The district could do (and has done) worse. Johnson got the seat by ousting Cynthia McKinney. Johnson is a regional whip in the House Democratic leadership. I too hope he was drugged.
According to Newsweek, Johnson is suffering from Hepatitis C and is undergoing an experimental treatment for it, but is very ill. He has lost 30 pounds in the past year and lately "regularly gets lost in thought in the middle of a discussion."
According to the Wikipedia entry on Hank Johnson, he attempted later - without mentioning his illness - to clarify that he meant to use "capsizing" as a metaphor for the island's fragile ecosystem reaching a tipping point and failing from the pressure of the added population.
Regardless, I think anyone in Congress who's this ill needs to step away from official duties for their district's sake, but I don't know how the process works in these cases. I know Ted Kennedy kept working as a Senator throughout most of his fight with brain cancer, even after he could no longer make public appearances...
And therein lies the problem. If you can't reasonably do your job then you need to step aside. I don't care if you're Ted Kennedy o this fellow. If I were one of his constituents I would be royally pissed.
I heard the explanation that he meant it as a metaphor but his hand gestures make me doubt it, I think that may have just been trying to put a good face on a rather public mistake.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2010-04-01 08:47 pm (UTC)It also appears Rep. Johnson (D-GA) has considerable difficulty expressing himself in Standard English (couldn't find the word "narrowest", etc.).
no subject
Date: 2010-04-01 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-02 01:16 am (UTC)http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thehumancondition/archive/2010/04/01/hank-johnson-guam-and-hepatitis-c-us-rep-suffers-from-too-common-illness.aspx
According to the Wikipedia entry on Hank Johnson, he attempted later - without mentioning his illness - to clarify that he meant to use "capsizing" as a metaphor for the island's fragile ecosystem reaching a tipping point and failing from the pressure of the added population.
Regardless, I think anyone in Congress who's this ill needs to step away from official duties for their district's sake, but I don't know how the process works in these cases. I know Ted Kennedy kept working as a Senator throughout most of his fight with brain cancer, even after he could no longer make public appearances...
*shrug*
no subject
Date: 2010-04-02 01:38 am (UTC)I heard the explanation that he meant it as a metaphor but his hand gestures make me doubt it, I think that may have just been trying to put a good face on a rather public mistake.