Thursday, December 14, 2006

Incapacitated Senator

I'm not normally political but the story about Senator Tim Johnson possibly resigning or not brought up an interesting topic on NPR this morning. They were talking about multiple times in the past where Senators have remained in power even though they were incapacitated in some way or another.

Frankly I don't care if it does change the balance of power, if Tim Johnson cannot perform his duties he should be replaced. He should not have to state he is resigning. There needs to be an expectation of reasonable mental function to do that job. (I know, I can hear all the jokes too.)

The point is that if he cannot perform his job (or any other Senator, Representative, Judge, Mayor, Governor, etc) then he (or she) should be removed from office. Fired. It does a disservice to the people who voted for him/her and it makes a mockery of our government. Can you picture the Senate floor with beds and intensive care nurses? That's what it makes me think.

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