Joe Wilson and the conservative id
"You lie" as a symptom of the times we live in
Joe Wilson and the conservative id
Dick Polman, Inquirer National Political Columnist
At this point, congressman Joe Wilson's boorish personal insult - an unprecedented fit of insolence that violated several centuries of House protocol - has sufficiently saturated the airwaves. The moment itself need not be further recounted here. But there is still much to be said about the moment as metaphor.
In a narrow sense, the moment was truly shocking. No previous congressman in 220 years had personally insulted the president of the United States to his face during a House proceeding. Mickey Edwards, a retired Republican congressional leader, was sufficiently shocked to write that Wilson's behavior marked "a new low in politics," because "any real congressman would have known that such behavior is not permitted in a place where members are not allowed to call even other members liars without being publicly and officially rebuked." Indeed, even the typically raucous British Parliament does not permit such personal attacks; when one member calls another a liar or a coward or a traitor, or other words that are officially deemed "unparliamentary," the offender is promptly asked to withdraw the insult.
Nevertheless, in the broader scheme of things, the spectacle of a right-wing back-bencher behaving like a horse's ass was not shocking in the least. Joe Wilson wasn't doing anything new; he was behaving as so many of his brethren have behaved since the rise of Barack Obama. Because deep down they refuse to accept Obama as their legitimate leader, they naturally don't feel that they owe him the requisite respect.
This was clear even during the '08 campaign, when conservative crowds yelled things like "Traitor" and "Kill him," and no Republican bigwigs said a word about it. This was clear when liars insisted he was a Muslim. This was clear during the summer of '09. when liars insisted yet again that he was an illegitimate president who had been born on foreign soil. This was clear last spring when a Republican activist in South Carolina (Joe Wilson's state) joked that a gorilla that had escaped from a local zoo was probably one of Michelle Obama's ancestors.
So when Wilson yelled "You lie!" he was merely giving spontaneous voice to the current conservative id. Which is precisely why Republican leaders on Capitol Hill insisted that Wilson apologize; they were not comfortable seeing their most visceral emotions expressed so openly by one of their own. After all, that kind of exposure is so counterproductive; thanks to Wilson's outing of the true conservative attitude, Republicans over the past 36 hours have been forced to play defense. The Wilson story has stolen attention from the Obama health plan - and the legitimate policy questions about how to pay for it. Moreover, since Wedneasday night, Wilson's 2010 Democratic opponent has raised $700,000 from 20,000 ticked-off donors.
No, the elected Republicans would prefer that their true feelings not be exposed. They believe it's far more prudent to let Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh do all the heavy ranting, to let the town-hall foot soldiers lie with impunity and paint swastikas on Obama's photo. This way, the elected Republicans can lend their tacit support by simply remaining mum.
Such is the continued devolution of civic discourse in America. The incident on the House floor put it all in perspective. Actually, Wilson did us a favor. He cracked open the window, and gave us a peek inside the conservative mind. Thanks, Joe.
But wait...Let us not forget that his ire was also fueled by his stalwart opposition to what his website calls "government-run health care." It is certainly true that the plight of the uninsured is not exactly high on Wilson's priority list. Basically, he can't relate. Why not? Because Wilson, as a retired Army National Guard colonel, receives free medical coverage for life. Paid for by a government-run health care program.
So now we can add hypocrisy to the mix. Thanks for nothing, Joe.
"Mr. Polman you know the Secret Service investigated the 'kill him' lie during the election and it seemed the only one who heard the phrase was the journalist who wrote the story!" Yes, that one journalist plus the millions who saw the video......... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-FEF7WB9So— the stupid does burn
Comment removed.- I posted my opinion on this topic earlier, but really, why aren't we talking about September 11 here? I mean in the grand scheme of things, Joe Wilson is small potatoes.— celtic_13
- In his January, 2005 State of the Union Speech, Bush was loudly booed when referring to the problems with social security...here is a link for you to see for yourself..http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2009/09/10/flashback_democrats_boo_bush_at_2005_state_of_the_union.html I wonder where Polman's post on the Liberal Id was posted after Bush got booed.— tom - wilmington, de
- jmc - are you kidding? The "liberals" have been putting up with incessant lunatic "dissent" at these townhalls for weeks. Telling Senator Specter, a man suffering from freaking cancer, that he'll get his punishment in the afterlife? Calling the President a Nazi? And were these folks thrown out? No, they were just talked down by the likes of Barney Frank. Since "liberals" seem to believe dissent is fine, but goes both ways. When a Code Pink protester shouted at McCain during a town hall? Oh, right, she was REMOVED. Give me a break, you hypocrite.— squintz
- anonymous..Republicans offered two amendments to bar illegals from receiving benefits...Democrats defeated them both in committee.— tom - wilmington, de
- I'm not sure which is worse: (1) Rep. Wilson's outrageous and censurable misconduct, or (2) the feeble attempts of those who support such misconduct, or seek to minimize it.— AHiredGun
- tom - booing is the opposite of clapping, which also happens pretty routinely in these types of sessions. No one ever personally insulted President Bush from the floor. Expressing approval or disapproval is a lot different from calling someone a liar. Especially when there's no basis for the exclamation, since the language specifically excludes illegals from subsidy. If they want to buy it on their own there's nothing now or in the future to stop them, unless we forgo capitalism. Which I'm SURE Joe Wilson wouldn't suggest, right?— squintz
- Hopefully Wilson will be voted out of office by the people of S. Carolina. I wouldn't bet on it though.— James TL
- Comment removed.
- "Republicans offered two amendments to bar illegals from receiving benefits...Democrats defeated them both in committee." It's burning again............ "The bills before Congress declare illegal immigrants to be ineligible for subsidized benefits...... Should we take a harder line? Force people to prove citizenship in emergency rooms? That heart-attack can wait. Make verification requirements so that not a single illegal immigrant slips through? A House oversight committee reviewed six state Medicaid programs in 2007 and found that verification rules had cost the federal government an additional $8.3 million. They caught exactly eight illegal immigrants." So much for the concerns about cost - let's spend $1 million per illegal just to make sure that they don't get coverage.— the stupid does burn
- How Obama lied about illegal immigrants being covered under the current plans for healthcare reform. From the Congressional Research Service (a non-partisan research office that reports to Congress "Under H.R. 3200, all legal permanent residents (LPRs), nonimmigrants, and unauthorized aliens who meet the substantial presence test (defined above) would be required to obtain health insurance.24 Noncitizens meeting the definition of nonresident aliens (e.g., temporary visitors, temporary workers in the United States for less than 183 days in the year) would not be required to obtain health insurance. Notably, the IRC does not contain special rules for individuals who are in the United States without authorization (i.e., illegal or unauthorized aliens). Instead, the IRC treats these individuals in the same manner as other foreign nationals—an unauthorized individual who has been in the United States long enough to qualify under the substantial presence test is classified as a resident alien; otherwise, the individual is classified as a nonresident alien.25 Thus, it would appear that unauthorized aliens who meet the substantial presence test would be required under H.R. 3200 to have health insurance." And thus, eligible for coverage under the government option. So, you be the judge...did Obama lie?— tom - wilmington, de
- Comment removed.
- This is not just typical since Obama, though it's more pronounced, partly because of the rise of internet communications coupled with right-wing radio - but the same ideologues refused to accept the legitimacy of Bill Clinton in 1993, refusing to vote on confirmations, pursuing endless investigations of any unsubstantiated ethics accusation, etc. Part and parcel of their protection of their "free market" corporate sponsors, never forget that old capitalist truism: You'll never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.— justabit outside
- Comment removed.
Cited by the Columbia Journalism Review as one of the nation's top political reporters, and lauded by the ABC News political website as "one of the finest political journalists of his generation," Dick Polman is a national political columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is on the full-time faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, as "writer in residence." Dick has been a frequent guest on C-Span, MSNBC, CNN, NPR and the BBC. He covered the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential campaigns.
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