julia has cancer

the big news today, even overshadowing the governor's horrible poll numbers, is the revelation that julia carson has terminal lung cancer. she released this statement yesterday:

In the late summer of 2007, Congress granted me a leave of absence because of my leg infection. My wonderful doctor cured the leg, and I went into rehabilitation, planning to be back in Washington shortly.

Then the second shoe fell -- heavily. My doctor discovered lung cancer. It had gone into remission years before, but it was back with a terminal vengeance.

Therefore, I take this occasion to express my loving and literally eternal gratitude to my friends, including family, constituents and colleagues, who have given me so much love, support and trust. God bless our beloved country.

as tully writes, julia's life was a real american success story: she rose from poverty to a seat in congress, where she was beloved by many of her constituents.

but as much as she is adored, there is a vocal minority that despises her and calls her racist names and other vile garbage at every opportunity. unsurprisingly, these scum are out in full force on the star's talkback forums.

i haven't had much to say about julia's health since she first went into the hospital a couple months back, primarily because i didn't know what was up and i wasn't going to give the julia haters any further ammunition. i know how these things work: whenever a media figure or liberal blogger writes so much as a single sentence that's critical of julia, that sentences ends up quoted, in isolation and out of context, somewhere like advance indiana. it wouldn't matter if everything else in the piece was glowing praise: the haters would latch onto that one critical sentence. and while AI generally prefers to ignore me, i wasn't going to give anyone the chance to use my words for another anti-julia attack.

now that the truth is out, i wish julia the best and hope she can live out her final days in relative peace. one component of this is that yes, she should resign her congressional post. i don't begrudge a dying woman her privacy for keeping her cancer a secret until now, but now that she's gone public with her illness, she should take the next step and resign with dignity. the district deserves someone strong and healthy in that seat, fighting to represent us in congress. and perhaps just as important, julia deserves her rest. she's had a long, successful career, and she's earned a break. terminal cancer is enough to deal with; she doesn't need the stress of politics on top of that. ¶