This is really quite sad:
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, is reported to have suffered an aneurysm and is not expected to recover, according to CBS affiliate WOIO in Cleveland.
WOIO also reported that the congresswoman is on life support at this time.
The station reported today that she was transported overnight to Huron Hospital in Cleveland after police found her in her car last evening.
The congresswoman’s office said in statement that she suffered the aneurysm while driving her car in Cleveland Heights, Ohio last night and that she “has stabilized and she is receiving the best care available.”
I was never much a fan of her politics, per se, but every time I saw her on television she was happy and enthusiastic. Even during the primary, when her unbridled Clinton enthusiasm was, well, crazy, it was still somewhat endearing. I remember watching her talking about how Clinton was going to win, even when we all knew that was not going to happen, and while laughing at her lunacy on the facts, cheering how enthusiastic and happy she was.
I am aware some of you will say there is no place for that in politics, and people in her shoes should be serious all the time and radiate gravitas, but part of me thinks (especially after reading the dour comments here every day and following the depressing news coverage every night) that we need a lot more people like her in this world.
She had a great smile, and some days, that is enough.
Rome Again
No sooner than this post went up I turned to CNN and minutes later they are reporting that Stephanie Tubbs Jones has died.
Incertus
I’m surprised that, in all the blog posts I’ve seen mention this news, that no one seems to remember that she was one of the Congresspeople who challenged the electoral vote in 2004. That was one of her finest hours, in my opinion, and ought to be celebrated.
John Cole
Just an FYI- I have already received two emails from listservs trying to connect her support for Clinton to the Obama death list.
nightjar
Very, very sad news. A person who genuinely enjoyed being alive. Man, it seems like too many good people of late are dying too young.
Kevin
Ghouls.
The Grand Panjandrum
Jesus. We must be on the same lists.
RIP Congresswoman Tubbs-Jones.
gypsy howell
Indeed. Thank you Ms Tubbs Jones. If you had done nothing else in your life, you should be venerated for that. You stood up when so few others would.
Conservatively Liberal
Morbid morons, that is just sick. But can you really expect anything different from hateful people. I read at Kos that the Cleveland Plain Dealer (right wing rag) had to shut off comments at their web site because they were so vile. What compassionate conservatives. Not.
RIP Stephanie, and my best wishes to her family and friends.
Octavian
As unfortunate as this woman’s death happens to be, this strikes me as a more pressing concern:
MOSCOW (AP) – Russia says its response to the further development of a U.S. missile shield in Poland will go beyond diplomacy.
Brother Flaming Taser of Warm Reason
First Bernie Mack, Now STJ, OMG!
Seriously, this is sad news.
JR
The comments section at Rawstory is crawling with conspiracy theorists.
JR
Wait CNN.com and Yahoo are saying she’s “hospitalized”.
Dulcie
Both CNN and FOX are saying that she’s in critical condition but hasn’t died yet.
Neal
CNN is backtracking and saying she isn’t dead yet.
I saw “car accident” a few hours ago, “critical condition” followed, then came “taking her off life support”, the “dead”, and now “limited brain function”. The articla has been changed so many times, I don’t know where she’s at.
Krista
Such a shame — and you’re right, she DID have a great smile. My sympathies go out to her loved ones, who must be absolutely reeling from a shock like this.
Cathy W
Apparently CNN admits it jumped the gun on reporting her death; the story now is that she’s in critical condition with minimal brain function.
Rome Again
CNN initially announced she had died, and then they went to a live interview at the hospital where she was taken and the doctor said she is alive. CNN was caught completely off-guard by the statement and now they are backtracking. They also interviewed a CNN Radio contact who stated that the Democratic Leadership was also notified that she had died and her colleagues were supposedly just as stunned to find out she was still alive. CNN goofed, apparently.
John Cole
CNN briefly reported she had died, but now has this to say:
The passive voice- not only irritating, but potentially a killer.
In all seriousness, it really sounds like she is on life support, but for all intents and purposes, dead. Being mistaken for dead is never a good sign in these matters.
Rome Again
Did I miss a memo that said humans will no longer take any responsibility for screw ups after January 2000? It seems over the last several years nobody ever admits to making mistakes anymore. What’s up with that?
jaime
My prayers to her and her family. This is really sad news.
jaime
The you know whos, of course are saying Obama did it.
Rome Again
Yes, they apparently have jumped the shark and are blaming her aneurysm on Obama. WOW, just wow!
rob!
not to speak ill and all that… but when she was on TV a few months ago, claiming Obama was a “native” of Kenya, that was endearing?
you’re a nicer man than I, Mr. Cole.
Napoleon
Being from the Cleveland legal community (she was a judge and the county prosecutor before being elected to Congress) I have always heard nothing but good things about her personally and she seemed to be liked by all, although she had a reputation as maybe not being the sharpest knife in the drawer.
jake
Jesus fucking Christ, when did checking your sources go the way of the 8-track? Sorry, in these days of instant communications there’s even less excuse for this crap. Way to go Credulous Noise Numbnuts.
Anyway. I wouldn’t wish a wet stroke on my worst enemy because if they get to the hospital in time their family has to deal with it. That’s how my grandma went and deciding to unplug a relative ranks down there with going to the doctor and hearing “Dr. Scissorhands will see you now.”
libarbarian
OFF TOPIC:
LIFE IMITATES THE ONION
Georgette Orwell
Her photo radiates cheerfulness, and somehow that makes this situation even more sad.
There’s much more room in politics for enthusiasm and a positive attitude, *much* more. I’m sorry this woman no longer will provide it.
southernoregon
As annoyed as I sometimes got at Ms. Tubbs-Jones during the primary, she always seemed like a genuinely nice person. I’m very sad to hear what has happened.
Chuck Butcher
I’ve certainly had my political differences with Rep Tubbs but I’ve always admired her willingness to stand up for what she thought. That alone forgives a lot.
Tsulagi
Yep.
Not me. Saw Terry McAuliffe on The Daily Show in the last dying day or two of Hillary’s campaign. Even though Stewart was going through the obvious math with him, McAuliffe rejected it enthusiastically predicting not only was Hillary going to sweep the nomination, but the general as well by a landslide. Cracked me up. Stewart too. Sometimes there’s something to be said for not giving up an inch.
Bones
“Yes, they apparently have jumped the shark and are blaming her aneurysm on Obama. WOW, just wow!”
Who are “They”? Could you please provide a link or something to back that statement and ones like it?
Dave Pooser
My mother suffered a cerebral aneurysm in the late 90s (now fully recovered, thank God) and a doctor at the time told me “She’s passed the first hurdle– 50% die before they reach the hospital!” (I think he intended to be reassuring. He failed.) Later they told me that 5% of aneurysm sufferers are fully recovered 5 years later. That’s some scary stuff, and Mom’s was relatively accessible.
Rep. Tubbs-Jones and her family are in my thoughts and prayers. And the death-list jackasses can go sodomize themselves with splintery sticks.
D-Chance.
Oh, fuck it. Don’t try acting all pissy now when THIS VERY WEBSITE has been the home to some of the most vile and virulent hateswarms over the past couple of years whenever someone with an R- or a moderate D- has had catastrophic events happen in their lives.
Church Lady
She has always seemed like a really nice woman. My sympathies to her family, friends and staff.
The Moar You Know
Let us know when something bad happens to you and we’ll throw one for the ages.
Kevin
ORLY?
brat
Ah DAMN! THis is just too sad. My sympathies to her family, friends, colleagues and stff members.
Tax Analyst
“Life Support” or “Dead” this is just Sad News. Nothing else to add.
Rome Again
Hey John, CNN removed that page you linked to with the passive phrase. Hmmmmm, I think heads are rolling in Atlanta today.
jibeaux
It’s tragic. She was a good Democrat and she certainly stood up for what, and who, she believed in, and I certainly don’t think if she were in a position to evaluate wacko conspiracy theories she would’ve bought into it one iota. To the extent any of that stuff is out there, it can be safely stored on the kooky shelf next to the London-train-bombing-was-an-electrical-power-surge and the fake moon landing.
(D-Chance is right, btw. Dying of autoerotic asphyxiation wearing 2 wetsuits and a dildo may be extraordinarily bizarre as well as somewhat foreseeable, but it is still catastrophic, I think. Have a Troll House cookie on me, D.)
JR
There are at least three comments in this thread linking or pointing to the lunacy.
Rome Again
I’m amazed you come to a blog called “Balloon Juice” and expect conversation to be along the lines of an elementary school PTA meeting.
jibeaux
(I’m realizing now that sounds a little condescending, like you guys wouldn’t necessarily know how kooky that is. I know you know I know you know I know. My point is more that even among diehard Clinton supporters, I have to assume blaming Obama for a brain aneurysm is oooooout there.)
Rome Again
“They” are PUMA and the link was just above what I wrote.
gil mann
Last line from the No Quarter post:
Wow, you mean she doesn’t deserve to be a vegetable because of that? Y’all some charitable-ass motherfuckers.
jibeaux
Wow, wow, and wow. That is even grammatically offensive, to boot.
Rome Again
I’m sorry, I should have called it what it was, a hitjob by Obama, obviously it could never be a brain aneurysm because there’s no way in Hell Obama could arrange such a thing.
I didn’t mean to confuse you, I was adding a bit of reality into the conversation. Stephanie Tubbs Jones is reported to have suffered a brain aneurysm, NOT a gunshot or two (or twelve). The way these PUMA supporters are talking, you would probably be right to think they believe Obama hired an assassin who put a few pieces of lead into her.
Rome Again
No, actually I was talking about these sorts of comments:
Don’t you call that jumping the shark?
jibeaux
Okay, the majority of the NQ site is pretty normal stuff, so I do think that even among crazies, that would be a fairly crazy conspiracy theory. But here’s the stuff I like. Do you think any of these people ever say these things out loud? Discuss.
After a list of people who have died recently (we all remember what a vocal Clinton supporter George Carlin was, right?):
Ain’t no crazy like a NQ crazy.
jibeaux
Rome, if you’re talking to me I think we’re ships passing in the night or something. There’s definitely some crazy there, but overall it seems to me to be non-crazy. There are always going to be crazy people, and it’s fun to nutpick them —
is going to amuse me for WEEKS, but I think this is a minority subset of crazy within the crazy, if that makes any sense.
Scott H
Please, give me enthusiasm and optimism instead of the self-important grimness that is our usual political fare. A person like Rep. Tubbs Jones can bring joy and a sense of getting things done to what is necessarily an adversarial process. We need more people like her, not one less.
Rome Again
Yes, I was talking to you, jibeaux… it looked like you didn’t see the crazy shit on that thread.
I’m trying to figure out how Obama gave Bernie Mac pneumonia.
jibeaux
Duh, he pretended like he was going to give him a ride but actually took him and made him run through a sprinkler at gunpoint and…
But, see, my point is that even someone else on that thread pointed out that it was crazy. The supercrazy is a smaller subset of the mostly-crazy.
Harry Knopp
You can track Rep. Tubbs Jones’ condition with news coverage from local Cleveland news outlets on http://www.OhioMediaGuide.com
liberal
Americans for Democratic Action gave her a 95% for her 2007 voting record.
My kind of Congresscritter…
liberal
She also apparently voted against the AUMF in October 2002.
God bless her.
Just Some Fuckhead
I really liked Stephanie Tubb-Jones for all the reasons you listed, John. She epitomized “disagreeing without being disagreeable.”
I understand she is all but dead which is practically a national tragedy.
Martin
Nah. Negroes have super powers like that. That’s why they can’t be allowed to hold positions of power. They’re like X-Men.
Obama has extra super powers on account of his Muslimness, which is why he could get the upper hand on Bernie and Stephanie.
PUMAs know all of this. They’re like the illuminati of politics.
jake
That’s a punishment?
JL
My thoughts are with her family. She fought for what she believed in and we can all benefit from that.
harlana pepper
She was, indeed, quite tenacious. This is very tragic.
harlana pepper
If right wing standards sink any lower, they will hit the Cauldron of Hell, urm, I mean middle earth.
Xenos
You mess with the new pleuralistic Obama party, it is under the pneumonia bush with you!
Bot LaBeer
Family, hospital confirm congresswoman’s death
Cleveland Plain Dealer
JL
AP is reporting that she has died.
gypsy howell
She done good.
Martin
RIP, Stephanie. You were definitely one of the good ones.
w vincentz
RIP. Good efforts from a life committed to service of the public. Quite rare.
You’ll be missed Stephanie.
Just Some Fuckhead
Just FYI on the whole Obama Death List thing, if this means Obama is on the attack, I totally support his killing whomever he thinks needs killing. I’m really sick of the different kind of politics bullshit. There is nothing different about running a losing Kerry campaign. In fact, Kerry wasn’t the first to do it.
I’m not a Biden fan but I’m totally stoked about the possibility of a Biden VP candidacy because it means at least one person will be out there taking it to Republicans.
littlesky
Rest in peace, Congresswoman. You will be missed.
JL
Just Some Fuckhead Says:
I agree but I would love to see a Lieberman, Biden VP debate.
myiq2xu
I don’t think it’s fair to call it nutpicking when the same person doing the “picking” posted the comments in question under another alias.
I think that’s called ratfucking
Rome Again
What are you saying NoIQ?
Who is doing the picking, me? I don’t post on NQ, never have, never will. I’d be willing to take a lie detector test to determine that result if you’d like to arrange and pay for it. ;) – I’m serious.
Who are you alluding to?
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
He’s realizing that he’s on the crazy train, but – this being the Internet – he can’t back down
Conservatively Liberal
myiq2xuGoatBoy farts once again!I think his goats escaped from their pen and GoatBoy is aimlessly wandering around trying to scare up some fresh goat meat.
Rome Again
As someone born and raised in Delaware, I don’t want Biden as the V.P. – I think he’s too cozy with corporation banking for my personal comfort level.
I’m hoping Obama will pick someone else.
I would however love to see Lieberman end up on the Republican side. ;)
bartkid
>She had a great smile, and some days, that is enough.
You are on fire today, John.
A lot of people will probably see the sentence above as a throwaway line, but how many people do we, each one of us, know who could have this as their epitaph? Sadly, too, too few.