Wyoming senator (Thomas) in serious condition

[jefferson_dem]

Source: AP

Wyoming senator in serious condition
By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Writer

Sen. Craig Thomas (news, bio, voting record), a Wyoming Republican who has been battling leukemia, is listed in serious condition at Bethesda National Naval Medical Center.

According to a statement from his office, Thomas's cancer has been resistant to a second round of chemotherapy and he is suffering from an infection in addition to the leukemia.

Thomas, 74, is with his wife, Susan, his sons, Patrick and Greg, and daughter, Lexie, his office said.

"At this difficult time, all we can do is give him as much love and support as possible," Susan Thomas said in the statement.

The senator was first diagnosed with the disease just days before his November 2006 re-election to a third term. He immediately underwent treatment at the hospital, then returned to work last December, a month earlier than expected.

Thomas was first elected to the Senate in 1994 after serving five years in the House.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070604/ap_on_go_co/senator_leukemia_2;_ylt=AuexpNc_hE_0fELGXZIfMcIE1vAI

[Maine-i-acs]

1. Wishing the best of health for the Senator from WY.

Thoughts and prayers.

[MNDemNY]

2. we're all thinkin' the same thing,...

but I'm not sayin' anything.

[tiptoe]

5. wazzat...didya say something?

Best wishes and positive thoughts extended to the entire Thomas family!

[MNDemNY]

8. Not me

:evilgrin:

[tiptoe]

18. huh...must have been...

echos from some other's mind.
:hide:

[tandot]

14. Yes, it looks like we are "all thinkin' the same thing..." we wish him the best

He is a human being who is loved by his family. He has a wife and children who are devastated. Given his age, he might not survive this.

Only people completely lacking empathy (which is usually a freeper trait) would wish a devastating illness or death on a person such as him.

[depakid]

17. You're wrong about that

Plenty of people with empathy would wish he and his all of the suffering that their purposeful actions have wrought on others.

So pardon my crocodile tears....

[tandot]

23. Well, I guess I am wrong. There are apparently a few who'd wish death on a fellow human being...

...while claiming to have "empathy" :eyes:

[depakid]

32. For instance- this guy voted to take people's mental health parity away

Which (as you may or may not know) would have caused immense suffering among a lot of people- some who I work with every day- and many who are close friends.

This vote would have taken away state cancer screening mandates, too.

Meanwhile, he and his get the best treatment money can buy.

I- and others on this thread- would be dishonest if I said I didn't wish on him and his a taste of the same sort of suffering that he would (and with other votes has) imposed on others.

Somehow, I have a feeling that you don't know much about what empathy really is.

What I see here is sanctimony- maybe sympathy- BUT NOT empathy.

[tandot]

35. I don't know what empathy is because I am not celebrating? WOW.

People elected him into office for a third time. If you want to blame anyone, blame the ignorant voters who enabled him to do all these things.

Sorry, I still don't feel like dancing and celebrating. Having lost my father at an early age, I can empathize with his family, especially his children.

[depakid]

37. Who said anything about celebrating?

I'm just not going to be dishonest and say I feel anything for a person in his straits other than a bit of scheudenfreude.

Having lost my mother to cancer- and one of my best friends to suicide, knowing what this guy's votes have meant to women's health, that's a healthy feeling.

This is a person who (by looking at their actions) wouldn't have cared a lick for me and mine- or you and yours.

[tandot]

41. Yes, but why did voters vote for him THREE times???

They put him there and enabled him. We are obviously doing a lousy job of educating voters on the issues and making clear what devastating effect electing Republicans has on us and our loved ones.

I am sorry for your loss.

[depakid]

43. I agree

Yet while the Dems- in one of their few victories in the past 7 years, managed to block the Enzi bill (barely), for some reason, they fail to shout about such things from the rooftops.

People in Wyoming would have suffered just as much from this bill (as they do with other far right policies). I guess it takes something happening personally to certain sorts of people before they're able to make the connection.

Yep- losing a parent sucks, anytime in life- but especially young. I think we understand this better than most.

[plessy123]

48. You know what, sometimes people just disagree with your view

It isn't because someone isn't shouting it from the tops of the rooftops or they don't "understand".

Some people just dion't see it your way. How awful....and diverse. Get used to it.

[depakid]

49. Precisely why

I WISH for some of them the same sorts of suffering that their actions and attitudes willingly condemn others to.

Perhaps then, they'd get it. Sometimes with Republicans, that's what it takes- something happening to them personally.

In certain circles, that might be looked on as a sort of Karma- or maybe a version of the 3 fold rule.

Pick your belief set.

[silverojo]

50. I'm not wishing anything on anyone

Just stating a fact that what you do unto others comes back to bite you in the ass.

Sadly, this man probably hasn't learned a thing from this karmic lesson.

[MNDemNY]

20. exactly.

[Deep13]

28. Sweeping generalization.

People die everyday. Most of them remain anonymous to the world. On the other hand the world cannot take much more of the neocons. Wishing has no practical effect of course, but if it did and wishing away someone spared a whole lot of grief in the world, especially when it is the result of that someone's party policies, then I would do it without hesitation.

In this case, the governor would be required to choose another R under state law.

[reichstag911]

29. It's not a lack of empathy,...

...it's a recognition of the greater good, and a celebration of a certain brand of justice being wrought on those who have enabled the Defiler...er...Decider, and his Geppetto, Cheney.

[tandot]

33. He apparently was voted into office for a third time.

Wyoming apparently has a lot of ignorant voters who support people like him.

That doesn't mean that I have to celebrate his illness or death. My dad died when he was 56 and I have sympathy for his family in that respect.

[TlalocW]

21. I know what you're saying

And while wishing him well, I also hope that he gets sick enough that he does have to leave the Senate and gets replaced by a democrat from the democratic governor of his state. The senate is going to be hamstrung until we can tell Joe Lieberman that we don't need him anymore, and the day we can do that will be a good day for the survival of the country. So call me what you want, but I'll place the country's health over the health of this guy.

TlalocW

[MNDemNY]

25. On the money.

[fishwax]

36. he's not going to be replaced by a democrat

state law requires the replacement to be of the same party as the person replaced, so even though WY has a dem governor, he would have to pick a repub to replace Thomas.

[kestrel91316]

38. Is there anything to stop the Dem governor of WY from picking

the most liberal, centrist "Republican" he can find as a replacement, if the good Senator should succumb???

Just sayin'.........

[fishwax]

40. alas, there is ... the governor has to pick from those nominated by the state repub party

otherwise, presumably, some democrat could simply switch parties in order to be chosen, and then caucus with the dems.

[Divernan]

51. Self delete

nt

[IndianaGreen]

39. Wyoming has a GOP governor, doesn't it?

I know nothing!

[ButterflyBlood]

54. Dem Governor. But state law requires he appoint someone of the same party

The State GOP will give him a list of three possible picks, and he'll choose one.

[Psephos]

53. He's dead now...still thinking about politics? n/t

[MNDemNY]

56. Yes, of course.The world doesn't stop for the death

of anyone, Dem. or Repuke.

[Psephos]

60. I didn't say it does

An old man dying of cancer. A vulture circling the dying corpse, wondering what it can pick from the carcass.

Not exactly the image I think of when I think of progressives. Not saying you're a vulture, just that your post suggested the image.

My brother-in-law found out on Friday he's full of metastatic cancer and will die soon. His politics do not overlap mine, but funny thing is, turns out it doesn't matter.

Politics is nothing more than deciding, in an unfair world, who's going to get something and who's going to give something up; the continuity of unfairness is the only certainty. Politics is an ignoble business at best, and a damned evil one at worst. Maybe, among us, who profess to care about humans regardless of race, color, or creed, we can afford ten seconds of restraint when dealing with the deaths of our opponents.

Peace.

[CatholicEdHead]

3. Hope he makes it through this.

[BOSSHOG]

4. Peace and comfort to the Senator and his family

[tandot]

6. Sending positive thoughts to him and his family. I hope he recovers.

[More Than A Feeling]

7. Hopefully he recovers, but if this is his time, he has live a long, and presumably happy life.

Congratulations to him on a life fully-lived, and my condolences to his wife and family on facing the prospect of a world without him.

[Mojambo]

9. That is rough stuff.

Best wishes to the Senator.

[Deep13]

10. Here's a fun factoid about Wyoming you might not have known.

The reddest state in the union, it nevertheless has a Democratic governor. Interesting, huh?

I wish the ailing Senator all the best, of course, but luekemia at his age usually has a pretty gloomy prognosis.

[thereismore]

12. Interesting, interesting. nt

[hijinx87]

19. there is a much less fun factoid

about wyoming state law . . . .

[Deep13]

22. State law, huh? Does it have to do with special elections for Senators?

:shrug:
Or maybe it has to do with the prohibition on double-parking. Either way, it is just a guess.

Edit: oops, it's even worse than that. The gov. has to pick from among 3 candidates supplied by the incumbent's party.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

47. Great. So they can file three nutcases who were too rabid to win the primary. -nt

[rfranklin]

11. I wish him a long and happy retirement...

so he can spend more time with his family.

[hijinx87]

13. get well quickly, senator

(wyoming is one of those odd states that doesn't allow the governor
to directly appoint a successor. the state party to which the
incumbent belongs forwards three names, from which the governor
makes an appointment)

[Seedersandleechers]

24. If the majority wants a republican senator then, that is what they should have.

[Deep13]

26. That's what they will have, wanted or not.

see post #22

[Hawkeye-X]

27. Will Freudenthal reject them all?

Hope so.

[hijinx87]

30. that doesn't appear to be within the bounds

of WY election law.

[CBHagman]

15. I hope he pulls through.

God be with him and his family, and may the medical staff be guided by all wisdom!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

16. Is there a way to unkick something?

:shrug:

[Lurking Dem]

31. This is horrible.

I feel for his family.

My mother-in-law is 87 and we can see the writing on the wall. But no matter what it is hard to prepare for.

[David__77]

34. Just to cut everyone short - this seat will not change party hands.

If there is a vacancy in Wyoming, the political leadership of the incumbent's party chooses three prospective replacements, and the governor in turn selects one of the three, i.e., there will be no Democrat filling this seat prior to an election.

[Irreverend IX]

42. Best case scenario...

This guy lingers in the hospital for the next few years, refusing to give up his seat but unable to make it to Washington for votes. Net result -- one less vote for the Repubs.

[LeighAnn]

44. Best case scenario II

What you said, coupled with a miraculous recovery, after which he devotes the rest of his life and Senate career to funding cancer research and treatment.

[Ellen Forradalom]

45. I lost a brother to leukemia

Awful disease. My best wishes to the Senator and his family.

[AwareOne]

46. This A__hole was my congressman for five years

:nopity: He is a big time right-wing good ole boy corporate shill. Goodbye asshole.

[DemKR]

52. No tears from me

Ass hole didn't bother going to Matthew Shepard's funeral, why should we whine for his

[fishwax]

57. where in WY did you live, AwareOne?

He was my congressman too; I lived in Sheridan for several years ...

[AwareOne]

58. I lived in Casper, went to Casper College

:toast: I loved the country but hated the politics. My county had 7 representatives elected at large for the state legislature, 6 of them were Republican. This is the heart of oil and ranching country and solid red.

[fishwax]

59. I know exactly what you mean

:toast:

[mitchum]

55. He's dead