Lantos Has Cancer, Will Retire

California Congressman Tom Lantos announced today his decision not to seek re-election in 2008 due to a recent diagnosis of esophageal cancer. Lantos is the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, the only Holocaust survivor in Congress and kind of actually really nice. Oh, whatever. Esophageal cancer is really nasty people, I can't snark about it. The likeliest Democratic candidate for the seat is former Congressional staffer and current California State Senator Jackie Speier, who has been trying to snag a Congressional seat since she was wounded accompanying her former boss to Guyana on the fact-finding mission that precipitated the Jonestown massacre. [ SFGate ]