Posted on 06/24/2011 6:53:04 PM PDT by Paul Kib
(CNN) -- In the months since the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, reports about her condition have been sparse. We have learned of a follow-up surgery to repair her skull and that she was recently released from a rehabilitation hospital... ...Being a member of Congress, however, is also a job. More than that, it is a job that lies at the heart of our democracy. Although we all wish Giffords a swift and full recovery, we also wish the nearly 650,000 residents of her district to be represented in Congress. While her staff may still be in place, being assisted no doubt by other members of Congress, the staff cannot vote.
...Should the media and the public be so reluctant to demand more information? The Arizona Democrat is not just a private citizen; she is a sitting member of Congress. Do Giffords' responsibilities demand a more searching inquiry into her health? No one is asking this question because it seems moot...
...In reality, the congresswoman is not carrying out any of these responsibilities. Even from the limited information that has been made available, we know that for the near term Giffords cannot carry out her committee assignments, debate on the floor of the House, and, most importantly cast a vote. The result is that for all intents and purposes, the gunman's bullet that so severely injured Giffords also silenced the people of Arizona's 8th Congressional District. Isn't the obvious solution for her to resign and allow Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to call a special election to fill her seat?...
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Maxine Waters is the true metric whether one is in such a vegatative state as to force retirement.As long Giffords retains a few more brain cells than Slapsy Maxi, it would be unfair to call for her retirement while Maxine is allowed to still haunt the halls of Congress.
“Good point. It is, after all, THEIR decision”
No vote has been taken on that. If it’s my district, I want a voting member in office. She should resign
No, let me be perfectly clear that my arguments are strictly reserved for any American citizen who was shot point blank in the forehead by a frickin’ maniac, and who has barely recovered enough of their senses to be aware of what happened to them.
I think I was abundantly clear about that, and none of my comments mentioned anyone else.
She’s a Democrat. No rules of any kind apply to Democrats.
“if the people of her district are comfortable with her leave of absence for medical treatment”
I’m from her district. If she had integrity, she would resign. She has none. But then, she didn’t care about our opinions BEFORE she was shot, either. She made that very obvious at her townhalls - AFTER we held protests outside her office to get her to come to her district and talk to us. She held on for a 1% victory in Nov 2010.
IIRC, finishing her term qualifies her for a pension.
I guess some of our fellow FReepers don’t recognize sarcasm when they see it!
According to an article posted here shortly after the shooting, Arizona has a law, created decades ago, that states that any elected official who cannot perform their duties for three months must be removed and a new election called. Giffords is now in violation of state law. The Governor of Arizona and the Democrats know this, they have been briefed on it. However, if the Republican governor moves to enforce the law, the public sentiment will go against her and the Democrats will pounce. Someone, and this article is a good start, needs to start telling the truth.
It is terrible what happened to her, and none of this is her fault. But the bigger issue is that it is critically important that the people of her district are represented in Congress, that has a higher priority than any individual's career goals. If she resigned, spent time rehabilitating, improved her health, and ran again someday, she would win in a landslide. But until she recovers she has more important things to do for her own health, and the citizens of her district need a representative.
There is no reason to continue to allow her to break the law, it was written decades ago, and should be impartially applied here. Efforts to argue that this is a special case or sentimentality just feeds the corruption of Congress.
“Unless Paul Sracic lives in her district, I think he should leave this matter to the people who do.”
She may TECHNICALLY represent her district in Tucson, but legislation on which she votes affects people on a national scale. So yes, it IS everyone’s business.
I have read the type of brain injury she sustained is very serious. This is not a 2 year recovery period and voila, you are ready for the next election. She will not be able to function beyond a minimal state even with rehabilitation for 8-10 years. Having said that, if the voters of her district do not mind having no representation for the next 8-10 years and want to keep reelecting her on the basis of sympathy, that is their choice.But before they do that they have a right to know that the PR coming out of her office is just that, PR with no basis in reality.
So much bandwidth!
You should see our local Phx “newâ€paper - it has been turned into the “Giffords Dailyâ€. This Ganatt RAT rag continues to hope that her miraculous recovery will allow her to run for Kyl’s seat that is up next year and he is retiring. Just about every day they run and article in one way another touches on her great work for AZ. I never in my life saw such coverage of a Space Shuttle launch since the beginning of the program in the 1980s. At this point she cannot even make a speech, and they think she deserve the Senate seat!! They have backed off on their outright support for her running, but they keep her on the front page.
I’m not from AZ, but was amazed from the beginning how little coverage was given to all of the OTHER victims. Without Googling,I cannot even remember the name of the federal judge who was MURDERED, not just maimed.
It is horrible that while so many families suffered loss, Giffords is the ONLY victim we hear of. It’s like the lives of the others just didn’t count.
Problem is her office can always arrange for another democrat to vote for her if she’s not on the floor. Not like they won’t get her vote.
What was she really going to be in charge of or pushing for anyway.
Say WHAT!!??? Have they even been paying attention to the news?? A day didn't go by that some breathless reporter didn't tell us about every breath Giffords took, every bite of food and every fart she made. This is ridiculous!!
The contentious dialog was from the guy who shot her, a liberal democrat nutjob who was ticked off she wasn’t liberal enough for his tastes, and who said the final straw was giffords not voting for Pelosi as minority leader.
Didn’t Missouri Democrats, a few years ago, vote for a dead guy into the Senate? Mel Carnahan who had died during the Senatorial race and they voted for him anyway. The Giffords promoters can at least argue she is no Mel Carnahan.
What if she is unable to decide? (Is she?)
This is political insanity of the first order. It wasn’t a day after she was shot that the Dems were calling on her to fill the Senate seat of Jon Kyle when he retires. If they would have had the election that day she would have won in a landslide. I wonder if she is cognitive enough to make the decision to resign if she in fact realizes that she can no longer fulfill her duties after years of rehabilitative therapy. I don’t know what’s going on here but the other day her and her husband the astronaut were writing a book together and then the next day there was rumble that her husband was going to be the next Senator from Arizona.
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