Joe Wilson (R-SC) has issued an apology for heckling President Obama, about an hour after the speech -- a clear sign the GOP realizes just how damaging his performance was.
His statement:
“This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill. 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.”
Lack of civility indeed. Too little, too late. You are a prime target now. Here we come.
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Comments: 93
It was hard to get a grasp after I heard that on TV.
In a simple sentence you have nailed it!
When was the last time a white president was heckled by a member of congress? Exactly.
They love him. More than half the State will regard him as a hero for speaking out.
However, he has better manners than some ... at least he didn't throw a shoe across the chamber.
In any case, yes, he should have apologized for speaking out of turn, but never for telling the truth irt what Obama was trying to pass off on the public as truth.
Still not the time or place for that kind of thing.
Read the Bills.
Liberals and Evangelical Neo-Conservatives have a couple of things in common. Neither care about the good of America as a whole, or the liberty of Her citizens; and each are populated with the most self-absorbed and self-righteous sons' of bitches this rugged nation has ever seen. And for the life of me, I don't know why in the world these are the two most populous wings of the two most powerful parties in our government. The only reason run of the mill moderates support these liberal idiots is because they hate Republicans and want to see them "lose". And the only reason moderate, common-sense Republicans support these moralistic theocratic imperialist Corporatist elitists is because they can "beat" the liberals. They don't care who wins, so long as the liberals lose. And vice versa. My government makes me sick.
My favorite quote by the pacifist, anarchist, musician Utah Phillips, is:
"First thing he said, after he got to know me, he said: "You know you love the country. You love it. You come in and out of town on those trains singin' songs about different places and beautiful people. You know you love the country; you just can't stand the government. Get it straight." He quoted Mark Twain to me: "Loyalty to the country always; loyalty to the government when it deserves it." It was an essential distinction I had been neglecting".
"Once your memory starts to go- forget it!"
However the real reason for wanting Wilson to resign is not just because he is a liar. It is because he is such a perfect example of the WORST of the South rather than the best. Instead of showing the tradition of southern hospitality and gentility, he gave the impression of inbred stupidity and bigotry. South Carolina has been embarrassed enough by it's politicians. It is time to remove them from office and replace them with someone competent who represents the BEST of the South instead of the worst.
Thing is he claims that insuring illegals is in the bill. He's lying and then had the nutless brains to accuse the President of lying in front of the world. If you claim it's in the bill you are shit brained liar too. But that's OK. We need people like you to keep lying and defining the GOP as a threat to the nation and world. Keep up the good work. I look forward to him campaigning for the Cheney/Palin ticket in 12. Want to see him on O'Reilly, Limbaugh, you name it. He's the new and better face of the GOP. Too bad the leadership took him to the woodshed as soon as he left the floor.
Read this morning that since his outburst 3000 individual donations reaching 100K we fed into his Dem opponent's campaign war chest.
Then logically ... if Obama had not actually intended for illegals to be covered (until it brought too much heat and light to the bill) he would not have been using the inflated 46-47 million number to describe those who needed to be covered. That number included illegals.
He's changed that now . . . finally . . .
But then there's also the pesky amendments Dems have defeated, twice:
John Boehner asserts:
You mentioned the phrase immediately before that which says that this part did not apply to anyone specifically excluded, and illegal aliens are specifically excluded.
So there is no loophole to close.
You are just falling for one more of the unending lies coming out of the extreme right. If they had anything REAL they would bring it up rather than this easily debunked trash!
THAT is why I want more serious action taken.
John S. said: You mentioned the phrase immediately before that which says that this part did not apply to anyone specifically excluded, and illegal aliens are specifically excluded.
So there is no loophole to close.
Lee says: Well, there may not be one now since lawmakers are/were working to close that nonexistent loophole and may have done it by now (surprising the heck outta me) ... but as of the time of that shout out, there was no verification process in place to sort those eligible from those who are not eligible (and the POTUS knew it, presumably).
Illegals having to produce proof of citizenship on request? I do not think there is such a law. In fact I don't think it's legal in many states to even ask unless someone has committed a horrendous crime.
I could be wrong ... but it seems to me if someone can't be asked if he/she is a citizen after running a red light or when marching in a protest march, or when presenting themselves at a voting booth; I would be surprised if any provision for verification of citizenship (with real teeth) was enacted.
Which would mean any language disallowing illegals from participating in any healthcare program which gets passed would be useless and/or moot (including any phrase similar to this one: illegal aliens are specifically excluded - without a verification process; it's a useless space-filler phrase).
You forgot an important part, which says that it includes all individuals EXCEPT those excluded elsewhere in the bill. Since the bill says that illegal aliens are bot covered, that means illegal aliens are not covered. So Wilson lied and Obamma told the truth.
That's over and above what we do in emergency rooms just as a matter of course and human compassion. Illegals will have access to any national taxpayer funded healthcare program if there is no means of verification in place BEFORE it goes into effect.
So what I said still seems to be true: but as of the time of that shout out, there was no verification process in place to sort those eligible from those who are not eligible (and the POTUS knew it, presumably). Meaning in the letter of one bill the prez may have been correct, but irt the spirit found in others still under consideration he was, at best mistaken. +shrug+
John S. Sep 15, 2009, 9:36pm EDT
LeeY said: ""The House bill creates an "exchange" and "all individuals," which would include illegal aliens, are eligible to participate in the exchange."
You forgot an important part, which says that it includes all individuals EXCEPT those excluded elsewhere in the bill. Since the bill says that illegal aliens are bot covered, that means illegal aliens are not covered. So Wilson lied and Obamma told the truth.
I see. So your stance is that it is OK to call the President of the United States a liar when he is telling the absolute truth, and the facts do not matter.
You also seem to believe that we need to reinvent the wheel every time. We already have ways of verifying if a person is LEGAL immigrant or not. While it may be possible for some people to game the system, that is true for EVERY law on the books. Your stance appears to be that we should repeal ALL laws because it is POSSIBLE for someone to get around any law in existence.
That is pure idiocy.
Like you loonies never called G.W. Bush anything worse? Hey don’t let me spoil your bloodsport.
This is "town hall meeting" behavior. Is this what passes as Republican bipartisanship?
The outburst: Wrong place; wrong time.
Obama simply reaped what he sowed. He just got through accusing others of being liars- in the same speech.
Though it was not very civil it needed to be said by someone at sometime.
Remember Dems rejected an amendment that specifically prevented illegal immigrants from getting health care insurance from the government.
IS IN THE BILL ALREADY!
John S. said: You mentioned the phrase immediately before that which says that this part did not apply to anyone specifically excluded, and illegal aliens are specifically excluded.
So there is no loophole to close.
Lee says: Well, there may not be one now since lawmakers are/were working to close that nonexistent loophole and may have done it by now (surprising the heck outta me) ... but as of the time of that shout out, there was no verification process in place to sort those eligible from those who are not eligible (and the POTUS knew it, presumably).
Illegals having to produce proof of citizenship on request? I do not think there is such a law. In fact I don't think it's legal in many states to even ask unless someone has committed a horrendous crime.
I could be wrong ... but it seems to me if someone can't be asked if he/she is a citizen after running a red light or when marching in a protest march, or when presenting themselves at a voting booth; I would be surprised if any provision for verification of citizenship (with real teeth) was enacted.
Which would mean any language disallowing illegals from participating in any healthcare program which gets passed would be useless and/or moot (including any phrase similar to this one: illegal aliens are specifically excluded - without a verification process; it's a useless space-filler phrase).
Actually there are words to exclude illegal aliens from the coverage. That's not the point. The point is there also are no safeguards to prevent illegal aliens from accessing the program, the same way they do everything else in life - ILLEGALLY.
Wilson was referring to the amendments that Congressional Democrats voted down, in 2 committees, which would have required and provided this citizenship/eligibilty verification. Without this verification safeguard, you all can forget about national health insurance becoming a reality, this time around. when tens of millions of illegals start grabbing at the program, it will fall fast.
We COULD and will prevent Illegals from acquiring health insurance, be it private or the public option. Which in the long run would be cheaper since THEY will be paying a premium... as opposed to our policy in the USA that expressly states that NO ONE can be turned away from seeing a doctor, or being admitted into the hospital. We all know what it does to our economy when thousands of people too poor to afford insurance or doctor bills use emergency rooms as their primary care... walk out and never pay the bills.
These GOP amendments were back-door attempts to legislate right-wing dreams about states' rights to determine the applicability of federal programs and further trample American liberty with a national photo-id system.
They were rightly rejected in both committees for the thinly-veiled ruses they were.
There's nothing--absolutely nothing--to justify Wison screaming a lie at the President from the House floor. He should be censured.
Lee says: Ruses or not, when they were rejected the loopholes were opened for illegals to have access to any federal healhcare program. +shrug+
Guy W. Sep 11, 2009, 2:30pm EDT
These GOP amendments were back-door attempts to legislate right-wing dreams about states' rights to determine the applicability of federal programs and further trample American liberty with a national photo-id system.
They were rightly rejected in both committees for the thinly-veiled ruses they were.
There's nothing--absolutely nothing--to justify Wison screaming a lie at the President from the House floor. He should be censured.
Robert F. protectionist - Wilson may have opposed the two amendments to HR 3200, however it in no way makes not makes what President Obama stated in the Speech a lie.
..."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. And one more misunderstanding I want to clear up – under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place."...
Wilson was completely out of line. We should expect better from our elected representatives and the Republicans.
Baby J,
Wilson did not oppose the 2 amendments he supports them, and rightfully so. That's why what Obama said was at least halfway a "lie" because he knows darn well that without the amendment requiring citizenship verification, illegals will be accessing the program by the millions. Obama deliberatly misled the American people by saying 'the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally".
The statement is only partially true. By law, the reforms won't apply to the illegals, BUT with illegals, we have to consider much more than just what is the law. We have to be
on guard against what illegals will do ILLEGALLY. Obama knew that when he made his statement. What's more, I highly doubt that he is unaware of the amendments and how they got voted down by his fellow Democrats.
The "amendments" offered in committee were attempts to tack on a national photo-id requirement and to put the verification of citizenship under the jurisdiction of separate states. H.R. 3200 sanely keeps the verification under the federal jurisdiction of the Secretary, and prevents the right-wing attempt to attach another back-door, liberty-stealing rider.
Lee says: I certainly understand the problem here .... it's a big one irt a national I.D. and the eroding of more and more of our rights. But the fact is, without that I.D. illegals will certainly have access.
The bill can "clearly exempt" anyone at all in words. But in order to enforce or give those words any meaning other than as textual space-fillers, we must be able to figure out who is or isn't a non-citizen in order to be able to exempt those who are supposed to be exempted. Mmm?
Guy W. Sep 11, 2009, 2:25pm EDT
It's time to put an end to this lie, too. There never was a "loophole" in H.R. 3200. It clearly exempts non-citizens from the requirement to obtain insurance and it clearly prohibits non-citizens from participating in the affordable public option.
The "amendments" offered in committee were attempts to tack on a national photo-id requirement and to put the verification of citizenship under the jurisdiction of separate states. H.R. 3200 sanely keeps the verification under the federal jurisdiction of the Secretary, and prevents the right-wing attempt to attach another back-door, liberty-stealing rider.
Yes Mathew, Obama called out the lies that have been circulating about "death panels", funding abortion, and health care for illegals. He set the record straight that the Medicare trust fund would not be touched. Did this offend you?
Works for me!
I don't see the problem here. Three verifiable statements.
Death panels, illegal insured, rationing, etc. Lies. It does not take many words to clear this up.
Trouble is, he also lied to the American people, because he made a statement that he knew almost everyone would take to mean that illegals will not end up getting government health care. He knew that to be false.
We have to be on guard against what illegals will do ILLEGALLY. Obama knew that when he made his statement. What's more, I highly doubt that he is unaware of the amendments and how they got voted down by his fellow Democrats.
Why ? Because he's one of the few Congressmen who had guts enough to pressure Obama to be honest about the illegal immigrants and what access to the healthcare program they might have ? Maybe they ought to give Joe Wilson an award, for that.