Recent History Lesson

Just watched a report on CNN where an unnamed Republican Senator said that any speculation of Sen. Tim Johnson (who's in critical but stable condition) stepping down, or the balance of power in the Senate, was "ghoulish at the worst and irresponsible at best."

"OK, thanks," said Wolf Blitzer, and then went on to a 10-minute report speculating on Tim Johnson's health condition, a profile of the South Dakota governor who could name his replacement, and thoughts about... Tim Johnson stepping down and the balance of power in the Senate.

Nice.

Let's turn back the clock one month. Two days after the election, before George Allen conceded defeat and control of the Senate tipped to the Democrats, Sen. Craig Thomas, a Republican from Wyoming, was diagnosed with leukemia after spending three days in the hospital. The governor of Wyoming is Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat. If Thomas was to die, or were he incapacitated and unable to serve his office, Freudenthal would have been likely to choose a Democrat to replace him, and at the time this news broke on Thursday, that could have shifted the balance of power.

I don't remember ONE report about the political ramifications of Thomas' condition. The AP report linked above didn't mention it. This ABC report doesn't. Nor does this CNN report.

Now, Johnson's condition appears to be more serious than Thomas'. But Thomas was in the hospital with pneumonia for three days before the diagnosis was announced. So we really didn't know what was going on. Thomas, who was up for election in 2006, cancelled a bunch of campaign appearances set for that Monday.

When a Republican Senator is stricken, the story is just the facts about that illness. When it's a Democrat, immediately the question goes to political ramifications. Why?

And to those who think I'm being ghoulish about Sen. Thomas, here's what I wrote the day his diagnosis was disclosed.

Our thoughts go out to Wyoming Senator Craig Thomas, diagnosed with leukemia. We need to fight war on diseases like this, they're far too pervasive given the technology at our fingertips.

I think that talking about politics when a guy's laying on an operating table is beyond the pale. I agree with the unnamed Republican, it's irresponsible. There seems to be a double standard in the media along those lines.

UPDATE: Apparently, a Thomas vacancy would result in a Republican taking his seat, per state law. You learn something new ev'ry day. Though, for some reason I'm not convinced that this is the reason the media didn't comment on the political ramifications at the time. Indeed, why wouldn't they just report this?