Joe Wilson Admonished, Accused of Racism on Same Day
The vote to have Joe Wilson admonished by the House of Representatives passed by a 240-179 margin. As expected, the vote was highly partisan, as the GOP largely defended Wilson, or at least called the Democrats' attacks on him unfair.
Before the vote, Joe Wilson said he considered the issue over, after the President "graciously" accepted his apology. It may be over in the halls of Congress, but Joe Wilson's admonishment won't end this anywhere else.
Though having Joe Wilson reprimanded is a relative slap-on-the-wrist from Congress, it is still unprecedented. Wilson is the first Congressman to be admonished for speaking during a Presidential address, according to the Office of the House Historian. But since very few people have ever tried it before Wilson came along, that is not so surprising.
Joe Wilson's admonishment will make him infamous in Congressional history, but he will still go on to do his job. The real damage - and support - is coming outside of Congress, as Wilson's new and old enemies are donating money left and right to get him defeated in 2010. But Wilson's new and old supporters are also donating money left and right to him, instantly making his re-election campaign one of the big stories for the 2010 midterms.
Wilson was merely hand-slapped by the House, but his opponents are going one step further. The likes of Jimmy Carter and Bill Maher are accusing Wilson of racism, saying that he would never have spoke out like that against a white President. With Wilson a Southern Congressman from the now-infamous state of South Carolina, it hasn't taken Democrats long to leap towards racism charges.
Joe Wilson being admonished is now a secondary story, now that a former President has turned him into a symbol of racism. With that, Wilson will likely stay in the news cycle for some time to come - or be overshadowed by the larger debate over racism against the President.
Sources
New York Daily News- "Rep. Joe Wilson admonished by House for 'You Lie!' cry during President Obama speech" www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/09/15/2009-09-15_congress_rebukes_rep_joe_wilson_for_you_lie_cry_during_president_obama_speech.html
USA TODAY- "House votes to admonish Rep. Wilson for outburst" www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-09-13-wilson-vote_N.htm
MSNBC- "First thoughts: America's Rorschach Test" firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/09/16/2071021.aspx
Published by Robert Dougherty
Author of a trilogy of Lost books, concluding with "Lost: It Only Ends Once" now available at Amazon and iUniverse. Readers can now go to my Yahoo Sports section to see the majority of my new stories.... View profile
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8 Comments
Post a CommentJoe Wilson should continue to stand up for America%21%21%21 Keep up the good work Joe Wilson%21
I wonder why nobody got admonished when Bush was being booed and called out during some of his speeches in front of the congress. Somebody might remember his speech about social security in 2005. I think this whole thing about Joe Wilson is a big joke but it is also scary that we have come to such a situation. People cannot oppose the president without being called a racist?? I think the people who are trying to have it both ways are the democrats who didn't feel out of place to publicly disrespect our previous president during official speeches.... So all of the democrats who are crying scandal over what Joe Wilson did, give me a break you are just making yourself look like a bunch of hypocrites... and I am not a republican neither.... and I DO like Obama...
it's a sad day for this country when our leader black or white is treated with such disrespect i love obama but that is not the point, he's our leader now and respect should go to the office even if one can give the man his due respect
To attribute his voicing of the truth toward the president to racism is very predictable. Not suprised at Democrats for that. Always works.
To disagree or argue are one thing, but shouting out You lie during a nationally televised speech by the President is totally disrepectful. And the fact that Congressman Wilson has used this as a contribution platform is a disgrace.
'e': Yes, it's unfortunate for you. Despite the best attempts of your ilk, there are still prevalent and accepted concepts for the rest of us in civil society such as respect for the venue and the president of the US. US - as in the president representing all of us.
The Dixie Chicks practically got run out of the country for expressing their views about the previous president. It was said they weren't patriotic. Joe Wilson screamed out "you lie" to the President's face in a setting where it was very inappropriate and now the right-wingers says he was was within his rights...freedom of speech...blah, blah, blah...you people can't have it both ways.
Everything seems to come down to racism these days- so now are we saying that a white person cant disagree or argue with a black person, or asian, or hispanic without being called a racist?
This is absurd!!!