Barone, Brit Hume, former Arizona Senator Dennis DeConcini, Trent Lott, John Breaux, Cal Thomas (who is a good friend of Kennedy's, oddly enough; he told the very compeling story of how it all came about) and others.

It sounds at this point like the Senator will be OK; he has had 2 seizures this morning. Brit Hume told about his own bout with seizures 40 years ago, as quite a young man, and apparently, they stopped as mysteriously as they started and were never that serious in their long-term effect. And Senator Kennedy made a call on his own at 10:30 to cancel a lunch appointment (Hat Tip to Mark Halperin's excellent site, The Page, on Time.com).

The political junkie in me loves all of this and I have always been intrigued by Ted Kennedy. Seeing him on the Senate floor when we visited the Capitol in 2001 was a highlight of the day. I can't say I like him, though, but apparently the reverse is true for many Republicans. He has a very warm relationship with Sen. Orrin Hatch from Utah and has worked closely with John McCain, Trent Lott and others.

It is hard for me to get past the belief, though, that Ted Kennedy has benefited from a wealthy family and deep connections to high places in ways that no one else would have that have enabled his longevity in the Senate in spite of a personal life that has been tawdry and sordid. Would anyone else have survived the Chappaquiddick incident and been able to run not only successfully for 7 additional Senate terms, but to mount a competitive Presidential campaign (1980)? I don't believe that Kennedy intentionally committed murder, but how would Joe Blow have avoided prosecution for such an incident, not to speak of jail time, as Kennedy did?

Is this unfair and unkind to mention in an hour of physical struggle? I guess it must be commonly considered off-limits in journalistic circles, even on Fox, since everyone is singing from the same page on this, namely that "he gets things done", "he reaches across the aisle", "he is very warm in person", etc.

I do wish the Senator a quick recovery, though I wouldn't mind seeing him become a private citizen. :)