Congressman Joe Wilson Of South Carolina Is Fitting Symbol Of Massive Republican Resistance To Obama
U.S. Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina is the Member of Congress who shouted out that President Obama was lying during the President’s speech this evening.
Here is some basic information about Mr. Wilson.
Mr. Wilson is an attorney and was for 16 years a member of the South Carolina State Senate. His district includes South Carolina’s capitol city of Columbia. Here is a map of Mr. Wilson’s district.
(Above—An 1865 image from Harper’s Magazine that shows the burning of Columbia in Sherman’s March. Maybe Mr. Wilson is still angry about General Sherman.)
Mr. Wilson worked at one point as an aide to Senator Strom Thurmond.
Mr Wilson was first elected to Congress in 2001.
As Representative Wilson shouts out his rebel yell at our President, I wonder if he has ever distanced himself from the legacy of treason that still defines his state in many ways.
What a perfect symbol of the Republican strategy of massive resistance to health care reform and just about anything else Barack Obama proposes. Massive Resistance was the Southern strategy to combat integration in the Civil Rights years.
(Below—Mr. Wilson. He loves America…Or at least he loves his idea of America.)
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Preston Brooks, another Congressman who behaved quite badly in the Capitol building, was also from South Carolina.
No doubt.
“legacy of treason”??? Someone isn’t up on their Constitutional history.
Treason. States Rights. Disloyalty. Jim Crow. Massive Resistance—Call it all whatever you wish.
This man should not be fit for public office. He is disrespectful, child-like and an embarrassment to the Republican party. He should resign.
Congressman Wilson’s behavior in the Congress was terrible and he should be censured by the House for disrespectful behavior to the President. I would bet that our gracious President will phone him and have him over to The White House to discuss his concerns. At a minimum, I am sure that the President will try to discover the “real” reason for the Congressman’s behavior. The President seeks to find the good in all of our citizens and representatives (the children of illegal immigrants and emergency medical care will not be denied. By the way, why won’t illegal aliens be covered? With 15 million in the country and if they get sick, don’t they need health care too?)
The outburst seen in psychological terms reflects the national tension surrounding the issue. There is too much stress in the society on the issue and the President is the vessel of that stress. As he grows and develops in the presidency, as they all must, and this is true from President Washington onward, governing is the toughest thing to do in a democracy. I think that health care is a very large issue to bite off and the American people remain unconvinced, not necessarily of the need, but the People wonder who are the winners and losers in such a proposition.
If the drug companies and the insurance companies are for it-and they are often the culprits-then who will end up paying the lion’s share of the price for the reforms?
My hope is that the President recognizes that he must take the industry on with the firm support of the People’s interets and lead the Congress-vote by vote to a success on the plan-including some form of mechanism that drives down prices of health care-the so-called public option.
In its own way, the outburst is an echo of the stormy past.
The President has not been as clear and engaged in outlining the more difficult points in the proposals.
Firm, open, clear leadership by the President and his party should get this accomplished. Perhaps public hearings on the legislation will amplify for the public-the merits and demerits of the various proposals.
Representative Tyrone K. Yates
You should resign….never in the history of this country has there been such an obnoxious rude act!!! It is one thing to disagree and vote that disagrement but to do what you did is unacceptable and you should be severely punished by beking forced to resign….you do not deserve to be part of the process or to represent anyone….what an example you set for all the children and adults across this great land who were watching…You aren’t sorry but you are a sorry excuse for a congressman and an apology is just not enough. You are an arrogant jerk whose excuse of “my emotions got the best of me” is just the biggest bunch of bull I have ever heard….
You stand firm for truth and upholding the Constitution of the USA.
There are moments we “all lose it, or would like to.” You apologized. :)) Continue working towards a better and stronger America with honor & integrity.
Take a look at the comments, actions and glares made while Pres W Bush spoke. If there were apologies, they were accepted. An admirable quality about
Pres W Bush was that he, “focused on the issues.” Now, that takes a “big man.”
You do likewise, congressman Wilson. Don’t you “waver” an inch.
Sometimes the “truth” ain’t pretty, but never be ashamed to call a lie a lie.
Just another “Fascist Republican Pig”
Mr Wilson you strongly supported a system, which lied to Americans and the entire world for eight years and never raised your voice. Now that there is an indvidual named Mr Barak Obama, who is your president and says nothing but truth even when he knows he will be insulted by people like you, you accuse him of telling lie?
What’s the big deal…at least he didn’t start throwing shoes…The English are far more unruly during their Parliamentary Sessions
off topic- clicked on your link for Amedeo Modigliani- thanks. A rather refreshing break from politics.
I think it’s important to note that Wilson is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and has supported the flying of the Confederate flag in South Carolina. This is the kind of person we’re talking about here. Insensitive, rude…I could go on and on.
As for the way Bush was treated: I don’t recall Bush ever being heckled during a speech to Congress. There’s a big difference between rolling your eyes and yelling at someone when they’re in mid-sentence. I’m truly mystified by the fact that people can’t understand that distinction.
they care more about protecting big insurance and big oil, guns,corporation than they really hate obama. Obama and the slacks in congress as well are doing their part to protect the big company money. they are all disgusting.
Mr.Congressman,
I am so impressed by your emotion on the issue of healthcare. I am outraged that the democrats in this country want to shut you up just because you spoke the truth at the wrong time. You did the right thing by apologizing and the apology was excepted should be the end of story but like our media always does it is making it more of a deal than it has to be. The real issue is the fact that the american people are being lied to and most of them don’t care enough to find out the facts and vote accordingly. This country was not founded by those who wanted Government to take care of them but they wanted to live productive, self sufficient lives with laws in place and people there to uphold them so their freedoms would never be in jeopardy. Most Americans today see the Government as their savior, well it is not and I’m glad that we have Congressmen like you who still care about what is best for the American people. Please continue to be strong and stand your ground we will back you and your colleagues that do the same.
Debbie–You claim Dems want to “shut him up” because he “spoke at the wrong time.” So, I should teach my daughter to shout out in class any time she feels like it? Interrupt the pastor during a serman? Scream at a police officer? I think his poor timing is a pretty big deal. If he can’t manage to control his emotions, he needs to find a new job.
As for freedoms being in jeopardy, please tell me which freedoms you’ve lost since January.
debbie,
The lying that is going on is being done by Congressman Wilson and others like him who want to fester the fear mongering and misinformation that has no basis in fact, but gets some people’s emotions going. Health care reform will save your money, not spend it. The reason health care costs so much in this country is because we are rewarding the wrong things in too many cases. For instance, The more medical services a person gets, and the more expensive, the greater the financial profit gained by the provider. Drugs that are highly effective but don’t make a lot of profit are abondoned and not marketed. Add to that the fact that insurance companies often wish to deny care to those who need it. That brings many people into a dependent position, because in many cases they can no longer take care of themselves, go bankrupt, and besides their terrible suffering become a financial burden to society. Those who never had coverage to begin with flood the emergency rooms when ill. That raises costs for all of us, because someone has to pay for those very high cost emergency services, when primary care would be far less expensive.
The solution is to find a path that recognizes that the profit motive does not work well in the health care arena, and pursue that which is effective for society as a whole, while paying attention to the circumstances of the individual.
BTW, without government services and programs, you would have no roads, no police, no coast guard, no protection from toxic exposure in the workplace (we’re not doing extremely well with that at the moment), no protection from child labor, no saftey net for older adults, no jails, no defense system, no protections under or enforcement of the Bill of Rights, and we can go on and on. Hopefully, you get the picture.
Our unity makes us strong.
Sarah,mb–You tell ’em! Thank you.
So Wilson is a fitting symbol of the Republican resistance to Obama? What’s your symbol for independents, such as myself, who detest Obushma’s policies? Got a smear for us too?