Rep. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia’s First District has passed away from breast cancer, according to Roll Call. My sympathies go out to her friends and family.
In a somewhat classless move, her 2006 opponent released the following statement:
“I wish to extend my sympathy to Representative Jo Ann Davis’ family in their time of sorrow.
Ms. Davis’ passing is sad and a tragic reminder that work is still needed in finding a cure for cancer and other diseases that continue to unnecessarily cost human lives. Unfortunately, earlier this year President Bush proposed cutting funding for cancer research by $40 million and cutting government funds for other major health programs and services by hundreds of millions of dollars hurting countless Americans.
In this time of sadness, let us all recall the words of the ancient hymn and prayer of comfort and support, “May the angels lead you to paradise, and may the martyrs greet you on your arrival …”
It would probably be better to wait until after the funeral to start getting political. Having said that, this will create one more open seat for the Republicans to defend. It’s a red district (Bush – 60.11% Kerry – 39.17%), but it isn’t beyond reach.
from his website:
…Politics is not a spectator sport…
it’s a blood sport…and the d‘s are just as sleazy as the r‘s.
cheep, as in chickenshit, shot. the lack of respect or human decency is astounding.
lTMF’sA
yeah…it was pretty tone-deaf.
tone deaf?!
this bozo, and his handlers…if he has any… just sat on their back porch and whittled a stick…an old virginia tradition… to a sharp point, dropped his drawers, bent over and said…”put it here“.
…“It’s a red district (Bush – 60.11% Kerry – 39.17%), but it isn’t beyond reach.”
it is for this guy.
jezeus…wtf is common sense? he’s going to regret this, big time.
lTMF’sA
Class, IMHO, has nothing to do with this – as exemplified during the passings of Wellstone and Reagan, the passing of a political figure demands commentary about the policies, issues and people that the deceased supported. It is especially relevant when the deceased died from a disease for which her president proposed a significant cut in research funding. If an opponent of capital punishment was killed by a paroled convict then you can rest assured that the other side would have no qualms about making mention of the real-world consequences of the issues, policies and people that the deceased supported in life.
Politics is not for the faint of heart – it is this kind of cowardice that has the Congressional Democrats fearful of cutting funding to a war that the overwhelming majority of America opposes. It is this kind of cowardice that has Congressional Democrats signing off on yet another extension of FISA. It is this kind of cowardice that will cause what ought to be a rout of the GOP in 2008 into a nail-biter, and I’m getting sick of it.
Play to win or stay home.
as if common courtesy would have been cowardly…
Common courtesy? It’s discourteous to say something political regarding the death of a political figure? I suppose it would then be discourteous to say something religious about the death of a religious figure, or to say something insightful about the death of a philosophical figure, or to say something funny about the death of a comedian. If one’s life is centered around a particular thing then it is patently absurd to assert that it is discourteous to speak about that thing when speaking about their life and death.
Speak that which you truly believe and stand firm on it – that’s the issue of cowardice that I see perpetually dogging the Party, and that’s what I see as the problem in this instance: nobody seems to disagree with the substance of the man’s assertion, they have a problem with the fact that he actually spoke what he truly believes…
it’s bad politics if nothing else. We all want the Dems to fight and to fight harder, but not in stupid self-defeating ways. I don’t really care, but the guy is a moron.
It may indeed be bad politics in that district – and I could see it being described as a “foolish move” or a “stupid move” – but I don’t see it as a “classless move” as you described it originally since it has nothing to do with class.
would you prefer ‘boorish’?
playing to win should not mean you have to abandon your humanity.
there would have, and will be, a time and place for such arguments.
this was a major gaffe, and it will be used againt him.
l refuse to submit to the reichwing meme, the ends justify the means, especially in circumstances such as this.
he could have offered his condolences and waited.
lTMF’sA
Again, this has nothing to do with humanity – the passing of a political figure requires a political response, and if you vehemently disagreed with a person in life then it is the height of hypocrisy to come across like they were your best friend when they die. In many instances it would even be a lie to say that you’re sorry that they died, so perhaps it would be better to say nothing from some points of view, but the only – ONLY – reason for releasing a statement about the death of a political figure is politics, otherwise you just send flowers and a card to the family, and maybe you follow up with a phone call if they actually matter to you.
It’s not a matter of expressing humanity, it’s a matter of politics.
oscar….the body’s still warm.
my complaint is not about politics, it’s about humanity, decorum, if you will.
the point is that this is tantamount to going to the memorial service and proclaiming the deceased responsible for their demise.
…/the only – ONLY – reason for releasing a statement about the death of a political figure is politics, otherwise you just send flowers and a card to the family, and maybe you follow up with a phone call /…
as l said, there would have been, and will be, more appropriate opportunities to broach this subject in the pursuit of other, read: political, goals.
this was very ill advised, and will be used against him.
l think you get it.
lTMF’sA
I get what you’re saying, I simply disagree – they may “use it against him” but whether or not that is effective or even relevant is a matter of politics, not humanity. I have no problem with his statement, but I also understand why many Democrats will have a problem with it, and I believe that such queasiness will cause our side to lose some elections that we ought not lose.
Lest you forget, they called Max Cleland – who left three limbs in Vietnam – a traitor. They called Silver Star and Bronze Star recipient John Kerry a coward. They called George W. Bush a Christian. Forgive me if I don’t give a rodent’s sphincter about the alleged sensibilities of such liars, but the man’s statement – regardless of my opinion of Republicans – still didn’t say one thing disparaging about the deceased. He made a point that was relevant to her death, and I don’t have a problem with that.
Let a Democrat die in office and see what the Right has to say…
indeed, the swiftboating of cleland and kerry, and the continuing descent into the depths of depraved falsehoods is troubling. but that is not my argument.
l think on most issues we would agree that the d‘s need to be more aggressive in their responses. this particular circumstance however, provides ammunition that will be, ultimately, used against the person who said it, and it was completely unnecessary. in order to prevail, especially at the local level, the d‘s need to find a balance, and frankly, in my interactions, l find people are more accepting of your message if you have a sense of civilty…something that’s sorely lacking in political discourse today.
thanks for your responses, we will have to agree to respectfully disagree about this minutia.
l’m gone to the baseball game….go rocks!
lTMF’sA
My first response to your post was total agreement. Then, as fate would have it- I jumped to Kos and saw the latest Rasmussen. Well, in a country in which 59% of the gooper nation supports the fucker and his criminal veto of the SCHIP bill, I gotta tell ya Boo that I have changed my mind. It is down and dirty time because I know that just like Chiavo and the other numerous horrors that they have perpetuated on us, this tragic death will be used for their own nightmarish purposes. So Boo- I gotta tellya that it is down and dirty time. Yup, in the case of: goopers vs the people- no holds barred!
This is just one! you can bet you ass that from here on out, every time I spot another horror- I will comment. Loud, strong and dirty!
And I encourage every single human being that reads your brilliant site to join in screaming out against the destruction of this country by the fucking international criminals that have taken charge of our futures!
more coming!
Better to wait.
it’s a “bad” move that has a silver lining: people are talking about breast cancer and why our gov’t isn’t spending the right amount of money on it. forget rep. davis- what about the millions of working class and poor women who are denied the proper preventative and medical treatment, who suffer and die because we leave their care in the hands of for-profit interests? it’s wrong on so many levels, and women live in fear that something will happen to them and there will be nothing they can do about it.
i suppose this will hurt the opposition candidate, but i suspect not much. people are far too callous about women and breast cancer, and i suspect many people will just forget this.