Let's get the obvious out of the way. Congressman Joe Wilson should not have blurted out "liar" during President Obama's speech last night. It was rude, inappropriate, and a total break in protocol. In fact, Congressman Wilson has said as much and he apologized. The president accepted. That should be the end of it. After all, as rude as it was, Mr. Wilson is not the first to interrupt someone's speech rudely.
Instead, the Democrats are acting as though Congressman Wilson killed someone. They aren't satisfied with his apology. They wanted Wilson to stand on the House floor and apologize in front of the entire chamber. It appears he didn't apologize enough. I think that isn't enough either. Maybe after he apologizes in front of the full House, we also send him through a gauntlet. We can line him up on one end of a football field and force him to run to the other side while eleven linebackers wait for him. After that, we could strap him into one of those medieval devices that straps his head and arms and display him on Pennsylvania Avenue for a full day. We could put a sign over his chest that says "I called the president a liar and I'm really, really, really sorry" and have him stand on a busy street corner for a full day.
The Democrats are trying to milk this for all its worse. So, the question is why. When Joe Wilson's name first came up, I thought it was the guy that accused President Bush of lying about uranium in Niger. I doubt many people had heard of Wilson until this incident. So, why are the Democrats so fixated with punishing him well beyond the nature of the crime.
This feigned outrage is transparent and its obvious. The Democrats want this story to go on because they're hoping to advance the narrative that Wilson is indicative of Republicans as a whole. They are obstructionists, cynical, and they want the president to fail. Furthermore, fundraising has been great since the incident. So, the Democrats want to keep the story going for as long as possible. What Wilson did was wrong and it was rude. He didn't steal, he didn't cheat, and he didn't corrupt. So, we should all put things in perspective. Nancy Pelosi can't bring herself to remove Charlie Rangel from his Ways and Means Committee Chairmanship even though he did all three. Yet, she wants to put Wilson through a full throttled humiliation tour.
As obvious as it is, it's not very effective. First, no matter how biased the media is, it's not going to happen that the narrative will be that a back bench er legislator will be used to define the party as a whole. Furthermore, all that's really happening with all of this attention on Wilson's comments is that there's more focus on whether or not Obama's plan will or will not cover illegals. After all, it was that claim that set off Wilson. So, the Democrats can continue to keep the pressure up. If they do, they make take down Wilson. They'll also make sure that all the issues surrounding health care for illegals are debated as well. That second debate will NOT help the cause of Obamacare.
Joe Wilson has obviously only given the Democrats diversion from the real issues.
ReplyDeleteAt the present time, our laws permit illegals to obtain healthcare at no cost and with no proof of legal residency. So while Obama's plan may not include illegals, very little will be done to prevent the present circumstances from continuing.
Frankly, Wilson's actions were as staged as Rick Santelli's.
ReplyDeleteYou think you can demand the Democrats back off a Republican after Van Jones?
And I find it hard to see how talking about the explicit disqualification for undocumented immigrants is going to hurt the Democrats. Will enforcement be tough? Perhaps but its not the Democrats fault or problem. If the Republicans want to spend 700 dollars on enforcement to prevent 1 dollar in health care aid reaches undocumented immigrants, then they should say so. The Republicans have a duty to inform people just how much more it would add to the cost.
Unless you think we should just scrap the whole thing entirely in case some illegal human being gets their hands on some. I'm sure illegal immigrants ride busses, too should we eliminate busses?
that last comment is a target rich environmment. First, are you comparing a spontaneous outburst to a radical with a history of wild and ridiculous statements that signed a petition accusing the government of attacking the country. Are you actually doing this?
ReplyDeleteSecond, as long as an illegal pays to ride the bus, I don't care. We're talking about the federal government footing the bill for illegals.
Third, governments don't cut into profits. They simply raise prices. What do you think companies do when governments cause their expenses to go up, they raise prices.
Besides, there's not nearly enough profits to pay for what the President wants to do. Are you serious with this?
You should find it hard since each and every time the Republicans added amendments to house bill specifically excluding illegals from health care it was voted down on a party line vote. You think that's a good thing to be brought up over and over and over and over again.
You think anyone really believes the Dems are serious about enforcing this. Why do you think this line of attack has so much legs? It's because the public thinks the Dems want illegals to be covered.
As per the Presidents own words, that the bill would not add a dime to deficits, doesn't that kill the house bill? I thought the house bill was going to add 200+ billion to the deficit and that was included as part of the forecast.
ReplyDeleteJust an observation.
And why do you think this line of attack has so much legs DESPITE CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY?
ReplyDeleteI've heard that the Congressional Research Service claimed there's no verification mechanism in HR3200 for proof of citizenship and that's why Wilson's claim could be true.
ReplyDeleteBut I think that kinda changes the meaning of what we're talking about, here. Section 246 of HR3200 already denies subsidies to illegal immigrants, but they would still need to buy unsubsidized coverage. We don't ask ppl to fill out an I-9 when they buy other private sector goods the government doesn't subsidize.
It makes me think that the Republicans are trying to not just deny subsidies to undocumented immigrants, but health care entirely.
what is an undocumented immigrant. How many words will some folks come up with for an illegal immigrant? If you aren't in the country legally, how do you get insurance legally.
ReplyDeleteIf a Democrat had called "shrub" "dickie-poo", "rummy-dummy", or "red rove(r)" a liar in one of their major speeches to the nation, he would have been hauled off and locked away at Guantanamo and folks would be still wondering what happened to him. What would have happened if a Democrat threw a shoe and shrub? Yeah, he would have been crucified!
ReplyDelete