As I noted when his health problems came to light, I don't think that now is the time to attack Ted Kennedy for all the crappy deeds of his past. Human decency and compassion requires that we offer our best wishes for a full recovery.

Today is one of those days, as he undergoes surgery related to the brain tumor that was discovered following his seizures.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) will undergo surgery this morning at Duke University to try and remove a highly lethal tumor that doctors discovered in his brain last month.

In a statement, the 76-year-old Democratic icon said he would fight the grim prognosis he was given in May through a combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. The operation, which is being performed by neurosurgeon Allan H. Friedman of Duke University Medical Center, is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. and last about six hours.

Kennedy said in his statement that he expected to remain at Duke for about a week after the operation, and start radiation and chemotherapy at Massachusetts General Hospital shortly thereafter.

Kennedy was diagnosed in mid-May with a malignant glioma, a highly aggressive type of tumor that doctors say can never be completely destroyed. About half of the 10,000 people found to have such tumors in the United States each year die within 12 months; three-quarters of them are dead within two years.

My prayers are with the Massachusetts senator at this time, and with his family as they wait with a man they love despite his many flaws. At a time like this politics is irrelevant and love of our fellow man should be the rule.