During the President's speech to both houses of Congress last night, at one point, when the President said that the health care bill would not cover illegal immigrants, Rep. Joe Wilson of SC shouted, "You lie!"I believe President Obama is a liar and the father of lies. I think he has lied for so long he wouldn't know the truth if it hit him upside the head. I believe that there were lies in the Health Care speech and that Obama is happiest when he is lying.
The issue that Rep. Wilson (R-SC) shouted out to Obama over, at the moment in the speech where Obama said, "The reforms I am proposing would not apply to those not born in America," Joe Wilson is actually correct, that is a lie. Information here.
I can understand the frustration of a representative seeing the corruption from the inside, and the horror of living with the un-American machinations between and among fellow politicians, lobbyists, and corporations. I can imagine the turmoil of listening to an un-American President proposing decidedly un-American ideas. However, shouting epithets in the (once) hallowed halls of Congress is uncivil. The halls of Congress have an institutional decorum that has always been respected, and should be respected, no matter what.
FITS News of South Carolina, who is harder than anyone on their politicians, wrote that in finding his lungs, Joe revealed himself to be an unmitigated moron. From a political standpoint, FITS wrote, that with Obama’s poll tanking lately, the old adage that “Not interrupting your opponent when they are making a mistake” is a lesson Joe should have applied. I say that from a moral standpoint, it was not the time and it wasn't the way for Joe to make himself heard. Joe isn't a "hero" and he isn't "brave." And sinking to his opponent's level is never good.
Should Joe resign, be excoriated, called a moron? His wikipedia page was vandalized and his website crashed moments after the outburst. His home phone number was published on Twitter with commands to harass him at his home (which was terribly wrong since Joe is in DC and his family is at home). But no, Joe just made a mistake. It was not a months long purposeful "mistake" like SC Governor Mark Sanford's affair. It was not a years-long "mistake"(rape) of the American people a la Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank. It was not a decades-long trashing of the system for personal gain a la Gov. Rod Blagojevich. It was one emotional outburst in one moment of time. Immediately, the Congressman issued an apology:
"This evening I let my emotions get the best of me. While I disagree with the president's statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility."Joe also called the White House and spoke with Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel to personally apologize. As he should.
Now it's over. Let it go.
PS: here is the look that Biden, Pelosi and Obama gave to Joe, LOL!:
