There's a Latin phrase, "Et ego in Arcadia," which means roughly that even in the midst of utopia, there is the threat of death.

Johnson and his wife are living that maxim now. If Johnson recovers, he and Barbara may look at life and its fragility differently. They will share a Christmas story replete with lessons about what really counts.

Meanwhile, I'll remember how the specter of death intruded on a holiday scene and was overshadowed by something much colder: politics.

There's not much more to this little op-ed, but I was wanted to meme it more because i was struck the same way. When I heard about Johnson, my first thought was, "That sucks, strokes are bullshit." but it was followed, with unnatural rapidity, by a pit-of-my-stomach quaver as I realized that his incapacity endangers the Democrat's political control.

I found myself pissed off at the slavering mouths of the right wing pundit class as they extemporized with barely restrained joy at the prospect of snatching back the senate before the Democrats have a chance to do anything.

At the same time, I have to wonder if I'd have thought any differently. To be sure, I'd have felt guilty about being even indirectly pleased at someone else's hospitalization or death, but I'm not sure I wouldn't have thought, "Well, at least we got the senate back... so some good will come of this guy's massive brain hemorrhage."

It's natural to care less about the wellbeing of people you don't know than those you are close to, of course, but I'm still surprised just how callous we can be these days.

Then again, looking at it another way, one could make the argument that (R) control over the senate (and the implicit support of the president conveyed by such control) endangers a lot more lives, so in some sense, it really is more important than the health of any one man. I guess I just wish I'd thought of the political repercussions later, not as an immediate reaction. -k]