Democrat Representative in Oregon Urged to Resign

Discussion in 'Politics' started by CoinOKC, Feb 24, 2011.

  1. CoinOKC
    Fiendish

    CoinOKC T R U M P

    Uhhhmmmm... this is just weird:

    Newspapers, GOP call for congressman to resign - Yahoo! News


    Newspapers, GOP call for congressman to resign

    SALEM, Ore. – A photo of Rep. David Wu wearing a tiger costume and other unusual revelations about his mental health are increasing pressure on the seven-term Oregon Democrat to step down.
    But the lawmaker says he's not quitting even as an editorial in one of the state's largest newspapers and the state Republican chairman called for his resignation.
    Wu said this week that it was "unprofessional and inappropriate" to send pictures of himself wearing a tiger costume to staff members while he was in the middle of a heated campaign last year. He also acknowledged taking two tablets of a pain killer that were given to him by an unnamed campaign donor.
    "This was the only time that this has ever happened," the congressman said in a statement of the pain killer episode. "I recognize that my action showed poor judgment at the time, and I sincerely regret having put my staff in a difficult position."
    Seven staff members resigned after the campaign following bizarre behavior that concerned his team at the end of the 2010 campaign. The Oregonian also reported that Wu's campaign was fined by state officials for failing to carry workers compensation
    The Eugene Register Guard, Oregon's second-largest newspaper by circulation, published an editorial Wednesday calling for Wu's resignation "for lack of candor, not because of treatment."
    "Wu should have been forthcoming about his medical treatment when it began," said the paper, which publishes outside Wu's district.
    Another paper, the Daily Astorian from Clatsop County in Wu's district, planned to publish an editorial Thursday also suggesting that Wu should step down, saying the congressman has served the region well but "certainly Wu is becoming an embarrassment."
    "He has a really important job, and the citizens of Oregon and the citizens of the congressional district deserve to have a congressman who's completely focused on serving them and being a great congressman," Oregon Republican Party Chairman Allen Alley said Wednesday.
    Wu's spokesman said the congressman has no plans to resign and will seek re-election in 2012.
    "It will be up to his constituents to decide whether he's proven himself," Dorey said.
    Wu tried to confront the criticism in a network television interview on Tuesday, telling ABC's Good Morning America that he's being treated with counseling and medication and saying he has overcome any mental issues that occurred during a stressful midterm election.
    Wu was unavailable Wednesday to comment, said his spokesman, Erik Dorey. The congressman will be in Portland this weekend and plans to speak with reporters then, Dorey said.
    Wu's district is a Democratic stronghold that includes the west side of Portland and the city's technology-heavy eastern suburbs, including the global headquarters for Nike and a major factory for chipmaker Intel. It stretches northwest to the coast and south into Oregon's wine country.
    Wu was a political newcomer when he was elected to Congress in 1998 as the first Chinese-American to serve in the U.S. House. He's maintained a centrist voting record but been a leading voice on human rights abuses in China, and he angered the high-tech firms in his district when he voted against normalizing trade relations with China.
    Even as Wu faces pressure to quit, some of his top political supporters are sticking by him.
    "We support David Wu because he's a strong supporter of working families," said Arthur Towers, political director for the Service Employees International Union in Oregon. "Clearly he's going through some personal health problems, and now is not the time to change our position."
    Richard Schwarz, executive director of the American Federation of Teachers in Oregon, said Wu is entitled to seek medical care.
    "We have no reason at this point to not support him," Schwarz said.
    A special election would be held to fill out Wu's term if he were to step down.

    [​IMG]
     
  2. De Orc

    De Orc Well-Known Member

    Whats wrong with wearing a Tigger costume?
     
  3. Moen1305

    Moen1305 Not Republican!

    Never to be outdone, a Republican deputy attorney general from Indiana twitters that the protesters in Wisconsin should be shot.
    You gotta love it when each one of these loons fights to be the mayor of crazy town.

    Indiana deputy attorney general's proposal for dealing with protesters? Shoot 'em

    On Saturday night, Adam Weinstein, an editor at Mother Jones, entered into a Twitter "discussion" with Jeff Cox, a lawyer who draws a paycheck courtesy of Indiana taxpayers as one of the state's 144 deputy attorneys general. In the midst of this conversation, apparently taking a page from tyrants elsewhere in the news, Cox tweeted what should be done to deal with protesters at the state capitol in Madison, Wisc. Read for yourself:

    Weinstein wrote:

    From my own Twitter account, I confronted the user, JCCentCom. He tweeted back that the demonstrators were "political enemies" and "thugs" who were "physically threatening legally elected officials." In response to such behavior, he said, "You're damned right I advocate deadly force." He later called me a "typical leftist," adding, "liberals hate police." ... [Cox has labeled] President Obama an "incompetent and treasonous" enemy of the nation to comparing "enviro-Nazis" to Osama bin Laden, likening ex-Labor Secretary Robert Reich and Service Employees International Union members to Nazi "brownshirts" on multiple occasions, and referring to an Indianapolis teen as "a black teenage thug who was (deservedly) beaten up" by local police. A "sensible policy for handling Afghanistan," he offered, could be summed up as: "KILL! KILL! ANNIHILATE!"

    Although Cox's equally inflammatory "Pro-Cynic" blog has been deleted, a comment last May at his Facebook page pondered: "Which is more useful to America: Barack Obama or tapeworm?"

    Last week he also tweeted: "Planned Parenthood could help themselves if the only abortions they performed were retroactive."

    A spokesman for the Indiana Attorney General's office, Bryan Corbin, initially told Mother Jones that Cox's comments were "inflammatory" ... We do not condone any comments that would threaten or imply violence or intimidation toward anyone." He promised an "immediate review." Subsequently he wrote:


    "Individuals have the First Amendment right to post their own personal views in online forums on their own time ... but as public servants, state employees also should strive to conduct themselves with professionalism and appropriate decorum in their interactions with the public. ... We have reiterated to the employee the standards of professional conduct expected for all licensed attorneys and for employees of the Indiana Attorney General's Office. After all the relevant information is obtained, this agency then will determine whether there has been any violation of the personnel handbook."
     
  4. David

    David Proud Enemy of Hillary

    Sooooo......how do you relate the 2 dr moen?
     
  5. Moen1305

    Moen1305 Not Republican!

    Well my son, both are public servants, both seem to be teetering on the edge of sanity, and both people are being asked to or have resigned. Seems kind of obvious to me.
     
  6. David

    David Proud Enemy of Hillary

    Seems to me you are trying to either divert attention away from a Dim whacko who has been exposed or you are attempting to justify one's questionable behavior by posting something someone else may have said or done.
    By the way, I noticed you didn't comment on the OP.
     
  7. Moen1305

    Moen1305 Not Republican!

    I'm not supporting either of these guys but you have to admit that saying that we should shoot protesters is just slightly crazier than a guy who dressed up in a costume for whatever reason. Am I right or am I right? Like I said, "You gotta love it when each one of these loons fights to be the mayor of crazy town."

    I think I'll go to lunch now....
     
  8. rlm's cents
    Hot

    rlm's cents Well-Known Member

  9. Moen1305

    Moen1305 Not Republican!

    Did you ever notice that you can google either "Republican resigns" or "Democrat resigns" and do this tit-for-tat all day?

    Republican congressman Chris Lee resigns after topless Craigslist post

    Republican politician resigns after woman's web search reveals 'fit fun classy guy' posing as divorcee to be in fact married with a son...

    You get the idea.
     
  10. rlm's cents
    Hot

    rlm's cents Well-Known Member

    Thank you! You just proved my point.
     
  11. CoinOKC
    Fiendish

    CoinOKC T R U M P

    I think it's grrrrrrrrrrreat!
     
  12. Moen1305

    Moen1305 Not Republican!

    My error. I hadn't realized that you had actually started making points. You caught me off guard.
     
  13. rlm's cents
    Hot

    rlm's cents Well-Known Member

    That is your problem. Somehow you mange to miss all the points people are making.
     
  14. Moen1305

    Moen1305 Not Republican!

    All the points people are making? What's your point?
     
  15. David

    David Proud Enemy of Hillary

    I think he's too distracted by the point under his cap.
     
  16. Moen1305

    Moen1305 Not Republican!

    Everything looks like it has a point from your perspective down there.
     
  17. De Orc

    De Orc Well-Known Member

    And once again what exactly is wrong with wearing a Tigger costume? who exactly does it hurt? what law does it break? what part of your Constitution says you cant wear it? Dont you people have a sence of humour? and I thought us Brits were suppose to be the uptight ones LOL The guy wore a costume, he is not a serial Killer, he did not run off with anyone, he did not make a pass at any one!! Talk about a mountain out of a mole hill!
     
  18. Stujoe

    Stujoe Well-Known Member

    I think the question is of whether there are underlying mental health issues contributing to general erratic behavior more so than just worrying about a grown man wearing a Tigger pajama suit. Apparently, he admits to mental health issues, although he has not divulged the nature of the issues.
     
  19. De Orc

    De Orc Well-Known Member

    Care to tell me any single politician that has no mental health issues after all what sane person would want to do there job?
     
  20. Moen1305

    Moen1305 Not Republican!

    Aren't you guys really just making fun of a guy with mental health issues? The guy can probably live a normal life if they find the right combination of medications. I'd give him the benefit of the doubt rather than further victimize him.

    PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon congressman whose erratic behavior has recently prompted calls for his resignation said Sunday that some of his actions could be attributed to a reaction to mental health drugs.

    U.S. Rep. David Wu told The Associated Press, however, that it does not explain the behavior documented in reports over the last month, which included sending his staff photos of himself wearing a tiger costume.

    Wu said he was hospitalized after his 2008 campaign for symptoms that were later diagnosed as a reaction to common mental health drugs. A spokesman, Erik Dorey, identified them as the sleep-aid drug Ambien and a generic form of Valium, which he said Wu used for anxiety and stress.

    Wu said that as a result, he felt dizzy and confused on Election Day that year, when his staff and family reportedly were unable to locate him.

    "It came up that afternoon, and it knocked me off my can," Wu said, referring to the symptoms.

    The AP interview in his Portland office was the most detailed public account yet of Wu's psychiatric treatment since reports of his erratic behavior first surfaced last month. Six staff members quit after his 2010 re-election campaign during which the congressman gave angry speeches and talked his way inside the secure portion of Portland International Airport.

    The congressman said last year's episodes were the culmination of a period of mental health challenges that began in 2008 as marital issues led toward his separation from his wife.

    He declined to detail the problems in his marriage but said they had nothing to do with his health.

    In 2008, Wu was prescribed mental health drugs that he described as "very common." Wu said he reacted to an enzyme in the drugs, and that after the election he was hospitalized for two days.

    Story continues below
     

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