Hank Johnson Could Get Some Company in Congress with Lee Anderson

Saturday, August 18, 2012
Augusta, GA
By The Outsider

Hank Johnson was elected to the the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006, representing Georgia's 4th congressional district, replacing Cynthia McKinney. Those were certainly big shoes to fill when it came to bringing embarrassment to the state of Georgia. McKinney provided an endless supply of gaffes and outrageous statements during her 12 years in Congress for late night comedy shows. But Hank Johnson has not disappointed.

In an infamous U.S. Armed Services committee hearing in March 2010, Johnson expressed his concern to Admiral Robert F. Willard, Commander of U.S. Pacific Command, regarding a military installation on the Pacific island of Guam, a U.S. territory. Johnson said, "My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize," to which Admiral Willard replied, "We don't anticipate that."



The video of Congressman  Johnson voicing his concerns about Guam tipping over received extensive airplay on just about every radio show, and late night comedy show imaginable, from Leno to Jon Stewart to Stephen Colbert. It still pops up today, more than two years later, as a reminder of some of the crazy things that can pop out of the mouths of members of Congress. 

This upcoming January, Hank Johnson might be getting some company in Washington, DC from a fellow Georgian if state representative Lee Anderson makes it past Tuesday's runoff and is successful in defeating current 12th district congressman John Barrow. Who can forget when  Anderson was asked about The Federal Reserve in a debate earlier this year and appeared absolutely clueless. Anderson seemed to think it was something like a rainy day fund, responding with: "We must build our reserves even stronger than what it is now…on the federal level,” and he went on to say that the legislature “building back our reserves up now.” 

Anderson was not asked at that debate about his thoughts on Guam, and since he has refused to participate in any debates with his GOP challenger before Tuesday's runoff and is refusing to go on radio shows and speak to the media in general, we wont be able to ask him . But we have to wonder what his response would be. Would Anderson even know what Guam is? Would he know that it is an island in the Pacific and territory of the United States? What's Anderson's position on Guam tipping over? 

Based on Anderson's performance in prior debates, the writers for the late night comedy shows are probably crossing their fingers that the Grovetown hay farmer wins the runoff this Tuesday. Along with fellow Georgian Hank Johnson, the jokes would write themselves and Stephen Colbert and Saturday Night Live would have an endless supply of material. Someone else who probably has their fingers crossed for Lee Anderson this Tuesday night is Congressman John Barrow.***
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