I think Obama made ol Teddy take the blue pill for the good of the party and his Health Care bill...
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More likely his liver went. It’s a lot easier to drum up support of health care if your “lion” died of a brain tumor (”Why, that might happen to anyone...”) versus cirrhosis of the liver caused by his incredibly dissolute, gluttinous, and self-centered lifestyle. The alternative might be syphilis caught from sandwiched waitresses, but it’s doubtful in this day and age.