Posted on 09/13/2009 5:47:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A class act he is not, but South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson's boorish behavior during President Obama's speech on health reform more than earned him his 15 minutes of infamy.
It is understandable that he chose - or as some suggested, was told - to bellow "You lie!" when the President was explaining for the umpteenth time that undocumented immigrants would not be covered under health care legislation. After all, Wilson's extreme anti-immigrant positions are well known.
His outburst, for which he has half-heartedly apologized, not only exposed Wilson for the uncouth nativist he is, but made clear that immigration is still very much one of the Republican Party's war horses.
"Congressman Joe Wilson's outburst is not only a massive breach of decorum," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, "but the latest example of how race-baiting and immigrant bashing have become standard fare for hard-right elements of the Republican Party."
One has to wonder if Wilson and his ilk are intent on committing political suicide - and in the process taking down with them the entire GOP - or if their prejudices are so deep that they just cannot help themselves.
Many believe that Wilson's outburst was planned to distract from the President's speech. If it was, the plan worked like a charm. Shamefully, media coverage of Obama's message became a sidebar to Wilson's disgusting show of coarseness.
Yet, the plan could turn out to be no more than a pyrrhic victory.
After all, even if Wilson and his cohorts do not like it, Latinos are the fastest-growing group of new voters in the nation. And they can be sure that mistreating, dehumanizing and disrespecting Latinos - and immigrants in general - is not going to help them win their hearts and minds. There will be hell to pay at the polls.
The anti-immigration hysteria and inflammatory rhetoric of people like Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) and others have already made record numbers of Latinos flee the GOP. Wilson's outburst is sure to accelerate the exodus.
In New York alone, 715,000 new voters registered between January and November of last year, 200,000 of them in the two weeks leading up to the national election. Many were African-Americans or Latinos, and it is a sure bet that most of them did not join the GOP ranks.
In the nation as a whole, the number of Latino voters went up from 7.6 million in 2004 to 9.8 million in 2008. The number of Asian voters increased from 2.8 million in 2004 to 3.4 million in 2008. Again, the GOP was not the party of choice for the majority of new voters.
Come to think of it, Wilson's boorish behavior may turn out to be a political blessing in disguise.
Rob Simmons, his Democratic opponent, reportedly raised over $300,000 on the online Democratic political fund-raising Web site ActBlue in a few hours immediately following the crass "You lie!" bellow.
The results of a national poll released last May confirmed once more that immigration is a defining issue for the 12 to 13 million Hispanics who are eligible to vote in the U.S.
"The anti-immigrant movement's divisive tone and demagogic rhetoric keeps politicizing Hispanics and bringing them together in support of a new immigration policy," said Sergio Bendixen, president of Bendixen and Associates, which conducted the survey. Not good news for the flag bearers of nativism and intolerance.
Ironically, after all is said and done, Joe (You lie!) Wilson's outburst could go down in history as the death knell for the most reactionary and extremist wing of the Republican Party.
Call it poetic justice.
So considering that Amnesty is opposed in every poll by a majority of Americans, does that mean, according to the writer, the majority are the fringe?
The writer must have been locked in the basement of the Daily News for the last 8 months without any access to the outside world except for ABC, CBS, NBC ........
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists congratulates the 2003 Hall of Fame Inductees.
Scroll down for his bio.
KMA Albor Ruiz
“.....does that mean, according to the writer, the majority are the fringe?”
....yes it does according to this writer, and the MSM as well....for example, I’m proud to be a WASP, and that automatically makes me a member of the far right fringe.
Well, we intend to slow that pace by crippling illegal immigration into our country and requiring voters to prove they are citizens.
keep on wishing fool.
As you can see happening (slower than needed) , the public is beginning to recognize that media outlets do not have their best interests in mind and are starting to ignore you.
You have spent your last dollar as "media" , I like the looks of you going over a cliff in flames.. every last one of you liars
Refreshing, an elected official that actually SUPPORTS following the law. I'm sure they prefer Rangel, Reid, Geitner, etc, etc.....topped off by ZeroBama shredding the Constitution.
Giving the Lie to a famous LIAR—what a terrible, terrible man we have here.
They get so angry when a conservative dares to do something that libtards do every day.
Change “Joe Wilson” to most any democrat name and change “Obama” to “Bush” and this story will be closer to the truth.
The only mistake Joe Wilson made was apologizing for stating the truth.
They don’t need health insurance....They have medicaid
It might very well be that Mr. Wilson has had a bellyfull of Democrat lies, arrogance, corruption and disregard for any semblance of responsible behavior.
IMHO
None of the current legislation stops illegals from being covered, so the President's spin was false no matter how many times he says it.
“exposed Wilson for the uncouth nativist he is,”
Wow. Someone must have bought this author a dictionary. Kinda’ funny, like someone’s trying to impress their high school English teacher. Interesting, in that it shows how the liberal mind works, but quite transparent.
No matter what the venue, it is never rude to point out the turd in the punchbowl.
It is understandable that he chose - or as some suggested, was told - to bellow "You lie!"
Projection from the Dems. They orchestrate everything, even spontaneous outbursts. Nothing is left to chance.
*Illegal aliens* are the fastest-growing group of new voters in the nation. The truth
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.