Thursday, September 10, 2009

Joe Wilson's Word

“You lie!” he shouted at the President in response to Mr. Obama's attempt to debunk the Republican shouting point that his health care reform plan would give free health care to illegal immigrants. My reading of HR3200 ( and everyone else's) indicates that this is true, but South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson hasn't read it or doesn't care or just likes to shout insults in his official capacity as a Republican congressman and bar brawler.

The outburst last night certainly shocked not only the left side of the house but the side that had been rolling their eyes, smirking and looking offended at every clear elucidation of what the plan would and would not do. Although I'm constantly reminded by Republicans at how the entire concept of hatred and irresponsible rhetoric originates in the "Liberal" domain, nobody can seem to remember such an outburst, not even when Nixon told us he was not a crook or when G.W. Bush told us whoppers about Atomic bombs and uranium deals and mobile chemical weapons labs and Saddam Hussein being behind the 9/11 attack. He lied and anyone who said so was called a traitor and an ally of the "terrorists."

It's a new kind of game out there now. Disruptions, threats, thuggery, Glenbeckery and outbursts like this aren't part of some spontaneous culture change. I think it's deliberate and it's deliberation born out of desperation. A majority of us want some government administered option like Medicare.

Of course it came as an excellent counterpoint to the President's hints that gratuitous obstructionism was going on and that wasn't lost on the right side of the aisle. Wilson had to call the White House to apologize. Republican leaderSenator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told the NY Times
“I think we ought to treat the president with respect”
and I'm sure other Republicans agree - particularly when he's telling the truth.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our local strident voice in the Opinion section of our local newspaper,and online forum saw this as a nice fat, sweet, hanging breaking ball. He couldn't avoid taking a swing at it, going all in, calling Obama a liar squared, and praising Joe Wilson.

An embarrassing moment for the Nation, and microcosm of the Republican approach and attitude. You play with fire, you get burned. The base is the lunatic fringe.

This is going to bite the Conservatives in the caboose.

RR said...

Between the tactics and stupidity aligned on the right I think we have no choice but to put the rabid dog (fundamentalism/conservatism) down ... You just don't know where it's gonna bite next (e.g. - whining over the presidents talk to school children).

Capt. Fogg said...

The funny thing is that the conversation hasn't got around to the point of noticing that no, Illegal aliens would not be covered, the President wasn't lying and Wilson was. It all seems so fundamental and yet the press keeps going on about what the loonies thing about a liar calling the truth a lie.

I don't know whether this is good for the wingnuts or bad because nothing makes any sense, but our survival hangs on putting them back in the kennel.