"lost in thought in the middle of a discussion"

Congressman Hank Johnson worried Guam may tip over

Excerpt:

Oh no! Guam may tip over and capsize, according to U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA). At a House Armed Services Committee meeting last week, Johnson was questioning Robert Willard, commander of the United States Pacific fleet about what effect the influx of Marines and their families would have on Guam.

U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson said, "My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize.”

Robert Willard replied "We don’t anticipate that. The Guam population, I think, currently about 175,000, and again, with 8,000 marines and their families, it’s an addition of about 25,000 more into the population."

Well maybe not!

Excerpt:

After video of the exchange went viral on the Web, the two-term Democrat released a statement Thursday explaining that he was "obviously" joking.

"The subtle humor of this obviously metaphorical reference to a ship capsizing illustrated my concern about the impact of the planned military buildup on this small tropical island," Johnson said in the statement.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last year that Johnson has battled Hepatitis C for more than a decade, an ailment that causes him to get "lost in thought in the middle of a discussion."

Comment: Guam managed to stay upright back in 1941 (when Japanese Special Forces landed about 5,500 men on Guam on December 10, 1941) and 1944 (The Second Battle of Guam (July 21 — August 8, 1944) was the American capture of the Japanese held island of Guam (in the Mariana Islands) during the Pacific campaign of World War II.)!