You’re probably aware that during Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress last week, Representative Joe Wilson called out at one point, “You lie!”
Obama had been claiming that the proposed healthcare reform bill did not cover illegal aliens, did not pay for abortions, would not break the budget, etc.
FactCheck.org, an organization that claims to be neutral but which I feel leans leftward, weighed in saying that Obama had indeed been making unsupportable claims.
Wilson did apologize to Obama, but subsequently has refused to apologize to the House.
I’m wondering how people feel about this.
A) do you think Obama was lying?
B) do you think Wilson should have spoken out? Or should he have chosen a different forum?
C) do you think Wilson should have apologized?
D) if he should have apologized, should it have been directed to the president, the House, or both?
I find this whole thing a sticky subject.
- I personally think Obama was lying.
- I understand protocol, and that Wilson violated it. But I also think how Jesus cried out at the high point of a major feast, a major breach of protocol. It would have been very hard for me to sit and listen to Obama, but that’s why I haven’t run for office. I don’t have the temperament for it.
- If Wilson should have apologized, I think it should have been for the protocol breach alone, not for the content of his statement.
- But if that’s the case, I don’t see why he shouldn’t apologize to the House, where the deed was done.
So you see my thoughts don’t fit into a neat little package that could be used as fodder by either side.
Moreover, it is clear that our cultural fabric is stretched tauter than ever. During the campaign Obama positioned himself as the race healer, the common-ground culture wars healer. But things have only gotten worse in both areas. If the House is beginning to sound like a Fox News shout-down, if reps spend their desk time playing computer solitaire rather than listening to the other side’s arguments, where are we heading, and what should be done about it?
Do any of you have insights on this?
Be blessed,
Paul
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