Discourse
September 10th, 2009 | Editorial Cartoons | 13 Comments
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Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst during Obama’s address to Congress was a perfect illustration of just how much the public conversation has deteriorated in recent years. I suppose that it was inevitable that the deliberate rudeness of the town hall meetings held this summer would not end there. Although Wilson immediately apologized, he didn’t recant his position, which is flat-out wrong. Every version of the health care reform bills moving through both houses specifically exempts illegal aliens. What’s funny about all this, if it weren’t so despicable, is that it’s the Republicans who have have shamelessly misrepresented the contents of the reform bills, and it’s the Republicans who have so gleefully promoted the disrespectful shout-downs we witnessed this summer. Perhaps the embarrassment over Wilson’s public moment will finally bring a little civility back to the debate. For a day or two, anyway.
Topics: civil conversation, Congress, discourse, health care, Joe Wilson, Obama, You Lie
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Please tell me you’re not wagering any money on even temporary civility. I say “God Damn the media” for adding an air of legitimacy to this tripe by not calling it childish antics. We can have policy disagreements, but we can’t behave like 8 year olds.
For all the lies we had to listen to during the Bush administration, the only one shouting out this kind of bull on the floor of Congress was Cheney.
His opponent in 2010, Rob Miller, has suddenly received $600,000 in campaign contributions. Looks like even the money vote has decided to ditch “Rush Limbaugh politics”.
The liars here are the republicans that keep talking about “Death Pannels”, “Coverage for Illegals”, etc. even when all independent study groups say that it is not true. It’s not that they actually believe what they are saying, it is just that they totaly believe in the psycological truth that they have been using for a long time, “If you tell a lie often enough people will start to believe it”.
Ed, even your caption on this cartoon is phony. Obama was not speaking of civility when Wilson called him a liar.
Don,
Duh!
I’m hoping that at 7:52 in the morning you just hadn’t had your first cup of coffee yet.
P.S. Ed draws editorial cartoons, this is not Youtube.
There are quite a few people out there that think the Republican Party put Wilson up to do this, sorta making him a sacrificial lamb. I’m not sure I buy that, but the fact that it sounds _plausible_ says a LOT out the Republicans nowadays.
And Don, that whooshing sound is the joke flying over your head.
Jerry and Kevin, I take it you guys didn’t attend a Tea Party today.
No, I don’t think so. I’m still trying to truly understand what they are protesting (aside from losing the election). I hear it’s about government spending and the national debt but that really doesn’t make sense to me. They weren’t protesting as the national debt soared during GWB’s years. I heard they were upset with the TARP which was also started by GWB but somehow they didn’t decide to do anything until he was out of office.
Lastly, I haven’t heard them protest the unbeliable cost (soon to be $1 trillion) of the wars GWB got us into: http://costofwar.com/
But then again, it is no more strange than seniors on Medicare not wanting a government run health care system. We are just in very wierd times.
I don’t think these protests have anything to do with the last election. Both parties have lost elections in the past and the losses never resulted in the protests like we are seeing today. I think this Administrations’ take over of banks, car manufacturers, attempted take over of health care, the background of the Czars the President has surrounded himself with, etc., is what people are protesting.
You are wrong, people did protest the Iraq war, the out of control spending of the last Administration and that protest resulted in the Republicans losing both houses in 06 and rightly so.
I, frankly, am tired of hearing Democrats blaming Bush for every problem we have. I suppose next he will be blamed for the swine flu. I was not a Bush fan and I certainly did my share of criticizing when he was in office but that is past history. The Carter Administration’s bungling of everything they touched, cost me a small fortune and set my company back at least eight years. Maybe you don’t remember the 20% prime rate and 14% inflation rate combined with a deep recession. It was horrible but dwelling on it doesn’t help anyone.
Sorry, my reply below should have been here.
-Rusty
I’m not sure what is meant by “dwelling on”. At least in my remarks, I reference GWB, not in terms of what he did, but what the reaction was (or wasn’t) by today’s “protesters”. I also think that a number of current programs were begun by the previous administration but have somehow been blamed on the current. They include the situation with the banks and car makers.
I find it mind boggling for it to be said that this administration is “attempting to take over health care”. What exactly is it that makes that so? Candidly, I am getting tired of some folks continuing to just make stuff up and pass it off as fact.
Gee, I remember hearing the Bush Administration and their cronies blaming Clinton for several years, and you’re getting tired of hearing Bush being blamed after only eight months?!?
Guess what, Don, Bush 43 dug us into a deep, deep hole, and the Republicans aren’t exactly helping dig us out; rather, they are being hysterical in their criticisms rather than rational, and they certainly aren’t thinking in a non-partisan way to solve the problems our country is having. They certainly aren’t taking on the part of loyal opposition, but rather loonatic opposition.
-Rusty
-Rusty
Terry Gross talks to Max Blumenthal about the Christian Right nutter-butters who are driving some of the retarded wingnut dialog over health care.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112683449