Posted on 09/11/2009 6:45:04 AM PDT by shortstop
Joe Wilson speaks for me.
In the chamber dedicated to the voice of the people, the voice of the people was heard. In the face of deception, in a flash of discourtesy, truth was spoken.
“You lie!” Joe Wilson blurted, taking the words out of the mouths of millions of Americans watching at home. It was an observation both jarring and true. In point of fact the president was lying, he was engaging in deception, and out of 435 representatives of the people, just one had the instinctive impulse to say so.
Joe Wilson speaks for me.
Society’s worship of government has focused on decorum and the seeming sacredness of office. A true focus on the work and wishes of the people -- the perspective that recognizes that they are sovereign and the government is their servant -- considers the dignity and interests of the people superior to any officer of government.
It is not the presidency which merits respect in a Republic, it is the people. And Joe Wilson spoke for tens of millions of people and, by fair assessment, objective fact.
In the childhood tale of “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” the boy who shouts out that the king is naked is the hero, not the goat. The willingness to speak the unspoken obvious, in the face of pretentious assertions to the contrary, is inherent in the independent spirit of a free people.
Joe Wilson speaks for me.
Because Barack Obama was lying.
And he started it.
If you notice, Joe Wilson’s retort was just that -- a retort. When he said “ You lie,” the emphasis was on the first word. He was not instigating an insult, he was returning one. He -- and all who are uncomfortable with the president’s health-care reform -- had just been dismissed as liars and believers in lies.
Instead of recognizing and respecting the millions of Americans whose ire found voice in this summer’s town-hall meetings, Barack Obama described them and their issues as fundamentally dishonest.
He said that those who have raised the fact that his advisors and fellow Democrats have spoken of committees which will apportion health care among the elderly are trafficking in “a lie.” Then he said that it was also a lie to claim that Democrat initiatives would have taxpayers provide health care for illegal aliens.
Understand that. Barack Obama had just said that two things which are true were lies. By inference he said that those who mention those things are liars.
In short, Barack Obama called every single one of his health-care opponents -- a number comprising some 52 percent of the population -- liars.
Joe Wilson understood that. He was listening. He was following Barack Obama’s rhetoric. If you watch the videotape, Joe Wilson is intent, he is focused. He’s not Tweeting like some, he’s not whispering like others, he’s listening.
And he recognized the insult when it was offered.
And he returned the favor. As a South Carolinian, it might have been a matter of inborn honor.
And he offered the counterpoint: “You lie!” No, Mr. President, it is not we who are the liars, it is you.
And that is true.
For example, when Joe Wilson blurted out his accusation, Barack Obama was saying that illegal aliens would not get taxpayer-provided health care. That is not a true statement.
First of all, as a matter of practicality, illegal aliens already get free medical care. Federal law requires that they be treated at hospitals and, having been treated, they walk out the door without paying. Hospitals and doctors -- and insurance companies and their customers -- pay. The issue is, would Democrat reform have the government pick up the tab?
The only reference to the issue in any of the proposed bills is one notation that says recipients of the benefit must be legal residents of a state. That sounds like it excludes illegal aliens. It does not. There are a variety of ways that an illegal alien can be a legal resident of a state but an illegal immigrant into the nation. States which give illegal aliens drivers licenses and charge them in-state college tuition are all treating them as legal residents of the state.
And in lists of qualifications, nowhere is it said that recipients will have to provide a Social Security number or proof of citizenship or legal immigrant status. Any number of easy screening methods that would exclude illegal aliens have been clearly left out of all of the Democrat proposals.
But even all that is moot, because the clear agenda of the Democrats in Congress and the Obama Administration is to give legal status to illegal aliens long before any health-care reform plan takes affect.
So, in point of fact, today’s illegal aliens will almost certainly be covered by any federal benefit coming from the Democrats’ initiative.
So, in point of fact, when Joe Wilson said Barack Obama was lying, he was.
And a man should never have to apologize for speaking the truth -- particularly a man who has the sacred honor of holding elected office in a Republic. Granted, there are issues of courtesy and respect. But there is also the issue of effectiveness. The exigency of the moment and the impact of the response sometimes outweigh the convention of the hall. And whether Joe Wilson had time to calculate the algebra of the situation -- it appears he did not -- he instinctively came to the right conclusion. That was the time to speak, that very moment.
Certainly, he could have waited until after the speech. But then he would have been some no-name congressman talking on some obscure local newscast in backwoods South Carolina. No one would have heard, the message wouldn’t have been delivered, the president would have been unchallenged. As it is, Joe Wilson has dominated the discussion and directed the debate. Predictably, the Democrats and their tools in the media have made his presumed discourtesy the issue, and a certain number of trained parrots have repeated the concerns gravely. But millions of Americans have grabbed hold not of the nature of Joe Wilson’s comment, but of the substance of his comment.
In his words, they have heard their thoughts.
His instant judgment reflects theirs. They have come to the same conclusion. They see him as the most honest evaluator of the president’s remarks. In the people’s chamber, he alone spoke the people’s mind. Their only regret is that the Republican leadership made him apologize.
It was a murmur heard across the nation yesterday.
Joe Wilson speaks for me.
Joe Wilson spoke for me!
Once he’s through with the US, a loaf of bread will cost a trillion dollars.
BHO was in fact lying about the coverage on both counts or he has not read the bill and doesn't know. Maybe he can hire a "read the bills for me" Czar.
Speaking of Czars which are all new positions in the White House, do you think he has so many because he can't or won't do his job because he is so used to campaigning all the time? So he can have all his buds make all the decisions and he can continue to vote present and campaign?
Great column, and Joe Wilson speaks for me, too. Thanks for posting it!
Joe Wilson spoke for me.
BHO was in fact lying about the coverage on both counts or he has not read the bill and doesn't know. Maybe he can hire a "read the bills for me" Czar.
Speaking of Czars which are all new positions in the White House, do you think he has so many because he can't or won't do his job because he is so used to campaigning all the time? So he can have all his buds make all the decisions and he can continue to vote present and campaign?
Loophole 1: which provides illegal aliens with health insurance is the ability for illegal aliens to freely enrol in the tax payers subsidized public option. CRS states: HR3200 does not contain any restrictions on non-citizens whether legally or illegally present, or in the US temporarily or permanently, from participating in the Exchange. Illegal aliens can enroll in the public option courtesy of US taxpayers, to meet their health insurance needs (CNN.com August 2009)
Loophole 2: Failure to require any meaningful verification procedure for taxpayer subsidized insurance credits.
Obama can no longer characterize the concerns that illegal alien health care loopholes in the proposed Health Care Bill are 'a myth.' What is significant about this Congressional Research Service report is that there has been no mention of it in the major print media in the US. Quite a deliberate cover-up. Thank God for the Internet and this is why so few Americans now trust Obama.
Yes...Joe Wilson SPEAKS FOR ME TOO.
And DAMN the Republican leadership that demanded Joe apologise. DAMN THEM ALL TO HELL!!!
Does anyone have a good number in DC or the District? I haven’t been able to get through?
God Bless Joe Wilson! A TRUE LEADER!
I heard Rush, too. Good point. Joe Wilson speaks for me, too.
I think Liarbuster Joe has secured himself re-election by a landslide.
He speaks for me. SO does Joe the Plumber and Sarah Palin.
Aside from them, precious few do.
For a CAMPAIGN related check, you should send it to:
Campaign Headquarters
632 Sunset Boulevard
West Columbia, SC 29169
Mailing Address
Post Office Box 2145
West Columbia, SC 29171
http://www.joewilsonforcongress.com.php5-2.dfw1-2.websitetestlink.com/home/
CONTRIBUTE ON LINE
https://www.completecampaigns.com/public.asp?name=Wilson&page=2
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.