S.D. Sen. Johnson in Critical Condition Dec 14, 8:09 AM (ET) By MARY CLARE JALONICK WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson was in critical condition early Thursday, a hospital official said, after late-night brain surgery that followed hospitalization for stroke-like symptoms. Johnson was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday, just weeks after his party gained a one-seat Senate majority in midterm elections, effective Jan. 4, 2007. A person in George Washington University Hospital's media relations office said the hospital was preparing to announce that Johnson's condition was critical. The employee, who declined to be identified because a formal statement was pending, would not describe the surgery. The surgery lasted past midnight Wednesday, and was disclosed by another official who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitive nature of the subject. Apart from the risk to his health, Johnson's illness carried political ramifications. Democrats emerged from last month's elections with a 51-49 Senate majority. If he were forced to relinquish his seat, a replacement would be named by South Dakota's GOP Gov. Mike Rounds. A Republican appointee would create a 50-50 tie, and allow the GOP to retain Senate control. President Bush learned about Johnson's illness when he awoke Thursday morning, said first lady Laura Bush. "We're praying like I know all the people of South Dakota are for his very, very speedy recovery," Mrs. Bush told CBS's "Early Show." Johnson, who turns 60 later this month, was admitted to George Washington University hospital at midday after experiencing what his office initially said was a possible stroke. His spokeswoman, Julianne Fisher, later told reporters that it had been determined that the senator had suffered neither a stroke nor a heart attack. But several hours after she spoke, Dr. John Eisold, the Capitol physician, called that into question with a statement of his own. "Senator Tim Johnson was admitted to the George Washington University Hospital today with the symptoms of a stroke. He is currently under the care of physicians at the George Washington University Hospital." Fisher and Eisold both said they did not intend to issue further updates on Johnson's condition until Thursday. Johnson became disoriented during a conference call with reporters, stuttering in response to a question. Before he ended the call, Johnson appeared to recover and asked whether there were any additional questions. Fisher said he then walked back to his Capitol office but appeared to not be feeling well. The Capitol physician came to his office and examined him, and it was decided he should go to the hospital. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance around noon, Fisher said. "It was caught very early," she said. In its earlier statement, Johnson's office had said he had suffered a possible stroke and was "undergoing a comprehensive evaluation by the stroke team." Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada went to the hospital to check on Johnson. He called Johnson a "dear friend to me and to all of us here in the Senate." The White House also issued a statement wishing him a speedy recovery. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Senator Johnson and his family," said spokesman Alex Conant. If the Senate is split 50-50, the vice president breaks ties. That is Republican Dick Cheney at present. Johnson is up for re-election in 2008. South Dakota Secretary of State Chris Nelson said there were no special restrictions on such an appointment by the governor and a replacement would not have to be from the same political party. Johnson, a centrist Democrat, was first elected to the Senate in 1996 after serving 10 years in the House. He narrowly defeated Republican John Thune in his 2002 re-election bid. Thune defeated Sen. Tom Daschle, the former Senate Democratic leader, two years later. Johnson underwent prostate cancer treatment in 2004, and subsequent tests have shown him to be clear of the disease. Johnson is the second senator to become ill after the Nov. 7 election. Wyoming Sen. Craig Thomas, a Republican, was diagnosed with leukemia on Election Day. He is back at work. ---_ Associated Press writers Laurie Kellman and Natasha Metzler in Washington and Dirk Lammers in Sioux Falls contributed to this report.
It sucks to have your life in danger and some people hoping that maybe you won't be able to pull through, for political purposes. All of us are above that sort of thing, I'm hoping.
Yes, we agree wholeheartedly. Sincerely, The Troops in Iraq when thinking about the Democratic party....
Still funny to me the chickenhawks who always use "we" to describe their war on WMD's...errr....Al Queda/9-11 connection....errr.....Hamanitarianism
Hope he gets well soon. Chickenhawks. My favorite word. Someone still has yet to show me why supporting a war but not enlisting is any different than supporting the efforts to fight fires or fight crime without joining the fire dept. or the police force.
You left out the fact that this war was willfully chosen. Not to imply that a war has to be forced upon you to merit acceptance, but the war in Iraq is probably more analogous to someone starting a fire unnecessarily and then asking others to put it out. Thus the chickenhawk label. You want the war, but prefer others to fight it. Firefighters are not generally friends with arsonists either.
Huh, maybe conservative christian prayer does work! Should have prayed for the troops instead, though.
LOL, I would be a chickenhawk if I supported fires or crimes. Look - in the Vietnam era, guys like Chaney, Bush, Delay etc ran from service overseas by using their connections or faking injuries. Why? Because they decided it wasn't worth the risk to their own lives to "defend freedom". You don't think that there's a fundamental disconnect worth noting between their present willingness to take extreme risk with others lives to "defend freedom" for what, especially at this point, seems to be very negligible gain? Or their present willingness to prance around in flight suits and such and generally pretend like they're gung ho, Rambo warriors, when in fact they had they're chcance to do it for real they decided against it?
Thats the largest reason I carry absolute hatred for Bush. As a vet, to see someone so eager to fight a war, send others to fight and possibly die, be so unwilling to get out of war, but he and his whole administration ran and hid from the Vietnam war. Like the P@ssies they were, they couldnt stand up for this country when they were called.
