Does Representative Giffords need to resign?

[Calabrio]

This is not something that anyone seems to want to discuss openly however it should be.

Representative Giffords has suffered a devastating injury to her head. The extent to which is not fully known, but even in the best case scenarios, her recover and rehabilitation could easily take years.

Even more optimistically, presuming she emerges from this tragedy with a mild handicap and remains a high functioning individual, the people of Arizona elected her to a 2 year term. This means that the people of her district will have no representation throughout the duration of her term in office.

When is it appropriate to begin discussing the reality of this situation? Is it wrong for the governor to remove her from office, as some interpret the state law to dictate, if she's unable to perform the duties of her office for 3 months?

A personal aside, having seen friends and family that have suffered traumatic brain injury, I do find the media coverage of this family's story to be offensive and misleading. Other high profile, highly functioning victims of such brain trauma are Bob Woodruff of ABC News and James Brady, who was shot during the Reagan assassination.

 

[foxpaws]

I do think it is too early to make any change - such as the Republican Governor of Arizona appointing a replacement. That anxious to get rid of a Democrat seat Cal?

She is walking, was upgraded to 'good' yesterday, and is making steady improvement.

The people voted in Giffords - would the replacement appointed by Brewer's represent those people any better than an empty seat? Would the replacement congressperson vote according to the values and platform that Giffords ran on? So, say on the repeal of the Health Care bill - Giffords wouldn't vote for such a repeal - she voted for the bill (and in fact her office was vandalized after that vote). Would an interim representative appointed by Brewer's be counted on voting similarly to Giffords?

If not, wouldn't no voice be better than an opposing voice?

 

[ford nut]

I would bet it has been discussed behind closed doors.

Its amazing what can be done.

I went though a TBI this summer, it took 2 weeks before a team of neurologists could form a plan for the next step.
"I don't remember any of it "


I couldn't even guess how long her rehabilitation would take with the wound she suffered, but I am sure there is a team of neurologists who do.

 

[shagdrum]

The people voted in Giffords - would the replacement appointed by Brewer's represent those people any better than an empty seat?

OF COURSE any replacement would represent the people better then an empty seat.

 

[Calabrio]

I do think it is too early to make any change - such as the Republican Governor of Arizona appointing a replacement. That anxious to get rid of a Democrat seat Cal?

Actually, such a removal would result in a special election.

The Arizona law states that if a public officeholder is unable to "discharge the duties of office for the period of three consecutive months” the office shall be considered vacant – and a special election can be called to fill the vacancy.

And second, this issue was first publicly addressed by California Democrat Loretta Sanchez when she suggested that Rep. Giffords be taken off the House Armed Services Committee.

You're making an issue about representation now petty and partisan.

If not, wouldn't no voice be better than an opposing voice?

Again, you're now making an honest issue of representation and government petty and partisan. You continue to politicize and exploit this tragedy.

I would bet it has been discussed behind closed doors.

I can guarantee that it is, however few are willing to talk about it in public.

Despite Foxpaws desire to reframe this, one more or less GOP vote in the House is inconsequential. In political terms, it's a liability for anyone in the GOP to even mention this. They are better off leaving the seat empty.

But, the people of her district deserve representation.

I couldn't even guess how long her rehabilitation would take with the wound she suffered, but I am sure there is a team of neurologists who do.

I'm sure they can speculate, but they don't know.
Brain injuries are awful and uncertain. And, speaking from experience, having those discussions with neurologists can be overwhelming in their complexity. I would take notes and do research in between visits so I'd know what to ask the next day.

That's another reason why I resent and find myself offended by the nature of the news coverage where they are really misrepresenting how things are going. They are giving a very misleading impression of what's going on. This woman isn't "giving backrubs, walking around, or watching TV." Her status doesn't have anything to do with her recovery, just whether she's going to die.

 

[ford nut]

No one knows but the family, who know how she acts under very personal interaction.

I hate to see any coverage of it.
The family needs time to get it sorted out.

I guess the state of Arizona will give them 3 months to sort it out.
If she can't function it will be dealt with in public in due time.

 

[foxpaws]

Actually, such a removal would result in a special election.

The Arizona law states that if a public officeholder is unable to "discharge the duties of office for the period of three consecutive months” the office shall be considered vacant – and a special election can be called to fill the vacancy.

And second, this issue was first publicly addressed by California Democrat Loretta Sanchez when she suggested that Rep. Giffords be taken off the House Armed Services Committee.

You're making an issue about representation now petty and partisan.

It is an issue about representation - and it is about partisan Cal - sorry. Fact of life.

I didn't know that it would be a special election - when you stated that the Governor would remove her from her seat I assumed (incorrectly - sorry) that the governor would also be appointing the new representative - like it is in many states (mine included).

Once again - I am sorry for my error.

And shag - yes, an empty seat is better than opposite representation.

There is a difference between 217 for, 217 against, 1 absent, and 218 for, 217 against, no absent.

And when it comes to committees - that difference is even more apparent...

5 for, 5 against, one absent - bill sits... 6 for, 5 against - bill gets presented.

 

[Calabrio]

It is an issue about representation - and it is about partisan Cal - sorry. Fact of life.

We can discuss it either way.
You've chosen to make it partisan.
And to frame it as a partisan attack.

Once again - I am sorry for my error.

Not a problem. Now, knowing that, how do you feel?

There is a difference between 217 for, 217 against, 1 absent, and 218 for, 217 against, no absent.

And that's likely?
It's more likely, in the event of party line votes, it'll be a
242 vs 192 and 1 absent
242 vs 193.
243 vs 192.

And when it comes to committees - that difference is even more apparent...

And that's why the DEMOCRAT from California was the first to call for her to be replaced. But it won't affect the GOP majority either way.
Using your partisan algebra.

6 to 5
6 to 4

There's no GOP benefit in her being there to vote party line.


Again, there's no need to make this about partisan issues.

 

[foxpaws]

Not a problem. Now, knowing that, how do you feel?

I think that the 3 month time frame is reasonable - and a new election is appropriate if after 3 months it is apparent that Giffords won't be able to fulfill her duties as representative.

And that's why the DEMOCRAT from California was the first to call for her to be replaced. But it won't affect the GOP majority either way.
Using your partisan algebra.

6 to 5
6 to 4

There's no GOP benefit in her being there to vote party line.There's no GOP benefit in her being there to vote party line.

Yep - you are right - but there would be a GOP benefit if a Governor appointed republican representative were there to vote party line... (again, not the case because it wouldn't go to that scenario).

As for my math.... not everything in congress is voted along party lines - well, it used to not be. Take abortion - in committee Giffords' 'pro-choice' vote could make a big difference, because there are plenty of republicans who would also vote 'pro-choice'

Again, there's no need to make this about partisan issues.

Any issue with politics - even in this case is partisan Cal - it is the nature of the beast.

 

[Calabrio]

I think that the 3 month time frame is reasonable - and a new election is appropriate if after 3 months it is apparent that Giffords won't be able to fulfill her duties as representative.

I think that's appropriate as well, especially when you consider that it's a House seat and only a two year term.

Yep - you are right - but there would be a GOP benefit if a Governor appointed republican representative were there to vote party line... (again, not the case because it wouldn't go to that scenario).

Again, I'd argue that it would all be a liability.
They do not need a single house vote, considering their healthy majority, especially when associated with the Arizona governor appointing it.

As for my math.... not everything in congress is voted along party lines - well, it used to not be. Take abortion - in committee Giffords' 'pro-choice' vote could make a big difference, because there are plenty of republicans who would also vote 'pro-choice'

Which is true in theory. But that seemingly would contradict the point you were trying to make earlier. Eitherway, there's no benefit for the Republicans to initiate ANY movement with that seat. It's better for them to just leave it vacant.

Any issue with politics - even in this case is partisan Cal - it is the nature of the beast.

It doesn't have to be and it is at our own peril.

 

[foxpaws]

Cal - you are assuming that party line is still going to be de rigour? I am hoping that maybe we can somewhat move beyond that... There have been plenty of votes in the house that used to break on other lines. Geographical, income, age. Often you would look at the constituents and you could tell where those lines would be drawn. Florida would be working hard for seniors, out west - water rights and natural conservation, the north - energy issues.

But, now it is just about red and blue - which is hurting the US in many ways.

 

[Calabrio]

I estimate that the Democrats will be holding the party line.
Yes. I think that the leadership of the party has strict control.

I think there's internal conflict within the Republicans and less control.

 

[foxpaws]

I estimate that the Democrats will be holding the party line.
Yes. I think that the leadership of the party has strict control.

I think there's internal conflict within the Republicans and less control.

In fact - there have been 9 'controversial' votes in congress this year - and on each one the Republicans voted as a block, not one single cross over to the other side.

However on 8 of the 9 the democrats had 'defectors'.

Talk about 'strict control'...

 

[Calabrio]

Gabrielle Giffords 'thought she was in a car accident and is unaware of friends who died'
By Daily Mail Reporter
11th April 2011

• Family and staff carefully censoring what they tell congresswoman about the Tucson shooting in January
• She is amazed by level of public interest - but still has a long road to recovery, husband Mark Kelly said

Severely injured congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is still unaware a nine-year-old girl, her beloved young staffer and a federal judge friend died in the Tucson shooting.

Giffords, 40, originally thought she was in a car accident and has not been told about the deaths of Christina Taylor Green, nine, Gabriel Zimmerman, 30, and John Roll, 63.

Her badly-injured colleague Ron Barber even carefully positioned himself to disguise his injuries in a get-well-soon video sent by her Arizona staff, Newsweek revealed.

Giffords was severely injured in the January shooting spree in Tucson that killed six people. Suspect Jared Loughner has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in court.

Her astronaut husband Mark Kelly is due to launch with the space shuttle Endeavour on April 29 and her family and doctors are hoping she can attend the Florida lift-off.

But Mr Kelly said her trip to the Kennedy Space Center has not yet been approved by doctors, it's ‘up to her’ and she will be away from the public even if she does attend.

Giffords's long road to recovery has been well-documented, with President Barack Obama announcing the first big news - ‘Gabby opened her eyes for the first time’.

Reports followed that Giffords touched her husband’s face, asked for ‘toast’ for breakfast, read get-well cards, used her iPad and stood up to take a few steps.

Tucson trauma surgeon Dr Peter Rhee said she early on she has a ‘101 per cent' survival chance and a Houston neurosurgeon stated that she ‘looked spectacular’.

Her Washington friends held a political fund-raiser that fetched $125,000 in pledges to support her 2012 re-election campaign.

Dr Gerard Francisco, the physiatrist in charge of the Giffords medical team, told Newsweek he is quite pleased with her progress.

‘Some people will expect changes to be big,’ he said. ‘I’m happy with small changes, as long as I see these changes every day, and that’s why I’m very encouraged.

‘Some people would like things to get better within an hour, within a day, within a week. Rehab is not measured that way. It is a long-term process.’

She is currently beginning to put together entire sentences while speaking and sings songs such as ‘happy birthday’ in an attempt to get her brain working properly again.

But Pia Carusone, Giffords’s chief of staff, says her personality is ‘100 per cent there’ and she ‘laughs (about) all the funny things that happen in Washington’.

Her family and staff have tried to censor what they tell her about the event, but Mr Kelly explained the shooting to his wife after she grabbed at a newspaper he was reading.

Mr Kelly visits her every morning and reads her his newspaper when she has a break from her rehabilitation routine.

He would usually censor himself as he read, but a few weeks ago she realised he was skipping over some material and wanted to look at the paper.

It was then that he told her she had been shot. ‘So she knows why she’s there, and what her injury is, and some of the details about her situation,’ he told Newsweek.

‘When I tell her what the level of interest is in how she’s doing and her recovery, she looks at me like I’m crazy.

‘The doctors are very optimistic about where she’ll be three months, six months, from now. Incredibly optimistic. We don’t know what that new normal is going to be for her.’

Anybody who suffers a severe brain injury is never going to be the 'exact same person' as they were before, her Houston neurosurgeon Dr Dong Kim said.

Doctors are confident of her recovery as the bullet that went through her brain injured the left hemisphere, controlling speech and movement on the body's right side.

This could therefore result in partial paralysis - but that is less important in the context of Giffords recovering from brain injury.

Ms Carusone said: 'The doctors just basically said it seems as though she’s able to understand everything, but she’s not able to speak at the level she wants to yet.

'So telling her something as tragic as this, without her being (able) to formulate the exact, complex follow-up questions she wants to, is not fair,' she told Newsweek.

 

[Calabrio]

Giffords Camp Prepares For Re-Elect
By Reid Wilson
April 19, 2011 | 10:16 PM


Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) is beginning a potential re-election campaign in good financial position, thanks to friends in Congress who helped her raise big money during her long recovery process.

Giffords' campaign reported raising $358,237 during the first three months of the year, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, despite an assassination attempt that nearly took her life on January 8. The reports show Giffords has $556,000 in the bank as of the March 31 reporting deadline.

The vast majority of that haul came during March, when several of Giffords' colleagues held a fundraiser on her behalf. Giffords' campaign benefited from about $350,000 raised after a fundraiser held by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.), as well as Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

"I want to make sure Gabby Giffords has the resources that she needs. We are all here because we have her back," Wasserman Schultz told CNN before the March 15 fundraiser. "We are going to make sure, when she does back, she has the resources she needs to hit the ground running."

Giffords' campaign took in $227,500 from political action committees and her fellow House Democrats last quarter, including $7,000 from committees associated with Wasserman Schultz, $10,000 from the Blue Dog Coalition and $16,000 collected through the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Giffords has a track record of raising big bucks for her re-election bids. In 2010, when she narrowly won another term in a strong Republican year, Giffords raised more than $3.5 million. In 2008, Giffords pulled in $3.3 million, more than the nearly $2.6 million she raised during her initial 2006 run for her Tucson-based seat.

http://hotlineoncall.nationaljournal.com/archives/2011/04/giffords-camp-p.php

 

[Calabrio]

I think I've made this clear, the behavior of the Democrat party regarding Gabrielle Giffords DISGUSTS me. It's profoundly vile how they have lied to the public and manipulate this woman in the public eyes for their petty partisan advantage.

http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/15/us-rep-giffords-released-from-houston-hospital/

Giffords’ release marks a new phase in her recovery. She struggles to speak and walk, and will need daily, intensive therapy. Whether she will ever recover enough to resume her congressional duties is still unknown.

Yet two months ago, the DNC was raising money in her name to run for reelection? Or to consider a Senate run?
They are disgusting.

 

[MAC1]

I think Giffords should not resign at this time. What's important is her recovery. If this means not resigning in order to promote her psychological well-being and healing, so be it. Let's be honest, Congress is a joke and it makes little to no difference if she is not able to cast another vote through the rest of her term. If she is able to, great. I hope she can return to Congress by the end of the year.

 

[cammerfe]

If she can come back with even half-a-brain, she'll be beyond most of the libtard demoscats (Thanks '04) in her party.

KS

 

[Calabrio]

What's important is her recovery.

Actually, what's important is that the people of her congressional district are represented and, in the name of decency, that she's not being exploited for political gain.

f this means not resigning in order to promote her psychological well-being and healing, so be it.

She doesn't know. Last reports indicate that she isn't aware, and hasn't been told, that she's been shot. She vaguely assumes she was in a car accident or something. They haven't even told her about the other people who died or were injured.

Let's be honest, Congress is a joke and it makes little to no difference if she is not able to cast another vote through the rest of her term.

Actually it does matter, at least in principle.

If she is able to, great.

She's clearly not going to be able to. The woman has a great deal of therapy ahead of her to function without constant medical assistance.

I hope she can return to Congress by the end of the year.

As a human, I certainly hope she recovers. But it's evident that she won't be capable of serving by the end of her term.

 

[Calabrio]

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords Steps Down from Congress - YouTube