Rep. Joe Wilson and the Emperor's New Clothes

The internet is all a twitter this morning over Rep. Joe Wilson's lack of respect for the President when he shouted “You Lie” in the midst of a Presidential address. Wilson's outburst was in response to the President's adamant declaration that the proposed health care bill will not cover illegal aliens. This came right after part where the President called-out “certain politicians” (Cough* Sarah Palin *Cough) and THEIR supposed lies.

Maybe what Wilson should have done is grab a few of his colleagues and “booed” the president instead. That, as we see here, is perfectly acceptable.



Blogs like the Huffington Post, The Daily Kos and the Democratic Underground are calling for the censure and removal of Joe Wilson. Maybe Wilson was trying to be more like the European Governments we are often told to emulate. Where were these pundits when an Iraqi reporter threw a shoe at President Bush? It’s apparently O.K. for OTHER people to “disrespect” our President.

From the Daily Kos:

Is the Iraqi reporter eligible for a Pulitzer?

Michael Ware Was Grinning From Ear to Ear! Iraq journalist Michael Ware was shown on CNN telling Blitzer about the shoe throwing incident. He was positively gleeful.

Meanwhile the Huffington Post comments were very similar to those of the Daily Kos:

Find out who it was the guy deserves a medal of honor.

you go Iraqi guy! wooohooo! we should all be chuckin our shoes at him! lmao!!!! the shoebomber! lmao!!!

I would love to throw something at Bush.. not a shoe though.. maybe a brick.. or cinder block.

The next time you see Bush's motorcade rush by, don't let anyone keep you from giving him your shoe, too...

And finally, last but least, we have the input from the loons at the Democratic Underground:

F---ing shame he missed.

Too bad Shrub didn't get his teeth knocked out, that guys a true hero!

*sigh* why can't anyone ever hit their targets? is it asking too much too see Bush hit in the face with a shoe, or Coulter with a pie, or Rove with flaming poo?

I soooooo wish I could throw something at the idiot too.

(Thanks to DummiesFunnies.com for the quotes)

Clearly, Rep. Wilson’s “uncalibrated” timing of his outburst will sidetrack the easily distracted from the real issue at hand: Last month the President said “This is not just about the 47 million Americans who don't have any health insurance at all.” Magically last night, we went down from 47 million uninsured in America to “over” 30 million American “citizens”.

And that was without spending a dime!

Who are these missing 17 odd million uninsured people?

The Department of Homeland Security reported that the number of illegal aliens as of January 2008 was about 12 million.

Imagine that. What's five million give or take when you want to pass your bill...

The Congressional Research Service reported that the current version of the bill would HAVE to cover illegals. Even if this language has now been mysteriously removed, we know the United States Supreme Court has ruled that prohibiting illegals from public education is unconstitutional:

In Plyler v. Doe, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas law violated the equal protection provisions of the 4th Amendment. As a result of Plyler v. Doe, states may not deny access to public education to immigrant children residing within their boundaries, regardless of their legal status.

The question is, would denying illegal access to PUBLIC HEALTH COVERAGE also be unconstitutional?

If these mystery 17 million are removed now, the public may come to believe that the bill will not cover undocumented workers. Later, when the Supreme Court rules they need to be included, the Obama Administration will still get what they originally intended.

If the Administration is serious about not covering illegals in the health care bill, then why did they not pass the Republican amendment that would have specifically spelled out the prohibition of said coverage?

The House Ways & Means Committee had the opportunity to include language that would have barred illegal aliens from enrolling in the proposed public option or receiving the affordability credits, but chose not to. An amendment offered by Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) would have applied the same eligibility verification procedures for coverage under H.R. 3200 that have been used for years to prove eligibility for Medicaid. That amendment was rejected by a party-line vote.

Rep Wilson’s outrage over the “iffyness” of the President’s facts may have left him half blind to his actions when he made his outburst, but in the world of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

If you listen real closely to what Joe Wilson yelled last night, it may not be that he was yelling “You Lie”, what he may have been yelling was “The Emperor Has No Clothes!”

In both cases, he may very well be right.