I am forever amazed at the stupid comments that are made by people Depending on the scenario, I have come to expect some people to just not sound all that knowledgeable on specific subjects. For some reason, and it may be a false expectation, I hope our elected officials to be intelligent.
Representative Hank Johnson was questioning Admiral Robert Willard about moving 8000 Marines from Okinawa Japan to the island of Guam on March 25, 2010. He spent quite a bit of time discussing the population of the island, the dimensions, and the square miles of the island.
Then he shared his concern that adding 8000 more people to the island could put it at risk of capsizing. Yep, that is what he said. Fact checked and true. Now in an interview after the fact, he claims that he was just leveraging his sense of humor to make a point. I am not a professional comedian, but I have heard jokes before. This doesn’t sound like one to me. It sounds like he was actually worried that this island, much like a makeshift raft, was at risk of tipping over. Holy Hanna.
See the video below and read the transcript of the discussion between Representative Hank Johnson and Admiral Robert Willard.
Johnson: This is a[n] island that at its widest level is what … twelve miles from shore to shore? And at its smallest level … uh, smallest location … it’s seven miles between one shore and the other? Is that correct?
Willard: I don’t have the exact dimensions, but to your point, sir, I think Guam is a small island.
Johnson: Very small island, about twenty-four miles, if I recall, long, twenty-four miles long, about seven miles wide at the least widest place on the island and about twelve miles wide on the widest part of the island, and I don’t know how many square miles that is. Do you happen to know?
Willard: I don’t have that figure with me, sir, I can certainly supply it to you if you like.
Johnson: Yeah, my fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize.
Willard: 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.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7XXVLKWd3Q[/embedyt]