Rep Hank Johnson "Guam could tip over and capsize"

[Sarge]

And we wonder why the country is so screwed up. At first I laughed, and I'd keep laughing if this weren't so sad. Watch the video

http://washingtonscene.thehill.com/...-hank-johnson-guam-could-tip-over-and-capsize

 

[Alaskan]

Well I’m sure the Admiral and his buddies had a good laugh at the officers club later that evening.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

He has Hepatitis C, which makes him lose his train of thought and get confused some times. But, this brings up the question about who is voting in someone with Hep C???

 

[Alaskan]

You have to hand it to the Admiral for his ability to keep a straight face throughout that whole thing. I would have said something like:

“No Congressman, we don’t anticipate the island tipping over. We will just distribute the people evenly over the island so that doesn’t happen. In the worst case the whole island will just ride lower in the water.”

Of course, I would then be charged with Contempt of Congress but according to the latest polls, I would be in pretty good company in that regard.

 

[servumtuum]

I remember when I was in high school in Indiana, back in the 1960s(yeah, I'm that old.) there was a debate in the state legislature over adding Russian to the foreign language curriculum-this was during the height of the Cold War-and one state legislator made the following statement.

"If English was good enough for Jesus Christ it's good enough for our kids."

He was reelected.

Occasionally the voting public just does weird things at times-apparently we still do.

 

[Om]

I was going to poke you guys for not realizing the man was trying to be funny.

Then I watched the video.

Not sure if it's good news or not, but Mr. Johnson comes from a long line of individuals who find their way to positions of influence over others who you just have to wonder how they ever manage to find their keys to even leave the house.

http://www.some-guy.com/quotes/stupid.html

"I was under medication when I made the decision to burn the tapes."
- Richard Nixon

"The private enterprise system indicates that some people have higher incomes than others."
-Gerry Brown

"I have opinions of my own --strong opinions-- but I don't always agree with them."
-George Bush

"I was provided with addtional input that was radically different from the truth. I assisted in furthering that version."
- Colonel Oliver North

"We are not without accomplishment. We have managed to distribute poverty equally."
- Nguyen Co Thatch, Vietnamese foreign minister

"I've read about foreign policy and studied, I now know the number of continents."
- George Wallace, 1968 presidential campaign

"The world is more like it is now then it ever has before."
- Dwight Eisenhower

"Eight more days and I can start telling the truth again."
- Sen. Chris Dodd (D, Conn.), on the Don Imus show, on campaigning

"If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very low crime rate."
- Marion Barry, mayor of Washington, D.C.

"Those who survived the San Francisco earthquake said, 'Thank God, I'm still alive.' But, of course, those who died, their lives will never be the same again."
- Sen. Barbara Boxer, (D, Calif.)

"You know, if I were a single man, I might ask that mummy out. That's a good-looking mummy!"
- President Bill Clinton, looking at the recently-discovered Inca mummy "Juanita"

"You read what Disraeli had to say. I don't remember what he said. He said something. He's no longer with us."
- Bob Dole

"You can't just let nature run wild."
- Wally Hickel, former governor of Alaska

On that last one, at least Alaska eventually got its **** together and elected someone sharp.

 

[Neophyte]

Congress - the Peter Principle made real and high profile for the world to see.

 

[Sarge]

On that last one, at least Alaska eventually got its **** together and elected someone sharp.

Why Om, I wouldn't have pegged you as a Sarah fan

 

[Lanky Livingston]

Why Om, I wouldn't have pegged you as a Sarah fan

Pretty sure he was being sarcastic.

 

[Sarge]

Me too, but you never know. Could be a closet right wing extremist

 

[Om]

Me too, but you never know. Could be a closet right wing extremist

No, I'm a radical moderate. But I can see the right and left wing extreme closets from my front porch.

 

[Sarge]

Just don't put too many people on one side. IT might tip over

 

[Alaskan]

"You can't just let nature run wild."
- Wally Hickel, former governor of Alaska

On that last one, at least Alaska eventually got its **** together and elected someone sharp.

Yes we did:

 

[Om]

Nice, Alaskan. I'd forgotten about Kenny Rogers.

 

[Alaskan]

Twins separated at birth?

You guys probably don’t know about the late great Jay Hammond, also know as the “Bush Rat” governor. Hammond hailed from Lake Clark, Alaska which undoubtedly has more bears than people. He flew his own float plan, hunted, trapped and fished. You know the whole Alaska thing.

Back when he ran for Governor in 1974, Alaska had an open primarily. You got a ballot that listed all the Republicans, Democrats, Greens, Alaska Independence party, whatever, who were running for governor. Then in the general election, the winners of each party would face off.

Because of this they would have joint debates with all the candidates from all parties during the primary race. So in this one debate the moderator asked Hammond why he thought he was the most qualified person to be governor. He replied that he wasn’t, but the more qualified people weren’t running. The joke was that every single former governor that Alaska had ever had was running in that election; William Egan, Hickel and Keith Miller who took over when Hickel became secretary of the interior under Nixon.

Anyway, Hammond won the primary for the Republican party and then the general election. He is considered the father of the Alaska Permanent Fund. Understanding that you couldn’t trust politicians with money and knowing that unless the citizens had a vested interest, they wouldn’t stop the politicians from spending every cent they could get their hands on, he lead the establishment of the Alaska Permanent Fund (or Permanent Fun as we sometimes call it) where a portion of our oil royalties is saved and invested. A portion is paid out every year based upon a formula as dividends to every resident. It is in effect a negative tax. The principal of the fund can’t be spent on government services unless the voters approve it and the voters won’t do that because to do so would in effect raise their taxes.

The politicians to a man (or woman) hate the dividend program because they know that it is they only thing that keeps them from getting their hands on that money. But the citizens love it and those dividends paid for a large portion of my kid’s college educations. Hammond stands out among a group of entirely forgettable governors.

And you can say what you like about Hickel but you got to admire a guy who came to town with pennies in his pocket, amassed a fortune, became Governor and then secretary of the interior and was fired by Nixon and then was elected Governor a second time. Heck, just getting fired by Nixon should earn you some props.