If I’m a Democratic politician in favor of health care reform, I send a huge basket of flowers or, maybe, cookies to the man pictured above. His name is Joe Wilson, veteran congressman from the great state of South Carolina. During tonight’s speech by the president, he did this.
The problems are manifold:
A. Obama wasn’t lying. Factually, without debate, his bill does not cover illegals.
B. Obama is the president, addressing congress. Joe Wilson is a congressman, listening to the president.
C. Even Republicans now believe Joe Wilson to be a knob.
A few hours later Wilson issued what must go down as one of the weakest apologies of all time. “This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill,” he said. “While I disagree with the President’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility.â€
Uh, yeah.
Thanks to Joe Wilson, a relatively forgettable speech is now memorable. And why is it memorable? Because the moment involving Joe Wilson perfectly illustrates the irrationality and insanity of much (not all) of the opposition. For the past few months, this could—and should—have been a real debate about whether health care should be overhauled and, if so, how. There’s no right or wrong answer, obviously, but it’s a worthy issue to discuss. Instead, however, the whole thing has been hijacked. Words like “death squads” and “socialist” have reigned, and those screaming loudest seem to know the least and make minimal sense.
People like … Joe Wilson.
Thank you, sir. Thank you.
PS: My favorite moment, hands down—Obama giving the ol’ bitch slap to Sarah Palin.
