A class act he is not, but South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson’s boorish behavior during President Obama’s speech on health reform more than earned him his 15 minutes of infamy.
It is understandable that he chose – or as some suggested, was told – to bellow “You lie!” when the President was explaining for the umpteenth time that undocumented immigrants would not be covered under health care legislation. After all, Wilson’s extreme anti-immigrant positions are well known.
His outburst, for which he has half-heartedly apologized, not only exposed Wilson for the uncouth nativist he is, but made clear that immigration is still very much one of the Republican Party’s war horses.
“Congressman Joe Wilson’s outburst is not only a massive breach of decorum,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, “but the latest example of how race-baiting and immigrant bashing have become standard fare for hard-right elements of the Republican Party.”
One has to wonder if Wilson and his ilk are intent on committing political suicide – and in the process taking down with them the entire GOP – or if their prejudices are so deep that they just cannot help themselves.
Ironically, after all is said and done, Joe (You lie!) Wilson’s outburst could go down in history as the death knell for the most reactionary and extremist wing of the Republican Party.
I predicted this.
http://politico.com/blogs/politicolive/0909/Dems_No_taxpayer_funds_for_abortions.html?showall
Well, the GOP is locking up the rural and suburban southern white vote. Is that enough to win?
I have a solution. Obama and Wilson should sign a contract. In, say 15 years, if Wilson was correct and illegals end up being covered, he will throw himself off the highest structure in in South Carolina.
If Obama ends up being wrong, he will throw himself off of the sears tower.
I bet the politicians, on both sides would start being allot more honest if their personal well being were tied to the results.
To all of you who say Bush was booed…there’s some amount of difference between a group booing and one member of congress heckling. Heckling doesn’t happen, booing as a group has happened many times by both sides.
And FWIW, Reid apologized but he was right. Wilson apologized and the facts are clearly not on his side. But facts don’t matter to the right these days. Obviously.
I don’t care for the Republicans, Democrats or any organized political party (I prefer to think for myself, thank you), but “anti-immigrant positions”?
No. Hell No!
There is a vast, vast difference between immigration and ILLEGAL immigration! More like the difference between a neighbor who asks if they can come over for dinner and watch the Super Bowl and the neighbor who breaks into your house at night and steals your food and your TV set.
Illegal immigration should be an insult to every American and legal immigrant alike.
Regarding “boorish”, “uncouth” and “decorum”.
Who talks like this??
Charles Winchester III from the Mash TV series?
#27 WTFA – what part of loophole do you not understand? -talk about brainwashed.
-and stop getting sucked into the left-right crap, you’ll only be more shocked when you finally awake from your stupor.
(#38 Traaxx makes an excellent point, take heed)
-s
Demo’s did this, Repub’s Did that… nag nag nag… the honesty of our opinions need to really come to the surface here. We need this type of confrontation in order to get to the real marrow of the situation.
Was Wilson wrong, Hell no! Were the Demo’s wrong for booing Bush, Hell no! Or the Repub’s for the outbursts during Clinton’s speeches, Hell no!
Surfacing the real beliefs is the best and most honest forth right way of knowing and dealing with what others hold to be important beliefs. Now Obama knows what some people are saying, he can deal with it or forget it… I’m going to bet he will forget about it and move on ignoring it as ramblings of the demented… Which is unfortunate as it is a real concern here. Under the current system illegals are costing our hospitals millions in health care per year. How will this new system change that? It can’t and it won’t… its just going to cost us citizens more in taxes (State, Local, & Federal) in order to figure it out.
Bareck Hussein Obirther lies all the time, that’s how he got elected. Miss 3rd in line said “the CIA lies all the time” and the dems were all giddy about that. Pubs said she should apologize to the CIA. CIA denied the claim, the bitch never came down off her high horsey. Here the guy apologized right away and the dems just won’t let it go because they are nasty ego driven selfish children. They consistently push me away from their party with this crap.
The Joe Wilson moment contains truth that shines an unexpected light on the lies and rhetoric the president and the left are shoveling.
Truth is a precious and rare commodity not often found in Washington. No wonder liberals are stunned when it is spoken.
No apology required.
The Republican party is dead. These ass-clowns parading themselves as Republicans are impostors and give the late, once great, Republican party a bad name.
I’ll bet Obama could knock that Wilson guy right on his ignorant, lying ass.
Neocons are so stupid and gullible, they’re actually funny sometimes…
🙂
The statement that President Obama made just prior to Wilson’s outburst was:
There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false. The reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.
Can you prove the Presidents reform efforts will insure illegals? If not, admit you don’t understand the issue and move on.
#44-Weary Reaper-I’ll bet Obama could knock that Wilson guy right on his ignorant, lying ass.
Not likely, I’ve seen Obama throw a baseball. A sissy pitch at best meaning a girl could probably beat the crap out of the One.
I know his wife can.
Wilson brought an issue to the forefront that had been ignored by the press and hidden from the populace by a corrupt Congress. He did this the only way he could and he succeeded in his goal. He put aside political expediency to make a point that concerns a large number of American citizens. He actually did what we supposedly pay these people to do. He showed far more courage than any of his fellow Congressmen who tell La Raza that it’s okay to commit criminal acts as long as you vote for them.
Obama did lie! Its a fact. What is this you can applaud wildly but you can’t jeer or call out the truth. Liberals want things to be fair until it hurts them. Then they ruthlessly try to destroy you, your family, your career.
I don’t object to any politician telling another politician that he lies, as in general…..they ALL do much of the time. However, at this specific time, Wilson was not only rude in defying the general convention of how to treat the President during this kind of speech….Wilson was WRONG and probably lying himself (as he most likely knew the content of the speech beforehand) and continues to LIE. The bill specifically excludes illegal aliens. Whether one is for or against the bill, it simply does. The language was already quite clear and I think has been clarified even further.
So Joe Wilson is a lying sack o’ crap. And considering his past positions and affiliations…a lying racist sack o’ crap.
The funny thing is…whether this bill includes or excludes illegal aliens, we will end up paying for them anyway in some manner regardless as without some form of coverage, when they get sick they simply go to the ER. Who do the Republican dummies think pays for that anyway.
The Obama bill is a mess designed to make the minimum impact on the American healthcare system, while trying to make it look like he’s “changing” something. The simplest, best and easiest solution to our healthcare problems of uninsured or underinsured people is to simply open up Medicare to voluntary participants under the age of 65. That’s all….one line. And do the Repubs really want to argue AGAINST Medicare as they did 40 years ago considering it’s perhaps the most popular government program? As to the cost of doing this….why do I never hear the Repubs bring up the UNBELIEVABLE expenses of the Iraq/Afghan wars, which were based on Bush administration lies anyway and had nothing to do with 9/11. They were just an excuse to make money.
Joe Wilson is just a typical ignorant, racist, lying Republican corporatist. Is there any other kind left?
#20 Regarding the KKK, most of the membership would have been Democrats. Senator Robert Byrd (D) is the only known former Klansman in Congress.
I like the way the Repugs and their supporters/shills here at DU approach this issue. You Lie–no YOU Lie. There is express language in the bill that illegals are not covered—No, Illegals will have coverage. White–Black.
Complete disagreement on what reality is. NO EFFECTIVE ENGAGEMENT. NO EXCHANGE OF IDEAS.
You know what that means? Straight party voting come next election with the Repug jerk offs only having 40% of the popular vote.
Heh, heh==deny reality. Effective way to stay irrelevant and out of office.
Now, if Obamagod would just go for single payer. Maybe in 2012.
Go Obama!!!!!!
Found a quote on wikipedia.
Historian Eric Foner observed:
“In effect, the Klan was a military force serving the interests of the Democratic party, the planter class, and all those who desired restoration of white supremacy.”
#46 Dr Dodd
Thanks. I had a bet I could get at least one stupid and gullible neocon to respond.
Oh, by the way, “You lie!”.
I’ve seen Obama play basketball and he’s got very sharp elbows and he knows how to use them. You learn that kind of thing, playing basketball on the streets of Chicago.
That Wilson slob? He wouldn’t last even half a round with the President.
🙂
#53–now Weary==you gotta admit saying Michelle could open a can of whoop ass on Wilson was funny.
I haven’t thrown a ball in years. I’ve been waiting for a friend of mine to come over and actually go out and do it. How “could” Obama be so bad? Bowling I can understand–but throwing should be well practiced by us all.
#54 bobbo, seeing humor
I knew eventually someone would…
“…you gotta admit saying Michelle could open a can of whoop ass on Wilson was funny.”
OK but I think it would be even funnier if she actually did it.
“I haven’t thrown a ball in years.”
Me either but I throw rocks into the lake all the time. You should try it. Keeps the old throwing arm in shape.
So should Obama.
He should also formally apologize to the House as he was out of line with an outburst. He’s getting so much press from it anyway, and so much attention on the point he wanted to make, that if he can’t simply apologize to both, he’s being a stupid egomaniac.
So Nemo….let’s take a look at some other Wikipedia quotes on Joe “You Lie! Wilson:
In 2000, Wilson was one of seven Republicans in the South Carolina Senate to vote to continue flying the Confederate battle flag over the state house, saying, “The Southern heritage, the Confederate heritage is very honourable.” The Senate voted 36-7 to take down the flag.[3] Wilson has been a member of the organization Sons of Confederate Veterans.[2][4]
Criticism of Strom Thurmond’s daughter
In 2003, Essie Mae Washington-Williams’ revealed that she was the daughter of Wilson’s former employer, the late Senator Strom Thurmond, and Thurmond’s black maid. Wilson was among those who publicly doubted her claim that Thurmond had a child out of wedlock. Wilson said even if her story was true, she should not have revealed it because “it’s a smear” on Thurmond’s image and was a way to “diminish” Thurmond’s legacy.[19] After Thurmond’s family acknowledged the truth of Washington-Williams’ revelation, Wilson apologized but said that he still thought that she should not have revealed that Thurmond was her father.[20]
While it may not be an inherently racist thing to be a member of this Confederate organization and to want to fly the Confederate flag, it probably doesn’t auger well for a belief in racial equality. And when you combine that with the belief that Strom Thurmond’s daughter should have just kept her mouth shut because…well, I assume because she’s BLACK and having a black child constitutes a “smear”….somehow Ole “You Lie!” Joe Wilson doesn’t pass the kumbayah smell test.
Like most of the right wing nuts who have emerged so vociferously since the Obama election, Wilson is really a racist at heart. I cannot believe that there would be an “birther” controversy if Obama’s father had been a Frenchman, or Pole, or Canadian. The hysteria that has been whipped up by the RW propaganda machine is obviously based on the basic fact that Obama is black. There are many legitimate arguments, based on philosophy or policy, that one could make against the Obama programs….but histrionics about birth certificates, lies about death panels, calling Obama both a Nazi and a Communist, refusing to let school children see the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES address them in school ….these are not about policy issues….they are about 2 things: race… and money. The stupid wing of the Right Wing/Republican part of this country hates him because of race. The more educated “leadership” hates him because they are afraid he will take prevent their phenomenonally wealthy corporate overlords from making more obscene amounts of money….or possibly taking some pittance from their hoards of ill-gotten gain.
And that’s what it comes down to in the long run….race and money, money and race. Isn’t that what it always comes down to in the USA, even before the Civil War? Hell, we’re STILL fighting the Civil War!
Let the President say his speech. He won the election by a large margin (not given it by the supreme court). It’s his turn to speak to the joint session. Then, if you want to call him a liar, go on the talking-head shows and tear him and his words to pieces. You don’t even have to back it up with facts. Come on, politics as usual is what we want, right?
To Alfred1:
Your comment:
“No one was allowed to express their opinions during the speech.”
seems to reflect a basic lack of understanding of what a “speech” is. It is not, by definition, a debate. Moreover, while I don’t think people should boo the President during a speech, no Democrat stood up and told George Bush that he “lied” during his speeches….even though it was obvious that George Bush lied constantly and habitually about…damn near everything. In fact, I believe that if someone, say Kucinich or Barney Frank, had stood up and yelled out to Bush “you lie” during a speech to the joint houses…he probably would have had been escorted out of the building and may have been subject to additional prosecutions. Maybe Dick Cheney would have taken him “hunting”.
Not only do the Republicans now seem to be unable to understand basic English, such as is included in the bill, which clearly excludes illegals – they also have NO respect for the truth, for facts, or for basic courtesy and manners. Ya know….Van Jones was right. The Republicans ARE a bunch of aholes, and if this White House had any balls at all – which it DOES not (I am very very disappointed in Obama on many levels), they would not have forced him to resign. The truth should be some defence.
#57 Alfred1
What’s the matter? Religious trolls from a non-religious person no longer working to stir up the populace and generate irate Comments and Page Views?
Are we now condemned to a diet of neocon, nonsense conservative trolls from a non-necon, non-conservative to stir up the populace and generate irate Comments and Page Views?
Getting lots of Clicks from Dirty Tricks?
Where’s pedro? Shouldn’t he be helping you out with this transparent scam?
What else is a “speech” by a politician but propaganda? All speeches need to be interrupted, but interrupted by supportable positions. The Democraps REALLY SHOULD HAVE yelled and screamed at BushtheRetard prior to Iraq War==but hard to scream about something you don’t want to draw attention to. All scum.
BTW–there are no free speech issues in this issue of decorum==only personal integrity. The only penalty for speaking the truth to power is censorship from the Congress amounting to I think not being able to address the Congress for one day.
Too bad the Dem’s don’t want to alienate gun nuts and the religious right nutbags and the Repugs don’t have a clue about anything except to say “NO” to everything.
Our Constitution is disrespected when its rights are not exercised.
I’ve seen Section 246 thrown around a few times as a way of saying Wilson was wrong, but that doesn’t appear to be relevant to the issue.
“Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.”
This seems to merely exclude illegals from obtaining Federal assistance for a type of credit. How does this relate to other types of assistance the bill provides?
#65–Tyrant==what other assistance?
Be specific.