Don't get too excited, Democrats

Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.) has been hospitalized in serious condition. He has been suffering from leukemia that has been resistant to chemotherapy and now is battling an infection as well.

Naturally, Blast Off! wishes the Senator well, and my thoughts are with him and his family, wishing him a speedy recovery. However, since the MSM was foaming at the mouth over Sen. Tim Johnson's (D-S.D.) brain hemorrhage several months ago, it would be irresponsible not to speculate (per Peggy Noonan) about the effect on the Senate should Sen. Thomas be unable to serve for whatever reason.

The typical response from Democrats likely would be positive (again, speaking strictly in the abstract; not taking delight in Sen. Thomas' illness), because the Democratic governor of Wyoming, Dave Freudenthal, would have the authority to appoint a successor. As ESPN's Lee Corso might say, though, Not so fast!

According to Wyoming law, the governor must appoint a successor from the last incumbent's political party:

W.S. 22-18-111(a)(i): If a vacancy occurs in the office of United States senator or in any state office other than the office of justice of the supreme court and the office of district court judge, the governor shall immediately notify in writing the chairman of the state central committee of the political party which the last incumbent represented at the time of his election under W.S. 22-6-120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office. The chairman shall call a meeting of the state central committee to be held not later than fifteen (15) days after he receives notice of the vacancy. At the meeting the state central committee shall select and transmit to the governor the names of three (3) persons qualified to fill the vacancy. Within five (5) days after receiving these three (3) names, the governor shall fill the vacancy by temporary appointment of one (1) of the three (3) to hold the office.

So, Gov. Freudenthal would have to appoint a Republican. And so, should Sen. Thomas be unable to serve, we're still stuck putting up with that asshat Joe Lieberman.

But only, FSM willing, until January 2009 ...

UPDATE (9:21 am 6/5/07): Sen. Thomas died last night at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. He was 74. My condolences to his family and friends.

Call off the slobbering media hounds: Sen. Johnson upgraded to fair

Here's some good news: although Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) is still in intensive care, he is improving steadily.

Sen. Tim Johnson's condition has been upgraded from critical to fair, four weeks after he was hospitalized for a brain hemorrhage, his office said Tuesday.

The South Dakota Democrat, who was rushed to the hospital on Dec. 13 and underwent emergency surgery, remains in intensive care, said his spokeswoman, Julianne Fisher.

"The senator continues to make progress," Fisher said. "The next step would be rehabilitation and we hope that would happen within the week."

So, all the media that had been lathered up, hoping for a switch back to a Republican-controlled Senate, ought to cool their jets for a while at least. Get well soon, Sen. Johnson.

The nuclear option

Putting aside for the moment the fact that Dear Leader can't even pronounce "nuclear," I'm referring here to control of the U.S. Senate.

You may recall how the "nuclear option" was dangled by Republicans to stave off a Democratic filibuster. The GOP senators threatened to vote to change the rule requiring a supermajority vote of 60 to invoke cloture and end a filibuster. The trick was that the rule change required only a simple majority, or 51 votes.

Now, there is concern that if Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) is not well enough to vote January 4 on the organizing resolution, which defines how committee membership (and chairmanship) is allocated, the Republicans are considering a filibuster, with the goal at least of obtaining certain concessions regarding a change in leadership midstream, should the majority change.

I'm probably not explaining it very well, but in Part XXII (wow!) of his continuing series, Kagro X at The Next Hurrah provides you with a comprehensive review of the nuclear option, as well as an analysis of whether or not it's in the Democrats' best interest to go nuke in the 110th Congress.

Feed your inner nerd. Go check it out.

The SCLM two-step

So, let me get this straight: a 59-year-old Democratic senator from a state with a Republican governor has major surgery, and the media mavens are falling all over themselves to discuss how it will affect control of the Senate, etc., etc.

Meanwhile, on the same day, a 70-year-old Republican senator from a state with a Democratic governor has major surgery, and ... crickets.

Look, I know Sen. Johnson's condition, AVM, or arteriovenous malformation, is probably more serious than Sen. Dole's hip replacement surgery. But, optimistically, there's no reason why Sen. Johnson's recovery should take appreciably longer than Sen. Dole's. At the very least, it's irresponsible journalism to assume the worst.

It's common to take several days for someone to wake up after AVM surgery, said Dr. Sean Grady, neurosurgery chairman at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Someone who is awake and alert and talking in the first day or two typically has a shorter recovery — in the range of 4 to 8 weeks, he said. If it takes longer to wake up, it in turn takes more months to recover.

Point is, right now, we just don't know, any more than we know if Sen. Dole might have some post-operative complications from her hip replacement.

In the final analysis, it's just another chapter in the sad, sordid decline of American media - now more right-wing than ever.

UPDATE (4:52 pm 12/14/06): There's also the issue of Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.), who was diagnosed last month with leukemia. Wyoming's governor is a Democrat. Have we heard much about that? Nope.