Rapid City Journal: Time for Tim Johnson to Speak up.
The Rapid City Journal makes a big statement on it’s editorial page with regards to Senator Tim Johnson’s continuing absence in the public view, except through intermediaries who are noting how well he’s doing.
…We agree, and we urge the senator to communicate directly with the media and the people of South Dakota about those matters. Several intermediaries, including Johnson’s wife, Barbara, and former Sen. Tom Daschle, have offered glimpses into his recovery.
But there have been no firm answers about how much longer South Dakota can expect to be without one-third of its voice in Washington, D.C.
The truth is that Sen. Johnson is an elected official, not a private citizen, and his election to that office comes with responsibilities to the public he serves. The people of South Dakota deserve to hear from Sen. Johnson - in person.
It’s time to offer an open and honest view of where he stands, healthwise, to the public that elected him.
At this point, to do any less might appear to be more about protecting a political seat in the Senate than about protecting his health or privacy.
Wow. They aren’t mincing many words here, are they? Basically, they’re reiterating the murmur of questions we’ve been hearing for a few months now, as each intermediary comes forth and notes how well the Senator is doing. And that’s great - we’re glad to see it.
But after a while, when you’ve heard from everyone how well Senator Johnson is doing, and return dates are as elusive to pin down as a photo of a live jackalope, even the media starts to wonder, as they’ve now stated in writing.
This marks a turning point in the debate. The question of a return date is now going to be considered not so “crass” anymore, as much as it being a legitimate question that more and more voters are going to demand be answered.
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Comments
Finally, the conspiracy of silence in the MSM is over. Good for the Journal. Of course, the Argus Leader go right on protecting the liberals and the Democrats and playing Harry Reid’s game and just running Daschle quotes as gospel.
Glad someone has the b—s to say what everyone is thinking. Few people actually believe the Johnson press office anymore. And sending out Daschle and Brendan Johnson to “everything is great!” is just plain BS. The Argus was the worst and printing the Johnson PR machine’s stories.
maybe the Argus Leader can stop running all the Johnson office press releases about how “Tim Johnson Announced Today….” That charade needs to end.
Johnson will no longer have the “Invisible Man Defense”. It is time for him to disavow the following statments of Senator Reid:
President Bush is a liar.
The War in Iraq is lost.
Worst President in nations history.
President should be impeached.
By not standing up and publicly denouncing these treasonous statements, Johnson is supporting them by allowing Reid to remain the majority leader.
Stop hiding Johnson, or resign.
the reason the Democrats/Argus Leader have played this game so long is because they are scared s—-s that Johnson’s resignation would make the Senate 50/50. That’s why they played this game. And you bloggers let them because you afraid being called “insensitive”
7. - Or maybe it’s because they actually have some compassion for another human being. You might want to try that sometime.
Not all bloggers have let the charade continue. I have been saying this exact same thing for a long time now. At the same time I say I would hope that Johnson recovers, which is true. But also true is that unless we hear it from his own lips, we have no reason to believe in his recovery or his ability to return to the Senate.
FACT: The national Dems would never let Johnson resign or be seen as unable to return becuase they know that Rounds could appoint a Republican to fill out his term, which would jeapordize their thin majority. I challenge anyone to disprove this fact.
11.
Tigerman’s biased opinion:
“The national Dems would never let Johnson resign or be seen as unable to return becuase they know that Rounds could appoint a Republican to fill out his term, which would jeapordize their thin majority. I challenge anyone to disprove this fact.”
See, Tigerman, that wasn’t hard. Just a one word change and a “Sibby style” cut and paste job. You have no proof of your assertion whatsoever, Knucklehead.
To say it’s a “fact” is clearly delusional.
Rule of order: you have to “substantiate” your facts, not challenge others to disprove them.
Pudd-pounder.
15. But if I change my style, (which I certainly can, and frequently do) you won’t know it’s me. What fun is that? I like this voice. Don’t you?
Harry Reid: “Tom, how long can you help us pull the wool over the eyes of South Dakota on this Johnson deal?”
Tom Daschle: “No prob, Har, they are a bunch of saps. And the Argus Leader is totally in my pocket and they’ll play the charade. If anybody raises any questions, I’ll have Hildy whack ‘em off.”
Harry Reid: “You mean he’ll silence them?”
Tom Daschle: “Um, yeah, that too. Wait, I thought you were talking about wool.”
Good for the Journal! It is time we SD citizens get the truth. Now that would be a change for the Democrats!
BF, normally one has to substantiate a fact. However, in politics this doesn’t have to be, as proven by Dem’s tactics of late.
You tell me, if you were in charge of national Dem politics, would you advise Johnson or anyone else in like circumstances to resign if he knows he will not run again and cannot perform his job for the rest of his term? No, I didn’t think so.
I don’t have to substantiate anything here. It’s know, just not admitted by the Dems. And I’m not saying the Reps wouldn’t do the same thing in similar circumstances. It’s wrong in either case.
About the time I think Johnson should be out of the Senate because of his vote for the Bush war, I read the collection of disgusting posts here at PP’s outpost and start thinking Tim Johnson should stick around as a Senator for as long as he possibly can.
An editorial is not “journalism”, it is opinion. Not a whole lot better than yours or mine.
I guess the Republican Party can feel reassured by Bush supporters who will continue to support him right or wrong, rightside up, upside down whatever forever even if it is clear he lied about reasons for the Iraq war and abused the separation and balance of powers.
How many more thousand troops should die so Bush can maintain his fiction?
20. Tigger: All I’m saying is that you’re making a number of assumptions which you yourself can’t prove, presenting them as fact, and then challenging someone to disprove them. If Tim Johnson resumes his duties this fall, will that be “proof” enough for you?
Sounds like Doug Wiken is very fickle. Somehow he determined on his own that Johnson “should be out of the Senate” but after reading a few posts here he changed his mind. Great example of flip flopping for no apparent reason. Towing the Democrat line I guess.
I guess waiting for an appointment by Rounds is futile. A Johnson/Herseth match up will be interesting though. Both trying to support Reid/Pelosi without seeming like it. Ried will be the kiss of death for the Democrat Primary victor.
The New York Times printed an incredible editorial this morning titled “A War We Might Just Win”. For the Grey Lady, this acknowledgement that we may be winning the war in Iraq is — mind bending.
It appears that the greatest threat we face in losing the war is Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader and his obvious intention to surrender before our troops can finish the battle. Reid’s comments have been:
We have lost the war in Iraq.
Bush and Cheney should be impeached.
Bush is the worst President in the nations history.
Bush is a liar.
Reid believes that if he can lose the war, he will do irreparable damage to Bush and maybe win the 2008 Presidential bid for the Democrats.
The only man that can change that is Senator Tim Johnson. Johnson can have more effect on winning the war than any other man in history. All he has to do is resign. Reid will be replaced and America will probably win the war.
If Johnson can rise to make this difficult decision, he will have done more than any of our Generals or any of our soldiers to win this war. If Johnson is capable of doing this, I suggest that we build a statue of Senator Johnson in Pierre. The words below the statue could say: “First My Country, Then My State, Then My Party”.
Bring our troops home with a victory! What a legacy. Johnson can single handedly win the war by resigning. Go for it Senator!
For the NYT Op Ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/30/opinion/30pollack.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Yes, even the NT Times is recognizing the tide has turned. Will the politicians choose what’s right for the Country, or their Party??
The country needs the vote of our Senator, now more than ever.
Some of us have been publicly asking the same questions for many weeks. And as a sidenote, the Rapid City Journal is having one hell of a weekend. Yesterday the were the first in the South Dakota media to name Chad Shuldt and now they become the first media outlet to call out Tim Johnson.