222 years ago 39 delegates gathered in the city of Philadelphia to sign Constitution of the United States of America. On September 17, 1787 our Founding Fathers created the greatest and fr
eest nation on the face of the earth. I find it extremely ironic that the House of Representatives decided this week to limit free speech on the floor. Their actions this week were in response to South Carolina Congressman, Joe Wilson, calling out “You Lie!” during President Obama’s speech last week before a joint session of Congress. Wilson immediately apologized after the speech for his outburst.
While I felt that it was probably not the best opportunity to point out the false claims of the President, I agreed with Wilson’s sentiment. I was not alone in agreement, the Nancy Pelosi led House agreed with Wilson by passing an amendment to the Health Care reform bill that specifically states that illegal immigrants are not to be covered under the reforms.
The House also decided to dole out the moral equivalent of wagging their hypocritical finger at Wilson for having the audacity of speaking the truth about the President. They formally rebuked Wilson and laid out new rules covering what is not permissible to be said about the President in the chamber. No member of the House may refer to the President as a “liar” or a “hypocrite”, or describe his veto as “cowardly”, or describe him as “intellectually dishonest”, or refer to any alleged “act of sexual misconduct on the President’s part”, or describe the President as “giving aid in comfort to the enemy”.
I find it interesting that the Democrats took such offense to Wilson’s remark. Especially when considering their own rather sordid history of debasing a President and our troops from the floor of both chambers. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stood on the floor of the Senate after 9/11 and demanded to know what President Bush knew and when he knew it. She questioned whether or not our President knew about the 9/11 attacks before they occurred and did nothing about it.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Bush a total failure. California Representative Pete Stark called Bush a liar from the floor of the House. Senator Harry Reid declared that our military had lost the war in Iraq from the floor of the Senate. Pennsylvania Representative Jack Murtha accused our military of murder and rape in Iraq. President Obama claimed our military was air-raiding villages for the war on terror.
The actions of the House this week are just another tactic to divert attention away from the failing Health Care reform. They have also intensified the calls of racism for anyone who opposes the President. What the administration and the Democratic leadership fail to realize is that there is a growing tide of discontent against the plans for health care. As of this week, the approval ratings for the health care reform have reached their lowest point at just 42%. That approval is even after the latest “major” speech by the President to both chambers of Congress. If the administration pushes forward in the face of the growing objections of the public, it will be the end of any hope for reelection for the President. As for Congress, I believe their fate has already been sealed. Their will be a surprising amount of Democrats looking for new professions after next years midterm elections.
Troy Stouffer, Politics Correspondent:
Troy’s Column “Cacoethes Scribendi”, published every Friday to Gather Essentials: Politics, is a conservative look at the policies ad issues that affect all of us.
You can find all of Troy’s columns at http://gather.com/cacoethesscribendi
Keep up with Troy’s other postings and Gather activity by joining his Gather network -- just click here http://tds1024.gather.com/ and select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page
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Deo Gratias
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Comments: 36
You are a racist.
btw..speaking of hypocrites.. Wilson voted to provide federal funds for illegal immigrants’ healthcare on the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003.
And I don't recall ANY other president (not even Bushy) EVER being interrupted in a speech to Congress the way Obama was that night. As president he has earned the respect of the office of the POTUS, and should be treated as such. I don't give a damn if any congressman or woman agrees with him or not. There are times to argue those points, and that was not one of them. It was just wrong and demeaning!
Both sides have acted at least as bad in previous presidential addresses. That is no excuse for Wilson nor was his violation of congressional decorum right. However to spend all this time to censure him while ignoring past abuse from both parties is wrong. This was not an act of treason but of stupidity and boorishness. There are plenty of congressmen/senators far more deserving of censure (in both parties) than this one.
Troy, I didn't say he was racist..I said he was an ass. Don't put words in my mouth. I'll save that "racist" label for your new leaders of the Repub. party. Rush & Glenn!
A) You don't get out of the country very often do you?
B) Your ignorance regarding history is stunning!
I'll second that.
What isn't debatable is that in 1776 when the US was created, it was the freest nation on the planet. That the nation was imperfect to say the least is a given but few nations have as long a period of relative freedom for their people as ours.
B) Too bad we can't go back and ask women, blacks, native Americans, and indentured servants about that "freest" anthem....LOL
If Wilson lied, why did the Dems go back and clarify the law? HHMMMMM.
Whether Wilson thought Obama was lying or not is not the point. He violated the rules of House decorum and was call to task for it, as I suspect he would have if he had interrupted a speech by another House member and called him/her a liar.
btw, scrolling down to comments and reading the very first comment...well, that's priceless. LOL
Hat's off to you for at least maintaining the rights to freedom of speech on the thread.
It is deniable, because the President did not stop speaking, but it seems to me that Joe Wilson, rather than present his reasons for believing that Mr. Obama was Lying Just interrupted his address. The next day Wilson, admitted his error, and unless I totally misread his apology to the President accepted the fact that the House Resolution, 3200, in section 242 defines eligible persons as "legal" residents of the USA, and in 246 prohibits any Federal expenditures for the care and treatment of persons not legally residing in the country. But, that is a small detail. The Senate Bill was amended to comply with the provision Mr. Obama asked for
From the transcript of the speech, President Obama, "There are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false. The reforms -- the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: You lie! (Boos.)
THE PRESIDENT: It's not true. 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. (Applause.) "
There is NO LIE IN THAT STATEMENT. To Repeat, the reforms, the reforms I am proposing, would not apply to those who are here illegally."
NOW, back to the issue of restricting free speech: it should be done ONLY in situations of public safety. But, the rules of the US House of representatives apply only to those who are in the great hall of the US Congress.
What I can't get over is this:
No member of the House may refer to the President as a “liar” or a “hypocrite”, or describe his veto as “cowardly”, or describe him as “intellectually dishonest”, or refer to any alleged “act of sexual misconduct on the President’s part”, or describe the President as “giving aid in comfort to the enemy”.
They're allowed to call him other names? Or use other phrases? Isn't that rather absurd.
The disturbing part of the "pattern" is when the issues are about national security, but I see Joe Wilson's accusation as focusing on a domestic issue. We won't know who was "lying" until there's an actual bill signed into law, and maybe not until the illegal immigrants' lawyers have challenged it in the courts. That's why Obama can say they won't be covered, and Joe Wilson can say they will be.
Joe Wilson broke "protocol," but he raised a valid question.