FTA: "He has my empathy but I still think it's an issue for the voters to deal with," she said. "I don't want to sound callous, but it's a sad fact of reality. The voters elected him to do the job (and) I think the voter gets to decide."

And the fact that he hid a potentially fatal illness for two years, resulting in a series of absences during that time period, is a rather important piece of information about which voters should know.

If it's an "attack ad" to point out that, for the last two years, this guy hasn't shown up for his job, without explanation, then attempting to play the pity card after the fact doesn't wash. Either you tell folks, "hey, I'm going to be out of work more than usual, because I'm having to deal with cancer", and understand that they may not re-elect you, or you tell them "hey, I was out of work more than usual because of an undisclosed cancer, and so I'm sorry about that", and realize that they may not re-elect you. You don't say "hey, you can't yell at me for two years of unexplained absences - I had cancer", and then attack those who point out that you had two years of unexplained absences.

In the real world, that gets you fired - regardless of how sick you are, if you don't bother telling your employer about it, never mind working with your employer to make arrangements for absences due to such illness, you're fired. You don't get to appeal the firing with "sure, I didn't mention it, but, I mean, it's cancer - surely that gives me a mulligan, right?"

So no one is voting while he is out? That's a vacant position and needs to be treated as such.

It is terrible that he has cancer but if he isn't able to make votes for an extended period of time then he should resign so someone can do the job.

Ted Kennedy is another example, and same with Gabrielle Giffords. They were met with terrible circumstances but they shouldn't hold on to their seats when they can't do the job.

So it only counts as an excuse if you get shot in the head by an Arizona Teabagger?

Nabb1: May you never experience cancer. Or, at least may no one close to you experience it to find out exactly what you think about people dealing with it.

I have had cancer. Had some fairly important bits removed as a result. Still clean 3 years later.
YES, you DO let people know what's going on. Or you don't, and deal with people thinking you're just slacking.

It didn't stop Jobs (til it did).

Nabb1: May you never experience cancer. Or, at least may no one close to you experience it to find out exactly what you think about people dealing with it.

my father died of cancer. I'm supremely confident he wouldn't have excused the behavior of the Assemblyman from the article.

Nabb1: May you never experience cancer. Or, at least may no one close to you experience it to find out exactly what you think about people dealing with it.

My wife had cancer.

I told my work so that they didn't fire me for being absent for all the treatments. I didn't just not show up.

Goodfella: So it only counts as an excuse if you get shot in the head by an Arizona Teabagger?

To be honest I was surprised she kept her seat. This really isn't a Dem/Rep thing. It's a "dudes not doing his job" thing. Yeah, it's a good reason and I hope him the best but,l he should have informed everyone about it. If any other profession did the same thing they would be unemployed right now

Goodfella: So it only counts as an excuse if you get shot in the head by an Arizona Teabagger?


Uh...Voters were aware that Giffords was shot and that she may miss votes. They could then decide how to handle that at the ballot box. This guy kept his illness a secret, thus voters weren't being properly informed. Different story.

Cancer shouldn't mean you or a loved one lose their job. However, in an elected position, should you run again if you know ahead of time that it's unlikely that you'll be able to fulfill your duties? Assembly person? Maybe. But it's something to chew on, whether you'd want your President, U.S. Senator, etc., in a position where they basically can't do their job.

I'm not quite sure what the Democratic candidate was supposed to say: "What? Cancer? Please accept my sincerest apologies. I hereby withdraw my candidacy. Let this gentleman run unopposed." On the other hand, now that the issue is in the open the Democrat is entitled to say "Here is a list of important issues Mr. Biondi should have voted on but didn't. Do you feel you were well-served? Has he fulfilled his responsibilities to his constituents?"

Cancer....yeah, that's the ticket!

Nabb1: May you never experience cancer. Or, at least may no one close to you experience it to find out exactly what you think about people dealing with it.

Nabb1: May you never experience cancer. Or, at least may no one close to you experience it to find out exactly what you think about people dealing with it.

I guess that's nice and all, but I fail to see what your point is. The guy missed over five hundred votes over the course of two years without explaining why, so his opponents released an "attack" ad telling voters that this guy missed over five hundred votes without explaining why.

Seems perfectly fair to me. I can't just take off and miss hundreds of days of work over two years without explanation then come back when they fire me and say "BUT I HAD CANCER!"

Responsibility. He should try having some.

Nabb1: May you never experience cancer. Or, at least may no one close to you experience it to find out exactly what you think about people dealing with it.

Oddly enough, I agree with Formless One. Currently, two out of four people in my household have cancer. One is actively fighting it. One has decided she's done fighting and is letting it take its course. I believe that part of taking control back from the disease and not letting it determine who you are - part of having cancer rather than being a cancer victim - is acknowledging the limitations the disease and its treatment puts upon you. Whether it means saying that you can't make a social event, need to leave your job, or can't be arsed to get dressed before three in the afternoon because you're working hard at staying alive and that's more important right now, a person's got to say it. At its core, it means saying "My life and the quality of it - as *I* define quality - is more important to me than anything else". And that's okay.

I also think it's a shiatty thing for his opponents to attack him on. Honor the man enough to go after his policies if that's what you disagree with. Privately, go ahead and talk about what he ought to have done or didn't do that he should have, but have the decency to STFU about the attendance thing. "Vote for me, I don't have cancer" really isn't a great campaign point.

Really, Mr. Marriage Expert? Where's your wife? Oh, that's right. She's dead!

Hiding the fact that you have cancer and getting shot in the head during an event are two completely different ballparks. I'm pretty sure that the Arizona voters at least have a visable choice about Giffords, and I think they're doing the right thing by giving her a chance to recover. If this guy can't be honest with his consituents about his health and ability to lead them, he deserves to be booted out of office. Giffords didn't have that choice.
And yes, I know asking ANY politician to be totally honest is like asking for the sky to turn purple, but no matter what party this guy is from, I'd want him out of office ASAP.

Nabb1: May you never experience cancer. Or, at least may no one close to you experience it to find out exactly what you think about people dealing with it.

My mother died of a brain tumor just before New Years, and I think that if illness is preventing you from meeting the obligations to your constituents for a significant amount of time, you should hand off to someone who can.

mrshowrules: jehovahs witness protection: If you hire someone to do a job, they are expected to show up and DO THE JOB.

Exactly. When is Gabriel Gifford going to start earning her pay cheque? What a farking slacker she is.

Huh? People probably won't re-elect her (or she may decide not to run again) if they consider she is not in capacity to fulfill her duties.

FormlessOne: FTA: "He has my empathy but I still think it's an issue for the voters to deal with," she said. "I don't want to sound callous, but it's a sad fact of reality. The voters elected him to do the job (and) I think the voter gets to decide."

And the fact that he hid a potentially fatal illness for two years, resulting in a series of absences during that time period, is a rather important piece of information about which voters should know.

If it's an "attack ad" to point out that, for the last two years, this guy hasn't shown up for his job, without explanation, then attempting to play the pity card after the fact doesn't wash. Either you tell folks, "hey, I'm going to be out of work more than usual, because I'm having to deal with cancer", and understand that they may not re-elect you, or you tell them "hey, I was out of work more than usual because of an undisclosed cancer, and so I'm sorry about that", and realize that they may not re-elect you. You don't say "hey, you can't yell at me for two years of unexplained absences - I had cancer", and then attack those who point out that you had two years of unexplained absences.

In the real world, that gets you fired - regardless of how sick you are, if you don't bother telling your employer about it, never mind working with your employer to make arrangements for absences due to such illness, you're fired. You don't get to appeal the firing with "sure, I didn't mention it, but, I mean, it's cancer - surely that gives me a mulligan, right?"

1/10. TL:DR.

grimnir: I also think it's a shiatty thing for his opponents to attack him on.

Attack him for what? The fact that he hid an illness from them that caused him to miss over five hundred votes over the course of two years? Seems fair to me, especially since he apparently didn't bother to tell anybody WHY he was missing all these votes until AFTER the ads started.

Your health is a relevant topic if you're going to run for office. If your health is such that you may be unable to fulfill your obligations that's something voters should know about and be able to weigh when making their decision.

This reminds me of Rep. Laura Richardson using that same argument against Jenny Oropeza except everybody knew Oropeza had cancer. fark Richardson.

mrshowrules: Jairzinho: mrshowrules: jehovahs witness protection: If you hire someone to do a job, they are expected to show up and DO THE JOB.

Exactly. When is Gabriel Gifford going to start earning her pay cheque? What a farking slacker she is.

Huh? People probably won't re-elect her (or she may decide not to run again) if they consider she is not in capacity to fulfill her duties.

and the classy thing to do in a campaign is make her look a slacker not fulfilling her job duties without alluding to why

Very difficult to do if no one knows! don't you think?

Car_Ramrod: Really, Mr. Marriage Expert? Where's your wife? Oh, that's right. She's dead!

"You haven't had a serious relationship since your wife, and you guys weren't even speaking towards the end."
"A lot of that was the coma."
"Yeah, I've heard your side of it."

Nabb1: May you never experience cancer. Or, at least may no one close to you experience it to find out exactly what you think about people dealing with it.

10/10. An elegant troll, from a more civilized age.

My landlord is like this...

You couldn't meet me...uh, I was in the hospital with my almost dying wife.
You mean you REFUSE to meet me???

Done in one, Trolled in two.

Perfect.

I am not cool with this.

Nabb1: May you never experience cancer. Or, at least may no one close to you experience it to find out exactly what you think about people dealing with it.

DNRTFA, but I am now certain that the guy with cancer is a Republican.

I'd vote for 'im.

"Candidate" is right

Aar1012: Letting people know that you have a major illness?

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News to these guys

Who's in the first picture? Also, FDR probably should have let people known, but did it actually affect his ability to perform his duties? (Up to the point when he died.)

Humean_Nature: Woah, Nabb1. You completely skipped over FormlessOne's point. Cancer treatment is an absolutely acceptable excuse (in my opinion), but it nevertheless must be deployed as an explanation. It sounds like this guy just didn't show up, then when everybody was like "WTF buddy?" he explained. That's not exactly working well with the people around you.

Also, it's a fine reason to not be there. But it is also absolutely relevant in a re-election campaign. Don't fire the guy, he has a legit reason to not be there. But should I re-elect the guy? I dunno, is he gonna show up? It was also relevant when John McCain was a missed heart beat away from POTUS Palin.

sprawl15: Nabb1: May you never experience cancer. Or, at least may no one close to you experience it to find out exactly what you think about people dealing with it.

10/10. An elegant troll, from a more civilized age.

Indeed it was.

47 is the new 42: Aar1012: Letting people know that you have a major illness?

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News to these guys

Who's in the first picture? Also, FDR probably should have let people known, but did it actually affect his ability to perform his duties? (Up to the point when he died.)

Josiah Bartlett, our greatest president, is the first picture. The second is actually Woodrow Wilson.

The party of compassion strikes again!

Aar1012: Letting people know that you have a major illness?

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News to these guys

Same with JFK. He had a very sexy learning disability called "sexlexia". He only told Marilyn.

Quick- greenlight 10 TPM posts and get this one knocking a Democrat off the page!

Follow my line of thought if you will....

1) there is a valid point here of the politician not doing his job. I'm truly sorry he has cancer but the world stops for no man, perhaps a special election replacement would have been appropriate? Are there any provisions for casting proxy votes in times of illness? I don't know what the answers are here but simply not showing up probably wasn't the best way to go.

2) Having said this, using the absences from illness in an attack ad without mentioning the cancer isn't fair. Mention the cancer and let the voters decide if its a valid reason or not, otherwise its not telling the fully story and effectively a lie (unfortunately that makes it a typical political ad).

3) If a special election would have likely ended up with the position going to the opposing party, perhaps it *was* doing the best by his constituents to have no vote on the record than giving up the seat to the opposing team. Perhaps equally as slimy as the ad, and typical politics. The other side's terrorism is your side's freedom fighting.

Humean_Nature: Nabb1: May you never experience cancer. Or, at least may no one close to you experience it to find out exactly what you think about people dealing with it.

Woah, Nabb1. You completely skipped over FormlessOne's point. Cancer treatment is an absolutely acceptable excuse (in my opinion), but it nevertheless must be deployed as an explanation. It sounds like this guy just didn't show up, then when everybody was like "WTF buddy?" he explained. That's not exactly working well with the people around you.

I know just about all I need to know about loved ones fighting cancer. And one of the biggest things that I learned from that experience was that the rest of the world keep turning while you're fighting, and you need to find a way to deal with that.

I also think that it's crass to assume that FormlessOne hasn't known anyone with cancer based purely off of your gut reaction, but that's not the point I really feel like making, this being the internets and all.

Nabb1 is a paid Republican shill, don't bother expecting him to say anything that makes sense.

Yukon Callmeal: Quick- greenlight 10 TPM posts and get this one knocking a Democrat off the page!

Quick, your mom and I are out of lube, get down to the drugstore and get us some!