He got too close to Bill Clinton and got his lip bitten off for his troubles.
It is a tribute to your great editorial and satirical talents that I was "taken in" by the real thing ;^o !!!
Here is the article from the Register:
News : People & Places In pain, but in attendance
By JANE NORMAN
Register Washington Bureau
05/14/2002
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Washington, D.C. - Sen. Tom Harkin had a large bandage across his lower lip Monday at the signing ceremony for the farm bill, the result of outpatient surgery for a precancerous skin condition.
Harkin said he had actinic cheilitis on his lower lip, which is caused by overexposure to sunlight and may lead to squamous-cell skin cancer if untreated, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
"It's from being out in the sun too darn much when I was a kid," the Iowa Democrat said.
Harkin said his surgery was performed Friday by a dermatologist in private practice in Washington, D.C.
"I spent all weekend on my back with an ice pack, taking Motrin," he said, referring to an over-the-counter painkiller. He said he would resume a light schedule today.
Harkin, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, had postponed the surgery while a conference committee was working toward a final version of the farm legislation. He then scheduled the procedure for Friday morning, thinking he would have the weekend and Monday to recover.
Then the White House on Friday afternoon scheduled the signing ceremony for 7:45 a.m. EDT Monday, and Harkin didn't want to miss it, even with the painful wound on his face.
Harkin said he had the same surgery two years ago, following a doctor's recommendation, but not enough tissue was removed. "They didn't get it all," he said. "It was bothering me."
He said that after the bill was signed, President Bush asked him, "What happened to you?"
Harkin said he joked to the president that it was the result of the tough fight getting the farm bill through the Senate.
"They don't pull any punches in the Senate," Harkin said.
####################################
Harkin only spends time in Iowa during election years. The rest of his time he spends at his home in the Bahamas. I understand that Bahama sun is a really intense.