Bob Dole diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer

[Polybius]

Source: NBC News

Bob Dole, the former longtime Kansas senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, said Thursday that he has stage 4 lung cancer.

“Recently, I was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. My first treatment will begin on Monday,” Dole, 97, said in a statement.

“While I certainly have some hurdles ahead, I also know that I join millions of Americans who face significant health challenges of their own,” Dole added.

Dole served as a U.S. senator from Kansas from 1969 to 1996 and also served as both the Senate majority and minority leader during his long career. He was the GOP presidential nominee in 1996, losing to Bill Clinton.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/bob-dole-diagnosed-stage-4-lung-cancer-n1258241

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Horrible at any age, but I can't imagine going through it at 97. I wish him well.

[UpInArms]

1. I never forgave him for

Swearing under oath that cigarettes were not addicting. He was in big tobacco's pocket

[Irish_Dem]

2. Karma time.

[BigDemVoter]

3. And he's had a long life. . .

Just think of all the people mowed down by lung cancer while still young. Isn't Dole in his late 90's? I'm too lazy to look it up!

[bearsfootball516]

5. 98 years

[Polybius]

8. It's in the OP

97.

[NotHardly]

17. Dole is a miserable crabbed-up c**ksucker & always has been hateful sh*t...

I was raised in KS but escaped some time back and I can tell you people that lived under that c*nts tenure in politics that he is a hateful toad.

[lapfog_1]

46. Oddly enough I grew up in Kansas as well

and in 1974 Bob Dole nominated me to the Naval Academy.

My grandfather, my father, and my brother were all Navy vets, in fact my brother, a Lt, had invited me to travel to Hawaii and sail on board his ship back to home port in San Diego the previous summer.

My father just about burst his shirt buttons when the letter from Sen Dole arrived.

So... in the late spring... when the car drove up with the two Navy officers in dress uniforms... I naturally thought it had to do with my nomination.

Needless to say, my mother put her put down about me serving in the Navy... and my dad never brought up the subject again.

[calguy]

4. Probably the end of the road for him

He's lived a long and honorable life. I seldom agreed with his politics, he is, after all, a republican. I never questioned his dedication to the country. A truly great American.

[StevieM]

15. He was a supporter and enabler of Ken Starr.

That is not honorable IMO.

[WheelWalker]

26. In the immortal words of Neil Young, "Even Richard Nixon has got soul."

[calguy]

27. Since he was a Republican there are many of his actions we won't agree with

That doesn't take away, for me at least, his patriotism and his service to the country.
We could use a lot more republicans like him in government right now.
He is a dying breed.

[StevieM]

30. I totally disagree.

Ken Starr was, and is, a fascist. He was the Donald Trump of his day. His enablers do not have my respect, anymore than Trump's enablers do.

Bob Dole ushered in the era of swift boating IMO. The GOP policy of carefully cultivating a narrative of scandal against Democratic opponents began with him.

On top that that he also dramatically increased the scope of the filibuster. It was under his leadership that we first arrived at a place where every single piece of legislation took 60 votes to pass the Senate. The filibuster became the rule, rather than the exception.

I don't believe those things are comparable to voting differently than we might like on a particular policy proposal.

[calguy]

32. You certainly have the right to totally disagree.

[machoneman]

41. Yep, a Starr enabler. Hope it hurts, Dole!

[Auggie]

6. We should at least thank him for helping President Clinton get reelected

[Polybius]

10. Perhaps no W Bush if Dole wins in 1996 though

That means no perhaps endless wars, and maybe even no 9/11. Changing one little thing in a timeline can potentially change everything.

[Auggie]

13. Seriously?

Dozens of "little things" led to the Bush coup, the least of which was Dole's loss to Clinton.

[Polybius]

14. Well there definitely wouldn't have been Bush in 2000

And of the two, I’d take Dole over Bush. W I just loath.

[Greybnk48]

7. I was never a fan, thought of him as similar to McConnell. BUT please read:

when my daughter went to Washington on a trip for Junior High (1980's), their tour ran into Bob Dole in the Capitol Building. He made it a point to fuss over the kids, spent time posing for pictures with them, and had his aide get the kids some keepsakes (pens or something, I'm not remembering what exactly).

He has somewhat of a good heart, Maybe the upper right corner of his left atrium is "love of kids."

[Fullduplexxx]

11. And hitler loved puppies

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

9. He's lived a long damn time

Never agreed with him politically but in retrospect he isn't as bad as the current crop of Republican clowns.

[Fullduplexxx]

12. These people tried and are still trying to destroy my union my pension my soc sec my healthcare etc

They can all follow rush into the hole ...

[DENVERPOPS]

40. Here is one for you

Do you remember during the last week before the election, Dole was said to be taking time off from campaigning and that he was worn out, and resting in his condo somewhere that week?

Actually he was hiding out from the Media so he wouldn't be asked about the affair of his that the press had just discovered.
(Back in those days, the press would sit on a story, rather than broadcast it and effect the election.)
His staff didn't trust the Media that the media would sit on the story, and all the sordid details, so they pulled him off the campaign trail, so he couldn't be asked about it during campaign stops if the story broke. Even after he lost, most media decided not to release the story and damage him. I can't remember if he was still a Republican Senator and voted for impeaching Clinton for a consensual blow job.

By the way, his charming wife Liddy was in charge of the Red Cross when the Red Cross's biggest scandal ever hit the news. Seems managers all over the country were grifting or embezzling money from their regions to supplement their salaries......

And for even more info, check out her nightmare political crap as the head of the Red Cross, and Husband Bob's involvement:

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/red-cross-question-competence/

[SpankMe]

16. I'll never forget the incident with the UN convention for persons with disabilities

It was a UN treaty to ban discrimination against people with disabilities. A wheel chair bound Bob Dole came to the Senate chamber (this was some 10 years ago) to advocate on behalf of the treaty.

It was a simple thing and not really binding on the US, as most treaties aren't directly enforceable. But, it would have been a great symbolic gesture for the US to join a large consensus stating that accommodating people with disabilities was the civilized thing to do.

Republicans overwhelmingly voted down the treaty on the old Republican trope that joining any treaty is a threat to American sovereignty. They greeted Dole on the Senate floor as a celebrity, and then when Dole left, they voted it down. 99.99% pure asshole.

It was a heartless raised middle finger and stick up the ass to a distinguished member of the old guard in the Senate.

I felt bad for Dole. It was a glaring example of the cranky seditionist version of the Republican party sticking it up the ass of an old Republican party who'd actually cut deals with Dems to get things done.

[Hekate]

18. Yes

[Kaleva]

19. If he passes soon, his legacy will be praised by Biden, Harris, Pelosi, Schumer and others

His critics will be ignored.

[NurseJackie]

20. It won't be long now. He's 97... I suspect he won't make it to 98.

Liddy will be a widow before the end of this month.

[Grokenstein]

23. I remember when he campaigned for her...opponent.

https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/17/us/as-political-spouse-bob-dole-strays-from-campaign-script.html

Three times she stood by his side as he ran for the Presidency and lost, and recalling her tireless campaigning, he says, ''I'm her biggest fan and supporter and should do for her what she did for me.'' But in his first extensive interview about the progress of his wife's campaign, Mr. Dole said he wanted to give money to a rival candidate who was fighting for much of her support.

(snip)

Hedging his bets, perhaps, Mr. Dole acknowledged that he wanted to contribute to the campaign of Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, a close friend who stuck by Mr. Dole's side in the final, depressing weeks of his run against President Clinton in 1996.

[TexasBushwhacker]

21. I can't imagine wanting to go through cancer treatment at 97.

I would just call it a day.

[Chemisse]

29. I agree. It's clearly terminal. Why go throught the agony?

And why would his physician even promote it?

[TexasBushwhacker]

37. Well, oncologists get paid to administer chemo

But it's possible that it's part of his palliative care. Sometimes they'll try to slow the growth of the tumors to keep the pain under control.

[Chemisse]

43. Your latter comment makes sense.

But I would suggest that even oncologists are charged with "first, do no harm", so they hopefully have an ethical standard that draws the line somewhere.

[TexasBushwhacker]

45. Ethical standards? One would think

but this is from my experience with my mother's unethical, incompetent oncologist.

[Warpy]

22. I would hope his oncologist has been honest enough to suggest palliative care

if it's a solid tumor. People who choose it over heroics have been proven to live longer, on average. They certainly live better.

I never agreed with him on much of anything, but I appreciated his sense of humor, especially once he was out of office.

[Chemisse]

44. I did get a big kick out of him doing that Viagra ad.

It sure softened my image of him.

[trueblue2007]

24. i wish him well too. LIVE TILL 100 Senator Dole.

[JohnnyRingo]

25. Old school republican

A republican nonetheless, but the kind Bill Clinton can call a friend. Those were the days.

I wish him well too. Chemo can have some adverse effects, especially at his vintage.

[TNNurse]

28. I took chemo at 62

Why anyone that age would consider it is hard to believe.

There are situations when the treatment is worse than the disease, I believe this is one of them.

[Chemisse]

31. It can even be fatal itself.

I wonder where oncologists draw that ethical line. One would think it would be well before age 97!

[TNNurse]

33. I worked with a doctor who found cancer in a nurse we worked with.

He was pretty new to our hospital. Her chemo ended her life. He was devastated. He told me he wished had never found it. I told him that I had known her longer and knew she was the kind of person who would have wanted to fight. I am not sure he ever accepted it.

[Chemisse]

34. That's really sad.

I had chemo at age 62 also (breast cancer) and I dragged myself into work as many days as I could. It was really hard to do, but I didn't want to let my students down altogether, and summer break was so close. It wasn't until my mental fog cleared up and I looked back on it that I realized I actually put my life in jeopardy by doing that!

[TNNurse]

35. yes, I came back to work

as a nursing supervisor. I worried a lot about chemo brain (it is real) and could not work a 12 hr shift. I was terrified that I would miss an observation or make a bad judgement. I was not allowed to work until my white count was back up after chemo...hospitals have germs.

You will understand this story. Months later, maybe even after radiation (which is so tiring), I sat in the waiting room at my oncologist's office and saw a woman come in on an ambulance stretcher for her visit. I said to my doctor that at least I never had to do that and she responded..."bet you felt like it though". She was right, there were days I thought one more treatment would be too much.

[Chemisse]

36. So true.

I recall taking these little baby steps down the halls of the school; that's as fast as I could go because I was so weak. I remember being in bed and being so thirsty and not having enough energy to reach for the water that was right next to the bed!

Thankfully the stakes weren't as high for me with the chemo brain. Making a mistake on a math problem in front of high school students is nothing compared to health decisions. And they were so understanding too.

Those sure were rough months, but well worth it to have beaten back a cancer that was as late in stage 3 as it could get before heading out for distant territories.

[Raine]

38. I wish him the best and an easy peaceful passage when his time comes. 🙏 nt

[rwsanders]

42. At one time I thought he was reasonable and honorable, especially since he was a WWII vet. Then he

started behaving differently. The democrats could have proposed a bill that would have fixed everything including world peace and he would have opposed it tooth and nail. I never understood why until he announced he was running for president.
I wonder if he will be bunking near Rush in hell.

[Sapient Donkey]

47. Not trying to be crass, but I seriously thought he died awhile ago.

I would imagine dying sucks at any age, but 97 years is a pretty good run. Who knows, though. Maybe he'll get a few more in. If so, I hope they are not too horrible.

[Demonaut]

48. Bob Dole cares that Bob Dole has lung cancer, Bob Dole says Bob Dole loves trump