[Peace-discuss] Fw: TARGET: Rep. Joe Wilson -- who yelled "You lie!" at Obama

[Stuart Levy]

On Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 06:07:46AM -0700, Jenifer Cartwright wrote:
> No, it's just an official way to let these SOBs know that there's a penalty
> for their bad behavior, which (thanks to the MSM) had gotten plenty of air
> time and has gone largely unchecked.
>  --Jenifer

What was he complaining of Obama lying *about*?

I agree, we shouldn't hold our leaders in such awe that we daren't
call them out on misrepresentations.  There's been so much outright
lying from the Right about the health-care debate that it's ironic
to see such a complaint from a right-winger, but we shouldn't be
talking about censuring this guy *just* for having spoken out.   

If Wilson called Obama a liar, and Wilson was wrong (or not clearly right),
*then* he should apologize, at least.

After the recent discussion of George Will, I went looking through some of
his archived Washington Post posts, and had found this one,
about then-newly-elected Sen. Jim Webb, where the shoe was on the other foot:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/29/AR2006112901267.html

  `When Bush asked Webb, whose son is a Marine in Iraq, "How's your boy?" Webb
   replied, "I'd like to get them [sic] out of Iraq." When the president again
   asked "How's your boy?" Webb replied, "That's between me and my boy."'

Will then goes on to accuse Webb of lese majeste.  Not showing proper
respect to a President.   "Based on Webb's behavior before being sworn in,
one shudders to think what he will be like after that."

Doesn't address the substance of this or other statements of Webb's,
except to dispute (again without relevant substance, which Will could easily
have checked) Webb's claim that 'America's top tier has grown infinitely
richer and more removed over the past 25 years'.  OK, yes not infinitely
richer, but dramatically so, especially for the wealthiest small fraction.

> --- On Fri, 9/11/09, John W. <jbw292002 at gmail.com> wrote:
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> From: John W. <jbw292002 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] Fw: TARGET: Rep. Joe Wilson -- who yelled "You lie!" at Obama
> To: "Jenifer Cartwright" <jencart13 at yahoo.com>
> Cc: "Peace-discuss" <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
> Date: Friday, September 11, 2009, 1:09 AM
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> On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 1:22 PM, Jenifer Cartwright <jencart13 at yahoo.com> wrote:
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> Seems appropriate to sign this...
>  --Jenifer
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> Why?  What does it actually mean to "censure" a Senator or Representative?  It's not the equivalent of impeachment, is it?
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> --- On Thu, 9/10/09, Adam Green, BoldProgressives.org <info at boldprogressives.org> wrote:
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> Tonight, during a speech in which President Obama explained the need for a public option, right-wing Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) played the roll of teabagger and yelled, "You lie!"
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> Enough. Can you sign our rapid response petition, asking Congress to censure Wilson?
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> Click here to see petition and sign.
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> Jenifer, 
> Tonight, we saw a momentum-shifting speech from President Obama -- and progressives who had the courage to speak up in recent days helped make it happen. 
> After an emergency, 6-day campaign -- launched as the West Wing was debating what would be in the president's speech -- President Obama did what so many of us urged him to do. 
> Obama embraced the public health insurance option and explained why insurers that profit by denying care need competition. To be fair, there were downsides, such as framing a public option with 60%-70% support as a left-wing proposal. We'll need to keep urging the president to think big and fulfill his mandate. 
> But overall, his speech moved momentum to a better place than it was 24 hours ago, and Obama used fighting words: promising to "call out" anyone who spreads misinformation to kill reform. 
> One person immediately deserves to be "called out." Right-wing Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) played the roll of teabagger by yelling "You lie!" at the president. Let's go on offense -- will you sign this petition to Congress? 
> PETITION: "Enough is enough. On an issue as critical as health care reform, it's time to stop the lies, the misinformation, and the uncivil disruptions. Rep. Joe Wilson went way over the line by yelling 'You lie' during President Obama's speech, and Congress should censure him immediately." Sign here. 
> It's getting late at night -- but let's see if we can get 20,000 signatures by noon tomorrow. Can you send this email to your friends who watched the speech? 
> After you sign the petition, you'll have the option of chipping in for an ad targeting Wilson. 
> Let's send a signal to President Obama that if he is willing to fight and win on the public option, a grassroots movement will be there with him -- including going to bat against crazed teabaggers who want to kill reform. 
> Can you sign the petition, and pass it on to others? Click here. 
> Censure could be a real possibility if we go on offense now. Sen. John McCain called Wilson's yelling "totally disrespectful." Wilson later called his own actions "inappropriate and regrettable" but repeated the same misinformation he yelled out at President Obama -- about illegal aliens. 
> Frankly, an apology is not enough. Apologies weren't enough for Van Jones, the bold progressive who right-wingers forced to resign from the White House this past week for remarks taken out of context. And House Rules of Decorum specifically state that it is not permissible to call the President a "liar" -- let alone yell it. 
> Can you sign our petition today asking Congress to censure Wilson -- and pass it on? 
> Thanks for being a fighting progressive! 
> --Adam Green, Stephanie Taylor, Michael Snook, Andrew Perez, Evan Miller, and the PCCC team 
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> Paid for by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee PAC (www.boldprogressives.org) and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Contributions to the PCCC are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.
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