Democrat Hank Johnson Afraid Guam Will "Tip Over and Capsize"
 

heh heh heh heh heh heh heh

i think he was speaking figuratively. 8,000 Marines and their families are being added, with all the that entails. the expected influx would near 80,000 people at the peak of construction. that's on an island 30 miles long, 4 to 12 miles wide, with an existing population of 180,000. it's going to put a strain on all existing systems: sewage, water, public utilities, et al. not to mention the ecosystem of a pretty little island.

but if it could tip over though, you just gotta run really fast, like log rollers.

and really, who's scared of falling into refreshing, clear light blue water?

rock the boat.

Okay, but Manhattan is 13 miles long and only 2.5 miles wide, and has over 1.6 million residents, and nearly continious construction. I think Guam will be okay. It survived changing hands during a war. Probably more than one.

Nature is extremely powerful, although beautiful. Do not equate beauty with weakness. The island will be okay.

At first I figured he meant economically, and then I realized he was serious. Did you see the look on the Marine guy's face? And then he said "we don't anticipate that happening."

Classic.

rewatch the congressman's body language as the film reaches about 1:25

"We don't anticipate that happening" ... ROFL Kudos to this Admiral for keeping a straight face.

I absolutely do not think he was speaking metaphorically. He tipped his whole body to one side when he said it! He THEN went on to ask about the environmental impacts on coral reefs, etc.

He was serious!

^^^^ This

We do have to cut him some slack as he is not in very good health. Hepatitis C I believe. That does beg the question as to why we continue to keep Congressmen and Senators who clearly cannot meet their responsibilities. Reference: Byrd, Thurmond and others.

Because their constituents keep voting for them? With the House, it's only a two year term so the amount of time they might serve while ill is considerably shorter than for a senator. However, the veteran members get the better committee appointments, etc., so it works to a state's advantage to have long term reps.

The medication for Hep C is a humdinger indeed.

"Yeah, I know.

If the congressman has to wear a drool cup and doesn't even know where he is I do not see how this really helps his consituents. But, Byrd still brings home the bacon to WV even while not attending the senate meetings. Amazing isn't it?

I'm not sure I can talk, having voted for John Dingell continually since living in his district. I have heard him speak though and he's still pretty active and attends sessions, etc.

LOL

He sounded so serious. Bless his heart...

Oh puhleeeeeese...he was not serious about it tipping over, he was talking about overpopulating an island and the environmental impact. Apparently it was a poor choice of words since everyone thinks that he really thinks islands are like rafts floating in the ocean. He doesn't sound senile or stupid so I am choosing to give the poor man the benefit of the doubt that he is just questioning the impact on Guam. He even later states that Guam is the only place to go for the troop build up, so I think he was just trying to go on record that the goverment considered the environmental impact on Guam before moving more troops there. As for any comparison to NYC, maybe they don't want this island to turn into a concrete jungle!

I was hoping it was some kind of Lost spoiler the producers had planted.

It will take more than a marine base to turn guam into a "concrete jungle" as you call it.

And, maybe that's exactly what they want. Why would you presume that you speak for Guam?

Manhattan is also on the coast of the US, in the middle of NYC, has no worry of running out of fresh drinking/waste water, and has multiple routes in and out (boat/plane/train/car/bike/walk/swim...) but who wants to swim in the East River?

Guam is in the middle of the ocean, has a 0-1300 elevation range, and only has two ways on/off: boat or plane. 8,000 additional troops and their families need homes, roads, schools, offices, etc. about 80,000 (45% pop. increase at peak) people that come to construct, teach, feed, and whatnot will tax the existing water and waste systems. large influxes of foreign workers also increases the risk of introducing a foreign species to the island. before WWII, Guam didn't have any terrestrial snakes. now they eat all the birds.

the island will be okay, but it'll suffer drastic changes in a very short time. not to mention, you'd be hard-pressed to find a tropical island paradise that wants to nearly double it's population for any length of time. the exception being Tom Hanks in Castaway. and in that case, Wilson doubled the population, but didn't consume any resources.

interesting

Exactly. Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Johnson’s office said the boss is simply a tremendous deadpan — and that he was using a facetious metaphor. (More on that below) But the admiral didn’t know that, and played it straight:

“We don’t anticipate that. The Guam population, I think, currently about 175,000, and again, with 8,000 marines and their families, it’s an addition of about 25,000 more into the population.”

. . .

Here’s a formal response from Johnson, via his spokesman:

“I wasn’t suggesting that the island of Guam would literally tip over,” said Johnson. “I was using a metaphor to say that with the addition of 8,000 Marines and their dependents – an additional 80,000 people during peak construction to the port on the tiny island with a population of 180,000 – could be a tipping point which would adversely affect the island’s fragile ecosystem and over burden its already overstressed infrastructure.

“Having traveled to Guam last year, I saw firsthand how this beautiful – but vulnerable island – is already overburdened, and I was simply voicing my concerns that the addition of that many people could tip the delicate balance and do harm to Guam.”

^^^he's covering up his mistake

Actually, in context it seemed pretty clear to me that he was speaking metaphorically.

It didn't seem that way to me at all.

I watched the video three times. It is clear that he meant what he said- that the island could literally tip over. All I think is that he is under the impression that islands are like lily pads, and could tip over, instead of realizing that they are the tops of underwater mountains. When I was teaching high school earth science, I had to clear up that misconception many times.

I watched it multiple times as well. What was clear to me from the entire video is that his speech pattern overall is very monotone, lacking in modulation, making everything he says sound Joe-Friday-just-the-facts-ma'am. Whether that's from medication or health or some other reason, or whether that's just how he talks (I people like that), I don't know.

But's it's something I've seen many times in court -- an attempt at sarcasm or facetiousness that falls flat because of a delivery devoid of any intonational cues.

No, he really thinks/thought that islands in the Pacific are floaters. I will bet you there are many people who believe the same. I believe he talks that way because of the drugs for his illness.

And how do you know that so definitively?

like most members of the committee, Johnson has been to Guam.

THIS

Perscriptions can be a MoeFaux. Seriously, it's sad.

Because it is what it is. Sometimes you just can't undumbass yourself when you make a stupid statement. Happens to all of us at some time or the other.