Knollenberg staffer goes on leave

post from Daily Kos on 02 November 2007 08:56:39 AM. © Daily Kos

Remember this guy?

The staffer for Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-MI) who told a protester "You're not a citizen?"

That's Trent Wisecup. And he's on paid medical leave now.

Lawmaker puts aide on leave after clash
Knollenberg's chief of staff takes time off after heated words with anti-war activist.
Deb Price / The Detroit News

U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg's chief of staff, who was recently caught on video in a heated exchange with an anti-war activist, said Thursday he is on paid medical leave to deal with a mood-swing disorder.

In an an e-mail to reporters, aide Trent Wisecup said he recently checked himself into Beaumont Hospital in Oakland after sending out "weird and flat out kooky" e-mails.

He added that on Oct. 13 he got "fired up" in what became a tense verbal skirmish with a camera-wielding activist challenging Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Hills, over the Iraq war and children's health care

A video of the incident at a Rochester drugstore, titled "Trent Wisecup goes crazy in Rochester," is up on YouTube.com, where it has been viewed more than 35,600 times.

Wisecup said he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which can be treated with medication. Knollenberg spokesman Steve Betz said Wisecup will return to his nearly $160,000-a-year job as chief of staff.

It's too bad it takes actually having personal experience with mental illnesses for Republicans to believe in them. But that's what it takes for people who think empathy is a weakness.

Anyway, Joe Knollenberg's staff gets insured treatment for Teh Crazy. How are those Iraq vets with PTSD doing?

UPDATE: Joe Knollenberg's vote on the Family and Medical Leave Act? No. Of course.