NEWS: Rep. Gerry Connolly announces his cancer has returned. He will not running for re-election and says he will soon be stepping down as Ranking Member of the Oversight Committee.
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He never should’ve been nominated to lead oversight Dems in the first place.
His type of cancer is almost always terminal in someone his age.
It was selfish on his part and stupid on dem leaderships part.
Cancer aside he’s a completely ineffective do nothing placeholder anyway
Sad, yes. But had it not been for cancer, would he have been gracious enough to make way for the next generation to shine and fight in these perilous times?
I am terribly sorry his cancer has returned, yet while I say that I hope Pelosi stays out of the next round and that youth (AOC) steps into the leadership role.
Agree. The old guard needs to put their egos and 1990’s way of thinking aside and hand over some leadership roles to people that may be far more representative of where younger supporters want the direction of the DNC to go.
How about running again just to keep the seat away from somebody else?
In sports, military, or any other leadership, people usually build up a backup bench to pick things up if the lead is injured / out. Maybe even rotate people in/out.
Instead, this is repeated bench blocking because "decorum".
When you consider all the shitty things the GOP is doing, this looks tame in comparison. Everything politicians do is to maintain/expand their own power...ie keep their job. I'm not gonna fault him for that. I blame Dem leadership for not having better coaching.
You know what, that’s really kind of you, I respect that.
It’s complicated by the magnitude of the self inflicted wound his appointment was, to the thing he’s stepping down from. He played a central role in some back biting party shenanigans, and we all lost out because of it.
That's the pure definition of politics, brother. I'm not gonna fault him for that. It was on Jeffries to step up and do what's right for the party. It's a leadership issue.
This should have been @aoc.bsky.social position in the first place. Wisdom from grey hairs has its place. They should be advising behind the scenes, allowing younger talent to do the work.
So sorry to hear. Gerry Connolly is a real fighter for the American people.
Keeping him and his family in my thoughts. He was also a real champion for postal workers.
To me it's not age as much as it is about being an undaunted fighter in these fascist times.To my point look at Bernie Sanders and the crowds he draws,young, old and everyone in between and the energy he stirs up.Jeffries is young and healthy and his leadership has been pitiful up to now imho.
This is main reason he shouldn’t have been picked and AOC chose. We all knew what it meant when we found out he had a cancer battle. The man is fighting for his life.
Why didn't Dems give the position to younger, healthier, more progressive person in the first place. The old guards are playing from a 1990's playbook that the thugs have long discarded.
There's a time and a place for everything, move over old guard and let the young warriors lead.
I know many of us are angry and ready to fight back, believe me I am. It was a mistake to let Connolly have this role but I understood why he took it. Esophageal cancer is a devastating disease with a horrible prognosis. Connolly wanted to give his life meaning but he underestimated what the
treatment does to you. Let’s make sure the right person gets in this time but also realize Connolly just wanted to fight too. I suffer from this same cancer and I don’t want to leave this world in the hands of these Trump ghouls. Let’s keep fighting together.
I’m so sorry to hear this. I hope that Pelosi will not stand in the way of AOC cheering the committee. We should start messaging her and calling her now.
Absolutely! Pelosi screwed her over pretty bad. Since AOC isn’t currently on the committee, she has to get a waiver before she can run for the position.
See. That’s the stamina we needed to push-out AOC for. Young women never manage to quit a couple months into their jobs, that’s why you need cancerous old muppets.
Nancy Pelosi sabatoged @aoc.bsky.social from taking this roll. Why? Old people and their lust for power and money.
Now he is recommending a 70 year old to take his place until the next election! I am sick of the @democrats.org who refuse to let younger progressives take over and we the people pay.
Same! This is why @davidhogg.bsky.social is right to say we need to primary non progressive party members, and party members who have over stayed their welcome.
I am sick and tired of being completely vindicated about how feckless and self serving the geriatric corrupt power brokers in my party are. And I’m really fucking sick of the idiots still trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes and cover for them.
Exactly! They need to go, and now! My wife has met Nancy Pelosi and she is one self serving bitch!
Schumer has no balls and caves to the fascists.
We need a younger progressive group that is not afraid to fight back, and one that will also win elections!
Speaking from my own experience as a 50 year old man, I totally agree that we need to get the average age of congress way down. I used to have plenty of vim and vigor and optimism. But not so much anymore. I enjoy quiet things and a routine now. Politicians should be eager and energetic, not...old
The last genuinely competitive Dem primary was in 2008, and even though establishment Democrats “tamed” Obama well enough after his inauguration, they decided to their (and our) detriment that they would never risk anything like 2008 again.
😞 Another soldier of Democracy stepping down🕰️
Why isn’t those GOP octogenarians stepping down??? They have already conceded their power to the Executive Branch🤨
Ya know, he is fighting for his life! Kindness and compassion are the least we can give him. If we don’t have that we aren’t any different than the other side! I agree he should have maybe stepped down so that leadership could step up. But we could offer empathy. Without that we r an empty gong!
Im am disgusted and embarrassed to be in the same party and same planet as most of the commenters on this post about Connelly announcing his retirement. Absolutely repulsive thread. Humanity is broken
So sorry to hear about Mr. Connolly. May your time be blessed with love.
We have big plans for AOC. But why not let her be for this minute? Pete is a good fill-in. Wouldn't that piss off a bunch of Republicans to have to share his bathroom. We'd have the smartest man in charge. Finally.
Very sorry to hear of Rep. Connolly's cancer returning, I wish him the best of luck in his fight. Now lets make sure the next ranking member isn't an old person with cancer maybe? Just an idea.
There's no excuse for not using alt text on the images you post besides laziness. Abelism isn't a good look, especially on our side. Here's info on how & why to use it. Surely someone on your team can be bothered with #equity and #accessibility?
The people making nasty comments have obviously never met Gerry Connolly. One of the strongest fighters for ALL Americans. Kept an open door for people to come in and talk directly to his staff which actually became dangerous, unfortunately. An outstanding leader.
Same opps who've trash talked every career Dem leader since AOC targeted Pelosi to make her debut, to be replaced with one of their stoogy nobodies with no qualifiers.
Pelosi, HRC, Biden, Jeffries, Newsom, Schiff, Obama, Schumer, Maloney, etc.
DSA repeats the message of Steve Bannon.
Burn it down
I really hope the Dem leadership rectifies their earlier shortcoming and puts AOC in this position. She is well suited for it, and has the energy and fight to do the job well.
Dear Rep. Gerry Connolly,
Thank you for your service Sir. As you go on to continue your fight with cancer, know that our prayers and good wishes go with you.
It is time to let us carry you forward with great regard and prayers. May your days ahead be full of family, love, & health.
I hope that he’s able to beat the cancer. My mom recently died from cancer and I’m currently helping another family member going through chemo. My heart goes out to him and his family.
I lost my mom to cancer also. Plus 3 of her brothers and my grandfather. My husband had cancer surgery five years ago. It’s a terrible disease. It takes a toll on the patient and the family. Wishing your family member a successful recovery.
Even here in Jim Jordan's district we have the ground game. Most of the people vote for jim without even understanding the policies. This town was a booming manuf. City. It was written up in Rolling Stone for the enormous blunders Rs made for 30 years that decimated it.
I say Jasmine Crockett is the best one to do this. You can’t screw around with her and she’ll get it done right not that AOC wouldn’t but I think Jasmine is a better pic right now.
Connolly has done good things standing up for American ungrateful people! What an awful awful comment! I forgot that we are at the bottom of the barrel, having reached rock ass bottom with in compassion. Sad for this nation - 100% pitiful.
Cancer is an all consuming fight. Without judgement on his performance, he really needed to be 100% focused on his treatment and recovery. Given his age and condition, the party choosing him for this role seemed unwise at best, and cerebrally negligent for passing over the obvious better candidate.
what he did was bad. what RBG did was very bad as well. we have to stop being nice. losing the S.C. and RvW literally directly causes death of women. there will no doubt be a literal cost of some number of lives from his choice to deny the seat to someone more able. being nice is a losing strategy
Sorry to hear about Rep Connolly's continued battle with cancer. Sending wishes for healing and recovery.
Pelosi is a Trailblazer with many successes but at this point her input is not needed nor welcomed. In this pivotal moment that requires courageous leadership, is it AOC?
Jeez, these effing comments. Have some class, people; go feast on someone else’s bones who actually deserves your contempt. Connolly has served our Commonwealth boldly and honorably, and this is a terrible loss not only for Virginia, but for Congress, as well.
No fuck that; he was a selfish, anti-democratic shitheel who turned everything he touched to hot garbage, and he deserves to suffer terribly before he dies for this. All of us will be better off now that he’s rotting away like he deserves.
I supported AOC over him but can understand why he tried to move forward with life as usual and thought he could take on the job. Cancer is very cruel and I’m sure this is a devastating setback for him and his family. Hoping for recovery. Very sad.
Hard agree. Pelosi is the one sewing discord in the party. She's out of touch, and loves her status quo. Gotta keep those insider trades of hers going.
Pelosi isn't sewing discord, she's just trying to keep the party in line with the Dem Centrist Status Quo that Big Money loves so much. It's why she's pushed Newsom so hard to be the nominee when Biden quit. Also why Jefferies is in that position, hardly a shit stirrer.
I do have empathy and compassion for him. I like Gerry Connolly in his prime he was damn good at his job. That's the thing though, he's not in his prime and we are in a helluva mess right now.
To hell with you for denying the humanity in my contempt, we deserve to be fucking PISSED at him, and he deserves to hear all about how much we fucking hate his guts.
He doesn’t deserve any sympathy, and any that you afford him is a real disservice to the rest of the party.
I don't agree she is sewing discord, but I do think she is out of touch right now. I thank God she was Speaker during the last 2 years of the ConvictedFelonTraitor's 1st term.
Exactly. I am 70, and I don’t have the energy or stamina I once did, but most of these people are either close to 80, or over 80.
They might think they are still just as sharp as they ever were, but they are wrong. We are living in a oligarchy and a gerontocracy, as well as a kakistocracy.
I’m friends with one of his constituents who really needed help, and his office was there for her. I don’t think he deserves to suffer, because he had trouble letting go.
Sorry you disagree… when duty called he stepped up…working the last 3 decades and seeing all that we have succeed in doing being flushed down the toilet has got to be tough and harder to admit he has to step aside sucks. Thanks for sharing ✌🏼
Sending prayers for a full recovery. Even though I don't always agree with all of his decisions, he's always put the good of the country before politics.
Not sure how it works but he got ranking member on the oversight committee which is a big deal for access to information and ability to call witnesses?
Have some compassion folks, it’s what separates us from them. We can talk about the obvious great successor on the committee tomorrow. This man served his country and he is dying of cancer. Give it a day ffs
Agree . We need to respect him and give it a moment to express our feelings of sadness for a man that has served the country with her honour and commitment. You take your gloves off tomorrow .
Agree & thank you! I am ashamed and disgusted to be in the same party & planet as most of the commenters on this post. Humanity is broken. Absolutely repulsive thread of comments to Connolly’s announcement.
It’s not easy to give things time when our country is going to hell right now. I am very sorry he is so sick, cancer sucks. And, he chose to run for his position knowing that he was ill, disregarding the concern of people who depend on Dems. So yes, people are angry, because they are scared.
And most of all, he disregarded what should have been his top priority, which was his health. Cancer is an all-consuming fight, and probably should have been his primary concern. My sympathies to him.
This is very sad, it is also unsurprising given the initial diagnosis. He will now focus on fighting the good fight for his health, & others will step up to continue the fight for our nation. We thank him sincerely for his many years of service.
Congress elected him over AOC as chair of oversight knowing he had cancer. Seniority worship is suicide for an opposition party which is what the dems are whether they like it or not.
No, the rest of them are still setting the rest of us on fire for better stock options, and they bent over backwards so that he could get his beak wet.
OMG. This is why @pelosi was so wrong! Now another Dem vote from the house silenced by death of a too old representative! I feel for him, though. He was ready to admit he was in the dying process
Jasmine does the work, and hasn’t alienated the people who elect their leaders. Seniority is earned in Congress with time served, and the respect of your peers, not the public.
Better be AOC. It's sad that this has happened to him but he should not be in leadership and shouldn't have been in the first place. They better put AOC in there or the Democrats are truly dumb as hell. I'll leave the freaking party if they don't cause they'll deserve every loss at that point.
They legit need to put up better candidates. Thankfully, i have hope that David Hogg will get bad Democrats out and put better people into primaries. That's the one thing i am having hope for but old guarde is still stonewalling him, not surprised.
I wish him peace, but this was foreseeable.
It is time for the next generations to take the reins of power & my generation to surrender their stranglehold.
Those most affected by regressive Republican policies must be the ones to organize effective strategies.
It is time to let go.
Still very confused why they elected him to this role in the first place over AOC and thinking they will find another excuse to pass her over again. The establishment Dems seem to have their own agenda.
Agree with clarification: Gerontocracy isn't a good move for the USA, Rs or Ds, it's just not good for us! We need to get them all out as they come up for election. It's preposterous to me that Iowa sent Grassley back. He's 91 FFS and can barely speak coherently. Who even knows what he comprehends?
Absolutely, Dems need to lead the way. The Rs will never. And not only elevate great younger women candidates but dems need young men leaders too who can connect with independents
He just wasted months holding that position. He knew he was sick but instead of not taking the seat he did it anyway. When it’s time to step away especially for health reasons do it sooner than later.
Comments
His type of cancer is almost always terminal in someone his age.
It was selfish on his part and stupid on dem leaderships part.
Cancer aside he’s a completely ineffective do nothing placeholder anyway
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/12/19/aoc-defeated-house-oversight-committee-vote-democrats/77066728007/
In sports, military, or any other leadership, people usually build up a backup bench to pick things up if the lead is injured / out. Maybe even rotate people in/out.
Instead, this is repeated bench blocking because "decorum".
It’s complicated by the magnitude of the self inflicted wound his appointment was, to the thing he’s stepping down from. He played a central role in some back biting party shenanigans, and we all lost out because of it.
Keeping him and his family in my thoughts. He was also a real champion for postal workers.
Mr Connelly, please take care of yourself, sir. Peace to you and your loved ones
Can we get @aoc.bsky.social in that seat NOW?!
There's a time and a place for everything, move over old guard and let the young warriors lead.
Sending positive mojo your way Congressman and thank you for your service.
IOWA ➡️ Angel Ramirez for House.
MINNESOTA ➡️ Denise Slipy for Senate.
https://ramirezforiowa.com/
https://slipy4senate.com/
Now he is recommending a 70 year old to take his place until the next election! I am sick of the @democrats.org who refuse to let younger progressives take over and we the people pay.
Schumer has no balls and caves to the fascists.
We need a younger progressive group that is not afraid to fight back, and one that will also win elections!
The dems have a major leadership problem.
Why isn’t those GOP octogenarians stepping down??? They have already conceded their power to the Executive Branch🤨
We have big plans for AOC. But why not let her be for this minute? Pete is a good fill-in. Wouldn't that piss off a bunch of Republicans to have to share his bathroom. We'd have the smartest man in charge. Finally.
https://bsky.app/profile/veron4ica.com/post/3lc47dhappc2f
Pelosi, HRC, Biden, Jeffries, Newsom, Schiff, Obama, Schumer, Maloney, etc.
DSA repeats the message of Steve Bannon.
Burn it down
@aoc.bsky.social gonna take over and pickup where he leaves off?
Thank you for your service Sir. As you go on to continue your fight with cancer, know that our prayers and good wishes go with you.
It is time to let us carry you forward with great regard and prayers. May your days ahead be full of family, love, & health.
💙We The People
O
C
Needs to be chairing Oversight!!!
Massively.
You guys realize that, right?
You have to purge them.
Just saying.
Now, my priority is to get AOC this position!!!!
We need GREAT messengers!!
Unless one is a moderate, then I get the reason
Inexcusably, unforgivably wrong.
And I am not the least bit alone in that judgement.
Pelosi is a Trailblazer with many successes but at this point her input is not needed nor welcomed. In this pivotal moment that requires courageous leadership, is it AOC?
You are wrong.
Do better.
He doesn’t deserve any sympathy, and any that you afford him is a real disservice to the rest of the party.
Do better.
https://www.newsweek.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-loses-oversight-gerry-connolly-2002263
The “old guard” needs to step aside and let young people step forward.
They might think they are still just as sharp as they ever were, but they are wrong. We are living in a oligarchy and a gerontocracy, as well as a kakistocracy.
I hope he suffers.
He deserves it.
We wish him well always!
Fuck him.
I'm glad he's stepping down, but which septuagenarian's gets their turn now?
https://bsky.app/profile/samrosenfeld.bsky.social/post/3lnv5at5qc22p
As it stands, I shall marshal my sympathy for someone who actually deserves it.
If so, then it couldn’t have been AOC…
Pepperage Farm Remembers.
❤️🩹
It is time for the next generations to take the reins of power & my generation to surrender their stranglehold.
Those most affected by regressive Republican policies must be the ones to organize effective strategies.
It is time to let go.