Gabby Giffords may lose her seat if she doesn't recover by April - Polidicks

[url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/17/AR2011011702542_2.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2011011702561]Washington Post[/url] [img]http://images.smh.com.au/2011/01/10/2126855/Giffords%27%20office-420x0.jpg[/img] [release]TUCSON - Rep. Gabrielle Giffords continues to make progress in what doctors here on Monday described as a miraculous recovery after undergoing a minor procedure over the weekend to repair a fracture in her right eye. The Arizona congresswoman apparently recognized her husband, gave him a smile and rubbed his neck for 10 minutes, which doctors at University Medical Center said is a sign that her higher cognitive abilities were preserved after she was shot through the head Jan. 8 in a rampage that killed six people and wounded 13. With doctors preparing Giffords for the rehabilitation stage of her recovery, the discovery Monday of a little-known statutory provision in Arizona law presented a legal complication that, if left unamended, could endanger her hold on her seat. A statute buried in state law says that if a public officeholder ceases to "discharge the duties of office for the period of three consecutive months," the office shall be deemed vacant, and that at such time, a special election could be called to fill the opening. The law does not specify what those duties entail. It does not state, for instance, that a vacancy is declared if a member of Congress does not vote in Washington during a three-month period. It was unclear Monday how or even whether the state law would apply to Giffords, a federal officeholder. Paul Bender, a constitutional scholar and a former dean of the Arizona State University College of Law, said he thinks that any determination of a vacancy would have to be made by Congress. "The state has no right to say what the duties of a congresswoman are," he said. "The state has no right to say when the office becomes vacant." Senior aides to Giffords, a Democrat, did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the matter. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) was made aware of the statute Monday but has not decided how to proceed. Her deputy chief of staff, Paul Senseman, wrote in an e-mail that "with Rep. Giffords's tremendous progress, an answer to many prayers, we've deemed it to be far too early and entirely inappropriate to speculate, analyze, consider." An informal adviser to Brewer said it is "unimaginable" that the governor would call for a special election to fill Giffords's 8th District seat if it is legally deemed vacant. He said she would most likely call for a special session of the state legislature to amend the law in such a way as to allow Giffords a longer recovery period. "This is a statutory provision that was written without vision of a case such as this and could lead to injustice," said the adviser, Jay Heiler, a former assistant attorney general and chief of staff to former governor Fife Symington (R). Although the legislature is controlled by a Republican super-majority in both chambers, there have been no indications that lawmakers would pursue any action that would deny Giffords her seat. "We should let people recover before anybody makes a judgement about whether she's fit to serve," said state Sen. Frank Antenori, a Republican who represents part of the Tucson area. "I don't hear anybody making those discussions." At the hospital where Giffords is listed in serious condition, doctors said they are using a feeding tube to provide her with adequate nutrition. They said she is breathing on her own through a tube in her neck. Doctors told reporters that Giffords still faces the risk of infection, pneumonia or other serious complications but that she made it through the most critical period in which her brain could swell. Giffords underwent a two-hour procedure Saturday to repair a fracture in her right eye because bone fragments were pushing down on the socket. Surgeons said they made an incision in her eyebrow to remove a piece of skull and the bone fragments, taking pressure off the eye. They reconstructed the area using metal mesh. "I'm happy to say that within a few hours of the surgery, she was waking up, and through the weekend she came back to the same baseline she had been at before the surgery, that same level of interaction she's been having with us," said G. Michael Lemole Jr., the hospital's chief neurosurgeon. Giffords's husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, who has been a near-constant presence at her bedside, told doctors that he saw his wife smile at him. And in his first interview since the attack, he said she gave him a neck massage. "She's in the ICU," Kelly said in a television interview with Diane Sawyer that is to air Tuesday on ABC. "You know, gone through this traumatic injury. And she spent 10 minutes giving me a neck massage. I keep telling her, I'm like, 'Gabby, you're in the ICU. You know, you don't need - you know, you don't need to be doing this.' But it's so typical of her that no matter how bad the situation might be for her, you know, she's looking out for other people." Doctors said that was encouraging. "She's recognizing him and interacting, perhaps in an old, familiar way with him," Lemole said. Asked whether Giffords understood what had happened to her, Randall Friese, another one of her doctors, said he had told her about the shooting and she had squeezed his hand. He said she has not tried to talk. "That's up to her healing process and how she responds to therapy," said Friese, associate medical director. The next step, doctors said, is repairing Giffords's skull, a task that Lemole warned is "many months down the road." He said that doctors will spend the coming days "tying up those loose ends" to get her ready for rehabilitation and that she could leave the hospital in "a matter of days to weeks." Doctors said her family is looking at rehabilitation facilities around the country, including Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, as well as facilities in Houston and Phoenix. [/release]

well lets be realistic if she can't do her job they HAVE to get someone capable of doing it [editline]17th January 2011[/editline] shit still sucks why must people be like that

Shes a fed, the state can't do shit really. If she did lose her seat, I guarantee you a bunch of hick conservatives would shoot up liberal congressional figures en masse to open up seats for their own preferred politicians. (I didn't mean to notion that being a conservative is inclusive to being a hick. There's plenty of extremists out there who are willing to throw away their lives in order to further the political agendas of radio show hosts. Extremist liberals do it too, but given the context (republicans have more to gain from an election right not than their opponents) it's more reasonable to assume that a conservative would be the one to act.) (I've tried to post this 3 times, and it's gotten worse sounding every time, the save button is giving me troubles. Hopefully this will clear up the intentions I had.)

300 million people shouldn't have to wait on someone to recover from being [B]shot in the brain[/B]. It's a tragedy, but that's the reality of the world we live in. Someone needs to take her place if she can't recover quickly.

Holy fuck I thought she died, at least shes recovering.

Shitty, but it makes sense. 3 months is a long time not to do your job, no matter the circumstances.

[QUOTE=HolyCrusade;27492327]300 million people shouldn't have to wait on someone to recover from being [B]shot in the brain[/B]. It's a tragedy, but that's the reality of the world we live in. Someone needs to take her place if she can't recover quickly.[/QUOTE] They should let her appoint someone to fill in.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;27492391]They should let her appoint someone to fill in.[/QUOTE] Certainly makes more sense that allowing something thats already been a disaster for her become even worse.

[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;27492312]Shes a fed, the state can't do shit really. If she did lose her seat, I guarantee you a bunch of hick conservatives would shoot up liberal congressional figures en masse to open up seats for their own preferred politicians.[/QUOTE] Really? Do you really guarantee it? I notice that this wasn't originally in your post. Did you feel it was so important that you just had to add it? Get over yourself. [editline]17th January 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Zeke129;27492391]They should let her appoint someone to fill in.[/QUOTE] Then let her appoint someone. But if she can't do her job, someone needs to. [editline]17th January 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Zeke129;27492391]They should let her appoint someone to fill in.[/QUOTE] Then let her appoint someone. But if she can't do her job, someone needs to.

I feel bad that all this has happened to her, but some does need to do her job.

fuck repubs

[QUOTE=Atchell;27492528]fuck repubs[/QUOTE] what

[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;27492312]Shes a fed, the state can't do shit really. If she did lose her seat, I guarantee you a bunch of hick conservatives would shoot up liberal congressional figures en masse to open up seats for their own preferred politicians.[/QUOTE] Because that has happened many times before. Come on, for how bad conservatives are, they're not going to go out and kill people to get their own in office. This isn't Somalia or something.

[QUOTE=Biotoxsin;27492312]Shes a fed, the state can't do shit really. If she did lose her seat, I guarantee you a bunch of hick conservatives would shoot up liberal congressional figures en masse to open up seats for their own preferred politicians.[/QUOTE] literally every conservative is like this

[QUOTE=Atchell;27492528]fuck repubs[/QUOTE] What does that have to do with anything.

Well, that's inconsiderate.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;27492391]They should let her appoint someone to fill in.[/QUOTE] yeah i'm sure if you have the ability to appoint someone you should be good enough to take your position she was shot in the fucking head, she can't even speak atm

So I guess you guys can't wrap your heads around this.

[QUOTE=Samiam22;27493227]So I guess you guys can't wrap your heads around this.[/QUOTE] What a god-awful pun.

[QUOTE=Xen Tricks;27493285]What a god-awful pun.[/QUOTE] Yeah, it blew my mind.

[QUOTE=Xen Tricks;27493285]What a god-awful pun.[/QUOTE] Suppose that's why you rated my other one dumb aswell.

[QUOTE=Samiam22;27493333]Suppose that's why you rated my other one dumb aswell.[/QUOTE] Yeah that other one was pretty bad too.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;27492391]They should let her appoint someone to fill in.[/QUOTE] Is she capable of doing so? Just because she is responsive doesn't mean she is capable of making decisions.

[QUOTE=yawmwen;27493388]Is she capable of doing so? Just because she is responsive doesn't mean she is capable of making decisions.[/QUOTE] Not now nessecarily, next month.(or the month after)

Bitch had it coming to be honest. I don't see the problem here or should we have a vegetable running the show from now on? [highlight](User was permabanned for this post ("Troll alt of a permabanned user" - daijitsu))[/highlight]

[QUOTE=ILIKEHORSES;27493518]Bitch had it coming to be honest. I don't see the problem here or should we have a vegetable running the show from now on?[/QUOTE] Thats not appropriate in the least bit, a woman was shot. Not funny, not cool.

[quote]Giffords's husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, who has been a near-constant presence at her bedside, told doctors that he saw his wife smile at him. And in his first interview since the attack, he said she gave him a neck massage.[/quote] "Honey... Honey, you awake? Look uh, my neck's really sore so... Would you mind?" If I recall correctly, before this shooting took place, people all over /b/ and such were making lots of jokes about killing her, weren't they? I saw it briefly when I checked the site, as it was mentioned on another forum I frequent. When I saw the news of her having been shot, I instantly thought "Someone followed through on one of their 'jokes', didn't they".

[QUOTE=Mr.Dounut;27492966]yeah i'm sure if you have the ability to appoint someone you should be good enough to take your position she was shot in the fucking head, she can't even speak atm[/QUOTE] She has [i]three months[/i]

Oh man, she needs to lose her job like she needs a hole in her head. Wait shit. But seriously let the lady keep her job. She was injured while performing her duties as a representative. Like any other job, it should be held for her while she recovers. Give her some time and let her appoint a temporary surrogate if you NEED it that bad.

[QUOTE=GunFox;27495645]Oh man, she needs to lose her job like she needs a hole in her head. Wait shit. But seriously let the lady keep her job. She was injured while performing her duties as a representative. Like any other job, it should be held for her while she recovers. Give her some time and let her appoint a temporary surrogate if you NEED it that bad.[/QUOTE] She has responsibilities. She is not carrying out those responsibilities. She should not be in office.