Last week, it was have your children boycott the President's First Day of School Speech.Then before a joint session of Congress, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) upstaged President Barack Obama’s healthcare speech to a joint session of Congress. Wilson cried out, “You lie,” when Obama claimed illegal immigrants will not be eligible to receive any new government health benefits.
Then on Sunday, there were dueling displays of disrespect. Angry mobs of grassroots (?) converged on the Capitol to protest President Obama, health care reform, big government and anything else they could think of. A sign was being handed out, and photographed that read, "Bury Obamacare with Kennedy.”
Then Sunday night came Kanye West's rant.
No matter where you are on the political spectrum, or what you feel about health care reform, or music, aren't we -- or shouldn't we be better than that.
It seems to me, implicit in the sign’s message is an act of violence against the President of the United States. These angry right-wing mobs want to see harm come to our President. Is it wrong, or am I wrong? Is it racist? let me know what you think.
But it's not just Congressmen and political right-wingers showing disrespect. Kayne West, who had been known to lampoon President George W. Bush, was embarassing last night at the MTV awards.
The Washington Post asked today:
Separated at Birth: Kanye West and Joe Wilson?
Is Kanye West the Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) of the music world?
Last night's ill-mannered interruption of Taylor Swift's VMA acceptance speech was eerily reminiscent of last week's similarly unwelcome outburst from Wilson during President Obama's health care address to a joint session of Congress. So what does that say about us?
voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2009/09/separated_at_birth_kanye_west.html?hpid=talkbox1For a lighter take on this comparison, watch this excellent mashup -- obviously rushed into production -- in which West interrupts Obama's speech, it's at the end of the link.
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More about Joe (Has He No Shame)Wilson (R-SC), here are some more links to help you.
First off he first gained fame as a state senator by strongly supporting and then voting for the continuance of flying the Confederate flag over the SC state house. His remarks, though, have helped his 2010 (and 2008) opponent, Rob Miller, had raised $500,000 in the past 24 hours and the DNC has raised over a million (before it sends out the appeal letters using Wilson). Not to be left out of it, Joe Wilson has already released a commercial where he begins by noting his apology and then proceeds to attack Obama's health care plan and ask for your pledge (as you can see above). Finally, here is PolitFact which is a source that checks comments made by politicians and you can see it disputes Wilson's side.
7 comments:
The outburst was most definitely out-of-line but I really don't think it's fair to generalize the Republican party around the comments of one man. The fact that Republicans have such strong opinions about healthcare reform should bring attention to their side of the debate, not encourage its dismissal. The magnitude of this reform is so great it would be worrisome if there weren't harsh right-wing opposition.
People often ignore the reasons for Republican skepticism of healthcare reform also. In countries with more socialized medical systems, like Great Britain and Sweden, there are higher proportional death rates (relative to the United States) in Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Testicular Cancer, Heart Disease, and other major killers. The number of doctors is proportionally lower as well, showing that a socialized medical system has an overall decreased capacity for treatment. I think I remember reading somewhere around election time that a majority of hospitals in such countries had ~15% of their hospital beds taken by people who did not, at the time, require any treatment. The system is inefficient and that is exactly what Republicans fear. And yet... where in god's name will all the necessary money for this new system come from?
Maybe your intention wasn't to bring the actual healthcare debate into this and simply focus on the issue of respect between the parties, but I don't think Republicans wish the president any harm, I think they're just passionate about the issue.
Not sure the post generalized about all Republicans. But are those who are saying stay home from school, Bury Obama with Kennedy, Bring Guns to Protests and the like really willing to debate dialog over health care? Just asking.
I cannot even begin to talk about how unbelievably disrespectful this comment was. I don't care what side of the political spectrum that one is on, that does not give you the right to completely disrespect the president of the United States the way that this man did. I don't care if you agree with Obama on health care or not, he is our president for the next four years. If you want to voice your discontent by stamping your feet like babies throwing a temper tantrum then fine. But blantent disrespect is uncalled for and irrational.
Also, burry health care with Kennedy? show some respect for the dead!
Well first off I'd like to say this about the speech:
I find it ridiculous that people are so appalled by the President wanting to talk to kids. In these dire times it is extremely vital that people learn the value of a good education to help better our country. By the President trying to give that message to kids, all it is doing is inspiring them. Even if it only affects one child, nobody knows what that child could be in the future. I'm sure in some class rooms that "one child" was Steve Jobs, Ben Carson, or Nelson Mandela and that one child left a mark on history that will never be forgotten.
The outburst, IMO, was very immature on Wilson's part and he definitely should not have done that. South Carolina has been represented poorly on a federal scale as far back as US history goes. From the days of the Tariff of Abominations to secession, to the more recent Appalachian hike, and now this. Not only does this represent Wilson very poorly, but the state as well.
Addressing the Wilson and West comparison, perhaps this is why Obama called West a "Jackass"
Well after taking a closer look at these Republican rioters, I agree with you guys (mostly). I will agree that what they are doing is really disrespectful, and political smear campaigning should really be reserved for elections, where I honestly doubt it'll ever be eradicated. "Bury Obamacare with Kennedy" I think does not explicitly express intention to harm Obama but really does disrespect the memory of Ted Kennedy, unpopular as he may be among Republicans. Questioning Obama's citizenship and religion and equating him with Hitler/The Joker from Batman is also very inappropriate. While I may disagree with his policies, it's not because I think he is morally compromised. In fact I think he has very strong morals, in part shown by his address to children, although I think it was somewhat unnecessary.
Still though, when Bush was repeatedly torn apart by pretty much all media outlets, there wasn't much protest in defense of the presidential image. Perhaps Republicans, after seeing slanderous comments thrown around for so long, had gotten used to the idea of openly disrespecting the president.
As for Wilson, he continues to handle the situation very poorly, while he did apologize to Obama (who accepted), he for some reason refuses to apologize to legislators in the House, which I don't really see any reason for. Now is not the time to be proud of such misconduct, and this could hurt the Republican image as a whole if this keeps up.
Speaking of Republican image... your post did not negatively generalize all Republicans, but I heard some comments in class from other people comparing all Republicans to Joe Wilson with little distinction, and I just wanted to clear the air a bit.
Unprecedented as his outburst was, I don't think people should be surprised that it led to unprecedented riots, especially considering the magnitude of the disputed reform. Most of the people spurred on by Wilson's protest were either watching the address or heard about it from someone, indicating at least a marginal interest in the healthcare debate... although their expressions of discontent have been largely inappropriate. Don't say you didn't see something like this coming, though.
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