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Ophelia Ford denies drug, alcohol problem
Memphis Commercial Appeal ^ | 5/24/7 | Richard Locker

Posted on 05/24/2007 1:13:05 PM PDT by SmithL

NASHVILLE -- Embattled state Sen. Ophelia Ford said today that she plans to remain in office at least through her first term that ends in 2010. She also flatly denied any suggestion that she has a drug or alcohol problem, as her brother County Commissioner Joe Ford implied Wednesday.

"Ms. Ophelia Ford is going to be here and there is nothing you can say or do to take me away. I don't care what the media says," Ford said in an interview in her Nashville office. "I will be here in the Senate and I will be here until my four years is up. I've got a long time to decide" about whether to run for re-election in 2010, she said.

She said a Nashville hotel employee was "absolutely wrong" when he told ambulance dispatchers last week, after she fell from a stool in a concierge lounge, that she was "very intoxicated." "I had not been drinking. I do take medication. They were absolutely wrong and it was misinterpreted." She said that her symptoms might have caused hotels workers to think otherwise.

Ford, 56, blamed her frequent absences from legislative sessions this year on the "chronic anemia" that she says doctors diagnosed last summer during a two-week hospital stay. She's had three blood transfusions since then, she told The Commercial Appeal and The Associated Press.

She said that she was exhausted last summer, following a special election campaign in late 2005 and a subsequent five-month fight to keep her Senate seat that included a federal court fight with Senate Republicans who tried to oust her. She was admitted to hospital, tests were run and -- after falling in the hospital -- she said doctors finally diagnosed her with anemia.

"I was a little anemic when I had my daughter. She's 34 now. It just came down on me with the courts, suing the Senate. It just came down on me."

Ford said she's not aware of the precise kind of anemia she has. She said she would not permit her physicians to speak with reporters about her condition.

She was visibly upset with her brother Joe Ford's calls for her to enter "rehab" and said that despite his repeated public discussions about her in the media, he has not returned her calls nor has he called her. "I've been calling this guy for weeks. " She did say she spoke with Joe Ford's wife this week and that her brother Edmund Ford and his wife have both called her this week.

"I don't know where Joe came up with that. He's a recovering alcoholic and drug addict for 15 years," she declared.

"My family don't take care of me. I take care of myself."


TOPICS: Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections; US: California
KEYWORDS: familytradition; ford; memphis; opheliaford
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1 posted on 05/24/2007 1:13:07 PM PDT by SmithL
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To: SmithL
In her glory.

2 posted on 05/24/2007 1:16:35 PM PDT by I see my hands (_8(|)
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To: SmithL
"I was a little anemic when I had my daughter. She's 34 now. "

Isn't that a bit too long ago to be blaming on a present "condition"?

3 posted on 05/24/2007 1:16:48 PM PDT by theDentist (Qwerty ergo typo : I type, therefore I misspelll.)
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To: SmithL
I guess we have to guess Ms. Ford's political party?

/sarc

4 posted on 05/24/2007 1:17:29 PM PDT by Osage Orange (Political Correctness...is Intellectual Fascism)
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To: SmithL

She has been getting transfusions of Jack Daniels.

She doesnt want her Doctor talking because he might tell the truth.

One thing she has no shortage of is arrogance.


5 posted on 05/24/2007 1:24:13 PM PDT by sgtbono2002 (I'm gonna vote for Fred. John Bolton for VP.)
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To: SmithL
Sure...Bar Stool Anemia is a well-known condition.

(She should try Anemics Anonymous.)

6 posted on 05/24/2007 1:30:20 PM PDT by PBRSTREETGANG
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To: SmithL
She also flatly denied any suggestion that she has a drug or alcohol problem

Yeah, she has no problems getting drugs and alcohol.

7 posted on 05/24/2007 1:32:19 PM PDT by dirtboy (A store clerk has done more to fight the WOT than Rudy.)
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To: Osage Orange
I guess we have to guess Ms. Ford's political party?

Nope. That, and a few other characteristics...


8 posted on 05/24/2007 1:37:28 PM PDT by GoldCountryRedneck ("Why can’t we start solving the problem by breaking up Big Government?"- MortMan)
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To: Osage Orange
I guess we have to guess Ms. Ford's political party?

In fairness to the Commercial Appeal, since she is a Ford, most folks in Memphis don't need to be reminded of the political affiliation.

9 posted on 05/24/2007 1:47:37 PM PDT by SmithL (si vis pacem, para bellum)
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To: I see my hands

“Adding comments have been disabled for this video.”
Well, I thought it was hilarious.


10 posted on 05/24/2007 2:11:36 PM PDT by dynachrome (Henry Bowman is right.)
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To: SmithL
""My family don't take care of me. I take care of myself."

I am proud to say I am also a Tennessee Public School graduate.

Because her last name is Ford, I am guessing she is from Memphis. Is that correct?

11 posted on 05/24/2007 2:16:26 PM PDT by Volunteer (Just so you know, I am ashamed the Dixie Chicks make records in Nashville.)
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To: SmithL
She was admitted to hospital, tests were run and -- after falling in the hospital -- she said doctors finally diagnosed her with anemia.

"Doctors 'finally' diagnosed her with anemia"? Dammit Jim, I'm an engineer, not a doctor, but if you're admitted to the hospital, practically the first thing they do is draw blood and do tests, and one of those tests is your hemoglobin level. It's so quick and so easy that they do it if you donate blood, while you sit and watch.

12 posted on 05/24/2007 2:21:41 PM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten per cent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: Volunteer
Because her last name is Ford, I am guessing she is from Memphis. Is that correct?

You need to get better knowledged about it

Yes, she is in that family.

13 posted on 05/24/2007 2:31:45 PM PDT by SmithL (si vis pacem, para bellum)
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To: I see my hands

OMG that is all I can say. How did that get elected?...never mind.


14 posted on 05/24/2007 2:53:52 PM PDT by doodad
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To: GoldCountryRedneck
Oh....green eyes...so a member of the Green Party.

Dat 'splains it!

Gracia's mi Freeper amigo

15 posted on 05/24/2007 3:24:08 PM PDT by Osage Orange (The old/liberal/socialist media is the most ruthless and destructive enemy of this country.)
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To: SmithL

Harold’s kin?


16 posted on 05/24/2007 3:25:26 PM PDT by Osage Orange (The old/liberal/socialist media is the most ruthless and destructive enemy of this country.)
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To: Osage Orange
Harold’s kin?

You betcha, she's his aunt.

Harold's Father, Harold, Sr. was a congressman caught up in the Butcher Brother Bank collapse. He was the only one involved that wasn't convicted (the trial was in Memphis).

Harold's Uncle is John Ford, who resigned from the State Senate after being indicted in the TN Waltz. He has since been convicted of some of the charges.

Harold's Aunt Ophelia replaced her brother John in the State Senate when he resigned. Later she ran for and won that seat, but the Senate kicked her out because too many dead voters had been documented. That seat remained empty until she ran for it again, and won in a landslide.

17 posted on 05/24/2007 3:54:43 PM PDT by SmithL (si vis pacem, para bellum)
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To: SmithL

“Ford, 56, blamed her frequent absences from legislative sessions this year on the “chronic anemia”

So she stops at the saloon for mama’s finger-lickin’ good homemade soup made with an olive and a twist of lemon.

Mmmm! Mmmmmm! Good!


18 posted on 05/24/2007 4:31:53 PM PDT by sergeantdave (Give Hillary a 50¢ coupon for Betty Crocker's devils food mix & tell her to go home and bake a cake)
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To: SmithL

Sounds like Oklahoma’s Gene Stipe’s......Good ‘Ol boy network.....


19 posted on 05/24/2007 4:47:12 PM PDT by Osage Orange (The old/liberal/socialist media is the most ruthless and destructive enemy of this country.)
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To: SmithL
You need to get better knowledged about it

Wow..... how can this woman be elected?

20 posted on 05/24/2007 5:27:29 PM PDT by Volunteer (Just so you know, I am ashamed the Dixie Chicks make records in Nashville.)
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