Who knows that this is, but it sure looks like Eric Massa will be announcing something big at a 3:30 presser today.
Update. More from Roll Call:
Freshman Rep. Eric Massa (D-N.Y.) is expected to announce on a 3 p.m. conference call that he will not run for a second term in November.
A source who has spoken to Massa said the Congressman will announce he is leaving because of a recurrence of cancer. Massa’s retirement was first reported by the New York Daily News on Wednesday afternoon.
Update. I don’t want to go here, but Politico has a different explanation.
JR
Shit, I really like Massa. I helped him with some fundraising right after he got to Washington, and he would have been a great party leader with some seniority behind him. Hopefully he’ll knock this cancer out quick and be back in the game before too long–losing him’s going to hurt.
asiangrrlMN
I am wishing him a speedy recovery. What’s this hint at rumors of ethics violations?
Steve
I gave some money to Massa for one of his runs. I sure hope he’ll be okay.
Scruffy McSnufflepuss
Shit. I hope he’s okay.
nogo postal
Although I live in Colorado I gave a little through ACTBLUE..
I hope he beats this..at least he has insurance and did support public option to allow more of us to be covered if it happened to us.
Comrade Mary
That’s too bad. Cancer sucks, and it sucks to lose a good rep, even for one term.
I wonder if he’s going to use his illness, and his own good insurance plan, to compare his situation with someone who currently has poor or no coverage. (This is for him to choose to do, not someone else. It especially sucks to be used as a prop by anyone else.)
4tehlulz
>a different explanation.
Damn you for making me click Politico.
Maude
OT
A headline on Yahoo News
Audio clips indicate child directed planes at JFK airport.
asiangrrlMN
Damn damn damn for the addendum.
P.S. My immediate instinct upon reading the Politico link was, “But he’s not a Republican.”
DougJ
Damn you for making me click Politico.
John Bresnahan is a great reporter who happens to work at Politico. Seriously.
DougJ
@asiangrrlMN:
I like Massa and I hope it’s this and not cancer. Anything is better than cancer from a personal standpoint.
ruemara
Meh, fuck politico. I hope he’s ok and I hope Tom Reed loses. Big.
asiangrrlMN
@DougJ: Yes, that’s very true. However, if it turns out that he had an affair with a male aide (and NOT sexual harassment), I would hope Massa would not resign.
Dr. I. F. Stone
Apparently, he’s opening an antique shop in Washington’s Georgetown area with his new partners, Mark Foley and Larry Craig; the shop will be named the “Bi-Partisan Antiquee Shoppe.”
New Yorker
Hmm, and I thought all the pathetic closet cases were Republicans. I hope Massa at least has the decency not to oppose things like the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and to oppose things like the FMA.
nogo postal
“Apparently, he’s opening an antique shop in Washington’s Georgetown area with his new partners, Mark Foley and Larry Craig; the shop will be named the “Bi-Partisan Antiquee Shoppe.”
Apparently you are clueless that 49% of those with his cancer do not make it to five years…but hey what better time to express your homophobic janitor joke humor….
nogo postal
oh yeah…this allegation..from the article
“According to several House aides on both sides of the aisle”
Hey if ya can’t run with that? What ya ya run with?
MTiffany
The Politico headline left out the part about the allegations of Satanic baby-sacrifice, shitting on Bibles then wiping his ass with the American flag, and eating little boys’ testicles. And oh yes, beating puppies with the business end of a claw hammer.
I hope Rep. Massa recovers.
Fucking Politico. Now there’s a bunch of people that deserve terminal cases of ass-cancer. Slow, painful, terminal cases of ass-cancer.
Is it irresponsible to speculate? It would be irresponsible not to…
Persia
@Maude: I wonder if the helicopters were laughing.
Comrade Kevin
@Dr. I. F. Stone: You must be the silent partner.
Paul L.
I expect the same people here who condemned/ridiculed Mark Foley will do the same for Eric Massa.
Or will they just scream “homophobia” at any “wingnuts” who swiftboat/smear Eric Massa by bringing it up.
Persia
@Paul L.: Because one unsubstantiated allegation on Politico about one incident of harassment of a staffer is exactly the same as years and years of harrassing underage pages. Exactly.
kay
@Paul L.:
Hah! Testing the waters. You’re such a coward. If that’s what you want to talk about, why not just go ahead?
This preemptive feeling sorry for yourselves that conservatives do constantly is just annoying. Go ahead. You don’t know jack yet, but that’s never stopped you before.
someguy
Hey PaulL, gay sex ain’t a big deal unless you’ve made opposing it the cornerstone of your career.
Say, you’re pretty obsessed with getting us to talk about gay sex. You got a thing for it or something?
jayackroyd
At Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh, Massa spent an hour or so with NY Staters, talking about policy, strategy and the nature of his district.
He was also on my panel http://www.netrootsnation.org/node/1336 along with Ian Welsh, digby, and Mike Lux. He spoke about his disappointment with the House bill, pretty damn eloquently.
BB
I was never a big fan of Massa. On the big issues before the House the past year, we more or less got left with Randy Kuhl’s voting record. He never understood that the final House vote tally does not account for his progressive regrets.
That said, I always tried to defend him against the wingnuts up here who have hated him with a surprising passion since 2006. Whatever his real reason is for leaving, it looks like it’s just a sad situation.
DougJ
@Paul L.:
Uh, Paul, if the allegations are true, they involve a STAFFER, i.e. someone who is most likely 21 or older.
Ex Field Director
I worked with Eric Massa on Wesley Clark’s campaign in NH.
The Politico allegations don’t fit the Massa that I knew at all.
demkat620
Luke Russert was just completely irresponsible on the Ed Show.
“Sources I have spoken to in the NY delegation tell me that this is just the tip of the iceberg”
Gee would any of those sources be Pete King?
What idiot democrat is running to the media with this whisper down the lane crap? Do they not have enough sense not to do that? Why the fuck does Luke Russert have a job? He is not a journalist and what he just did is unacceptable.
Tax Analyst
@Paul L.:
What? No reference to the Duke LaCrosse team thing?
So apparently it’s all about false equivalencies to you. Good luck convincing anybody with that weak sauce – you’ll need it.
Model Helicopter
How do I fit the training set to my ESky helicopter? First click the four small brackets onto the lower part of the skids. Then push the rods through the holes and slot them into the circular centre hub.