| I'm sure that most people reading this saw the big healthcare speech, so I'll save the heavy analysis, other than to say that I'm pretty happy, not least because it called the opposition out to the woodshed without ever even seeming particularly impolite.
So that leaves what many people may not have seen, to wit: the aftermath of the speech and what's going on today. First, the Republican "response," as delivered by Congressman (and doctor) Charles Boustany of Louisiana. (Apparently, they've forgotten what happened the last time that they tried to respond to Obama with someone from Louisiana.)
Just as evidently, Dr. Boustany forgot to mention a few things about the medical career that apparently makes him an expert on why preventing malpractice lawsuits is the best way to make healthcare cheaper: such as the fact that he was sued for malpractice 8 times, and lost 3 of those times... the worst example being a man who went in for heart bypass surgery and woke up missing his left leg.
Also, on a more comical note, he once attempted to buy a British lordship. Apparently he didn't realize that the only people willing to sell those are con artists.
If you saw the speech, you also saw the moment when Obama was interrupted by a heckler--a member of Congress, no less--who shouted that Obama was lying about healthcare reform not covering illegal aliens.
This man turned out to be Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC02), who in his outrage didn't seem to know or care that to shout at the President like that is both against the House rules on decorum, and his oath as a US military reserve officer. As somebody said around the beginning of the Civil War: South Carolina. Too small to be a republic, too large to be an insane asylum.
Apparently this isn't the first time Mr. Wilson has had trouble keeping his mouth shut when it would have been better for him to do so. Way back in 2003 when Essie Mae Washington-Williams publicly revealed that she was the illegitimate daughter of Strom Thurmond, Wilson commented that among other things he didn't believe the woman's claim; he found the idea "unseemly"; and that he felt even if she was telling the truth, she shouldn't have revealed it because "It's a smear on the image that [Thurmond] has as a person of high integrity who has been so loyal to the people of South Carolina."
Riiight.
Wilson never backed down from the position that she should have stayed silent, even after the Thurmond family publicly acknowledged that the woman's claim was completely accurate.
The last gem of the say is from none other than Sarah Palin, apparently still living on Bizzaro World, who complained (via Facebook) about the President referring to the "death panels" nonsense she started as "a lie."
In his speech the President directly responded to concerns I've raised about unelected bureaucrats being given power to make decisions affecting life or death health care matters. He called these concerns "bogus," "irresponsible," and "a lie" -- so much for civility.
There you have it: On Palin World it's apparently okay to call a major party presidential candidate a terrorist, say that he wants to kill disabled children and old people, make things up out of thin air, and if you get called on it, well then it's the other guy who's not being civil.
The good news? In the time since Rep. Wilson's shout heard round the world, his Democratic opponent for next year has gotten a bit of a boost, to the tune of almost half a million dollars worth of new fundraising, and growing by the hour. Pity Chris Lee didn't feel a little more boisterous last night. |
