No, this is not an April Fool’s Joke. In an amazing video from last Friday’s House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA) worries that Guam may tip over if the military sends more troops to be stationed there. He says: “My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize.” Give credit to Admiral Robert Willard, Commander of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet, for keeping his composure, saying “We don’t anticipate that.”
The Hill newspaper, doing its best to also be polite said: “Like other islands, Guam is attached to the sea floor, which makes it extremely unlikely that it will tip over, even if there are lots and lots of people on it.” Yes, extremely unlikely.
What doesn’t make this a laughing matter is that this committee discussion has real military policy implications. As the Admiral points out to Congressman Johnson in the video, Guam “is part of our nation.”
