Rep. Garrett announces he is an alcoholic and will not seek re-election.

[mcar]

Source: Washington Post

RICHMOND — Rep. Thomas Garrett (R-Va.) announced Monday that he is struggling with alcoholism and will abandon his run for a second term in Congress so he can focus on recovery and his family.

Garrett, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, is the 44th Republican to retire or announce they will not seek reelection to the House this year, according to CNN’s retirement tracker. Many are leaving in anticipation of a strong Democratic performance in Congressional races this fall and out of frustration with partisan politics in Washington.

The former Virginia state senator was facing a robust challenge from his Democratic challenger, journalist and author Leslie Cockburn, who had raised more money than him and had more cash on hand....

On Friday, a Politico report quoted four unidentified former staffers who accused Garrett and his wife, Flanna, of ordering staff to walk their dog, carry groceries or perform other personal tasks for the couple – a practice prohibited by House ethics rules.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/rep-garrett-announces-he-is-an-alcoholic-and-will-not-seek-re-election/2018/05/28/40e8839a-62b2-11e8-99d2-0d678ec08c2f_story.html?utm_term=.9f37d1ff6a91

---

Another one bites the dust!

[First Speaker]

1. On a human level, I hope he finds some recovery and peace...

...even members of the "Freedom Caucus" deserve our good wishes about something like this...

[mcar]

11. I agree

[swimboy]

20. I agree

Especially after they are no longer members of the Freedom Caucus

[AlexSFCA]

31. you must be kidding

look at this guy’s record. he deserves sympathy of no one. Dems we are at war for the future of our country, save your sympathy for those who work hard to improve lives of everyone not some RW nutjob and be thankful that karma is taking care of him so we don’t have to.

[dixiegrrrrl]

40. Speaking for those of us who have experience with alcoholism

we can understand the difference between having sympathy for someone's progressive, often terminal disease
versus
not excusing their behaviors that may or may not be a result of addiction.

[H2O Man]

41. Well done.

[GulfCoast66]

46. Best post of the night.

When we liberals lose our compassion we become that which we strive against.

[AlexSFCA]

47. let me ask you this

if trump admits he is a drug addict, are we supposed to feel sympathy for him because the of the condition of drug addiction?? Give me a break. Karma works in mysterious ways. I don’t wish him anything bad but I sure am very glad he is stepping down regardless of the cause.

[eggplant]

50. If he resigns? Sure, I'll feel sympathy for him.

I won't excuse any of his behavior. Addiction sucks, though, and I'll be sympathetic to anyone suffering it.

[tazkcmo]

51. The answer is yes.

Yes, we are supposed to feel sympathy for those with illnesses and infirmities. Doing so does not render the ill innocent of wrong doing nor should it preclude justice from being served.

Easier said than done.

[Bengus81]

65. If Trump was a drug addict insurance would NOT be the reason he didn't get help...

Unlike most of the rest of us with him and his THUGS in Congress trying their best to throw the ACA in the dumpster while enjoying FIVE STAR health insurance for them AND their families mostly PAID FOR by We the Taxpayers.

Trump and his band of asshats are going to KILL PEOPLE over the coming years but I'm suppose to feel sorrow for them if THEIR health degrades?? Not a chance.............

[dixiegrrrrl]

74. You are not "supposed to" think or feel anything differently than you do at this moment.

Developing a compassionate understanding of addiction and of mental illness is a process.
It in no way excuses a person from how they act out their symptoms, esp. if they reject any help with the problem.

[Tarc]

42. We're waging war against an ideology, not against human beings

This guy has fallen off the wagon and is seeking help. Wish him well personally and be glad he cannot no longer affect policy.

[nolabels]

53. B.S, they make it personal and wish we do the same

It's a game of tribes for them and of course, any bit of logic (which they use very little of ) makes this easy to see. Staying out of mud and not throwing pearls to swine is making a lot of sense to me.

[AlexSFCA]

60. absolutely

this thread lacks intelligence. Imagine, trump says he suffers from sex addiction and we all should feel sorry for him.

[Bengus81]

66. I guess some here never saw the Obama poster of him HANGING...

and the caption saying "hang in there baby"?!?!?! Whatever,many of the same who truly felt sorry for Limbaugh when his ear problem surfaced all those years ago. That after Limbaugh saying the Clinton's didn't need a dog in the WH,they had Chelsea.

[Blue_Tires]

75. Fuck him...

He glad-handed neo-Nazis, he treated his staffers like personal slaves, and God knows what else was about to come out...

Blaming it all on his newly discovered 'alcoholism' and sympathetically fading into the shadows is a much more dignified exit than he deserved....

[dameatball]

2. Ironic how many memebers of congress seem to have addictions while supporting marijuana arrests

Or...maybe I don't understand what ironic means. Anyway, I hope he gets his life back and..uh...stays gone.

[FakeNoose]

3. DUers - don't waste your sympathy on this guy

He is a reprobate RWNJ - good riddance!

Please Virginia voters - never elect somebody like this again. Leslie Cockburn would have been awesome, but you went with this guy. You know what, I'm from Pennsylvania, the home state of Rick Santorum, so who am I to judge?

Just sayin'

[dembotoz]

21. +1

[Bengus81]

67. 1000+

[pwb]

4. Don't they get to keep their political donations?

When they quit? Think so.

[Yonnie3]

38. There were several news stories about how he wasn't raising much.

It's Repub's money, he can have it. Hopefully it won't be given to his replacement.

I thought he was going to have a very hard time being reelected, if at all. We will have to see who the Repubs put in his place and how well they fund him. We were all set to make him "One Term Tom."

[Scruffy1]

44. No.

Any money left over can be donated to another candidate, however. If you have a lot it can be helpful in your "carreer".

[handmade34]

52. there are supposed to be rules

but... loopholes, ya know... called "Zombie Campaigns"



http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2018/05/10/zombie-political-campaigns/

[Mike Nelson]

5. I apologize in advance, but...

… I can't resist posting...



I'm weak, I know...

[Cha]

6. Thanks, mcar

[BumRushDaShow]

7. I hope hope that seat can be a pick up

Anyone who touts being part of the "Freedom Caucus" - i.e., the teabaggers - needs to be long long gone.

[mcar]

12. Yes!

[llmart]

19. So true.

Hopefully all the teabaggers will be history soon.

[Qutzupalotl]

32. Thankfully we have a great candidate, Leslie Cockburn, ready to take this seat.

https://www.lesliecockburnforcongress.com

All the more reason to have capable candidates in EVERY race, even in deep red areas, even without a lot of money. A) We can never appear to concede the debate, and B) sometimes the Republicans screw up royally.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

8. Another one bites the dust......

Another possible pick up by a Democrat.

[Thomas Hurt]

9. man, Trump stank must be pretty bad when you have to use being an alcoholic as a beard.

[ToxMarz]

10. Or there is another scandal about to drop that he is trying to get ahead of

[mcar]

13. He's the guy who was using his staff as personal servants

He's already in hot water.

[deurbano]

22. Seems he is blaming being an asshole on alcoholism.

Is his wife an alcoholic, too? (Or does she have another explanation for expecting involuntary servitude?)

[nolabels]

55. Mostly it makes them feel big

Of the three alcoholic's of personally close to me two of them are dead. The last one still smokes and drinks like a fish and has already had a stent implanted in his heart. So yea, probably assholes in the first place but the booze brings it out of them more.

[keithbvadu2]

14. That doesn't explain his wife's sense of entitlement to use the staff as servants.

[mcar]

15. It kind of skips that, doesn't it?

[Marie Marie]

26. She is probably so pissed ...

after all, good help is hard to find these days.

[spooky3]

16. He is leaving to spend more time with his errands

so taxpayers won’t have to pay his staff to do them anymore.

[mcar]

17. Good one!

[spooky3]

18. Thank you :-) !

[irisblue]

23. I hope he can gain recovery

It must be hard to do a 3rd, 4th, and 5th steps as a hardcore Rightwing Republican.

[mountain grammy]

24. Good riddance

[Mc Mike]

25. Bookmarked. 44 and counting.

Any excuse in a storm, eh, Garrett?

Loved Coburn's book Out of Control. Wondered what happened to her. I see Dan Sheehan has popped up lately, too.

And all these repugs retiring, while we keep getting reports about how 'the polls are tightening', 'the public likes the repugs more that we think', b.s. like that.

[pbmus]

27. And another one...

[montana_hazeleyes]

43. Freddie!

I would love to go back in history and see Queen in person.

[7962]

72. The movie coming out looks to be quite good. nt

[Honeycombe8]

28. Fallin' like dominoes. And they did to themselves! Corruption, unethical behavior. nt

[LiberalFighter]

29. Alcohol is not his only problem.

[Still In Wisconsin]

30. Been there... hope he gets the treatment he needs.

Alcoholism is a nasty disease, and I hope he beats it. It's not easy but with the proper help and care, it can be done.

[DoctorJoJo]

33. Guessing His Condition Might Apply to the Whole Freedom Caucus!

[Ferrets are Cool]

34. Fuck him AND his handy excuses for being evil. nt

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

35. a member of the conservative Free Dumb Caucus

Fixed it for you

[flibbitygiblets]

36. When you'd rather publicly air your struggle with addiction than deal with being an R

...when you've done nothing to help staunch the opioid crisis...and have supported jailing people for marijuana possession...

Maybe alcohol isn't your biggest problem. Maybe you're just an asshole.

[NNadir]

54. +100. n/t

[MineralMan]

37. Bye, now.

Another open seat!

[MrScorpio]

39. What a human mess

So long!

[TheCowsCameHome]

45. Cheer up, Buckaroo, maybe someone will buy you a drink.

Freedumb Caucus guy, eh?

[Laffy Kat]

48. Wonder when the other shoe is going to drop?

If there is something worse coming down the pike. Being an alcoholic is nothing to be ashamed of announcing, or shouldn't be. I bet we see something else soon.

[heaven05]

49. any excuse

these days to avoid the blue tsunami heading their way in Nov.

[truthisfreedom]

56. Covering up something much more serious.

Obviously.

[recentevents]

57. How bad does it have to be

That you'd rather be known for being an alchoholic than losing your senate race?

[Wolf Frankula]

58. Come on, Being an alcoholic is a tradition for Repubs.

Remember John (T. Texas) Tower? The drunkest man in the Senate?

Wolf

[Doitnow]

59. It would drive me to drink, too, if I had to support the policies of the Rethug party.

[AllyCat]

61. I give him credit for admitting this publicly and seeking recovery

Not an easy thing to do.

[TlalocW]

62. If he does have this problem, I wish him recovery... However...

The little devil on my shoulder makes me wonder if he's using any excuse to not run again and have to deal with Trump as the de facto leader of his party, and alcoholism is just he perfect excuse for not having people pester you to not resign. I imagine him going trash cans looking for as many empty liquor bottles as he can find to scatter around his office so when Ryan comes a-calling, he'll not try and talk him out of it.

Ryan: (Entering Garrett's office without knocking or looking) Tom, I was wanting to talk to you about... Oh, my God! I was just here two days ago! There must be 20 empty bottles in here!
Garret: What (pausing, clearing throat, using more of a Foster Brooks voice), Whaa-aAAA-at can I sssssssay, P-P-P-Paul? I've've've've gotta pr-pr-pr... addiction. (throws back tumbler filled with Vernor's Ginger Ale, which looks suspiciously like alcohol)

TlalocW

[NCjack]

63. I suspect that he is preparing a legal defense. Fess up Garrett -- what have you done? nt

[WhoWoodaKnew]

64. We can be against everything he stands for and still hope he recovers from his addiction.

[atreides1]

68. Got to love the timing

On Friday a report comes out that he and his wife have been using his staffers as personal servants, in violation of House ethics rules...and on Monday he's an alcoholic!!!

Funny how him being an alcoholic has been one of the best kept secrets in the area!

Garrett is a drunk, but drunks don't much sympathy...unlike alcoholics!!!

[pwb]

69. The entire Republican Party are a bunch of mean nasty drunks.

We need a breathalyzer test before any of them speak on the floor.

[MarianJack]

70. As a 28+ years recovering alcoholic, I wish him the best, BUT,...

...if this is a cynical ploy by a teabagging asshole to avoid the beating that he's so richly earned, than F**K HIM!

PEACE!

[hotrod0808]

71. Best wishes to a new life in sobriety.

Perhaps the sober life will give him insight into humanity and he will repent for his ways by advocating for helping those he formerly hurt. Sobriety hopefully helped me to become a better (but admittedly not perfect) person for other people.

[grantcart]

73. Drinks all around

And I don't for a minute believe he is honestly addressing his alcoholism.

When he becomes self aware of his crimes and joins Habitat for humanity because he is now an empathetic person in recovery I will wish him well, thus is just an extension of his BS con job.