Politics Means You Always Have to Say You’re Sorry
[Guest post by DRJ]
Rep. Joe Wilson apologized to President Obama for yelling “You Lie!” after Obama said illegal immigrants would not be eligible for low-cost health care during his recent speech at a joint session of Congress. President Obama accepted Wilson’s apology but the Democratic-led Congress also wants Wilson to apologize to the House for shouting. If not, Congressional leaders say they will move forward with a resolution of disapproval.
Today on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, Wilson said he won’t apologize again:
“I am not going to apologize again. I apologized to the president on Wednesday night. I was advised then that, ‘Thank you, now let’s get on to a civil discussion of the issues,'” Wilson said. “I’ve apologized one time. The apology was accepted by the president, by the vice president, who I know. I am not apologizing again.”
I doubt this will satisfy many Democrats, but not because they view apologies as important. Why? Because we already know Congressional Democrats think some apologies are a joke and just another political tool.
— DRJ
I’d suggest that Representative Wilson take the opportunity to stand before the House and note exactly what has happened: he already apologized, and the President accepted, while congressional negotiators are busy proving the accuracy of his original statement, by inserting the enforcement provisions that the House Democrats refused to include in the first place. And if that isn’t good enoughy, well fornicate them!
His constituents love him, and that’s all that’s needed.
The unapologetic Dana (474dfc) — 9/13/2009 @ 2:43 pmIt is prolly racist to even talk about this any longer, with him being a stupid fat white guy from the South and all.
JD (648c77) — 9/13/2009 @ 2:47 pmHe should do a “non-apology” – I’m sorry if anyone was offended, my words were taken out of context, yadda yadda yadda …
Now I need to get back to doing the job the people elected me to do.
JayC (2f9c3b) — 9/13/2009 @ 2:54 pmJayC, I like your copycat style but I don’t think you carried it far enough.
I didn’t say what I said.
John Hitchcock (3fd153) — 9/13/2009 @ 3:00 pmHe put in a good appearance with Wallace, I think. He’s well – known as a moderate and someone who’s worked well with Dems in the past, so enough’s enough. I hope Pelosi goes ahead and shoots her party in the foot (again) – the longer they drag this out the less the MSM discusses Obama’s awesome speech last week. Idiots.
Dmac (a93b13) — 9/13/2009 @ 3:01 pmI didn’t say what I said.
How about “as I’ve always said…”
Dmac (a93b13) — 9/13/2009 @ 3:02 pmHow about “as I’ve always said…”
You mean like:
Linky
Is that what you mean?
John Hitchcock (3fd153) — 9/13/2009 @ 3:08 pmHe apologized, the President accepted. That’s ok by me. Enough said.
The Emperor (1b037c) — 9/13/2009 @ 3:13 pmPelosi is just dumb enough and nasty enough to keep beating this dead horse. As she does so, Obama’s message fades and the bump in the polls (all from Democrats) goes away. As we all said to the warden, more power to them.
Mike K (addb13) — 9/13/2009 @ 3:46 pmOf course, MoDo doesn’t seem to have accepted the apology, writing a (for her) wild column where she makes up stuff (“what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy! “) and blames him for it.
It is too bad that the NYT dropped their subscriber wall — it was better when no one could listen to the sounds coming out of this harpy’s noise hole.
Kevin Murphy (3c3db0) — 9/13/2009 @ 3:55 pmI would love to see Wilson apologize. He should go before House members with a prepared statement that should succinctly explain *what* precisely was the catalyst for his unbecoming outburst.
This statement should include: the frustration of the continuing non-bipartisanship tone and actions of the Dems (ex: all 3 Republican health care bill offerings soundly ignored, and per Politico, the WH has not invited Republican opinion/discussion of health care since April, 2009); the amendments to guarantee a mandatory verification of citizenship, soundly defeated and refused by the Democrats; and the lack of clarity and explicitness to the President’s double-talk explanation of illegal immigrant provisions in the bill.
After he clearly and unwaveringly mentions these points, he should then say that regardless of the motivation behind his outburst, it clearly broke the rules and for that he’s once again, sorry.
Why not take advantage of a captive audience to get the truth out?
Dana (863a65) — 9/13/2009 @ 3:56 pmMike, I think Pelosi should put Maxine Waters in charge. There’s real nasty and stupid.
Kevin Murphy (3c3db0) — 9/13/2009 @ 3:56 pmMaybe Wilson should agree to apologize again when Pelosi agrees to apologize for her lies about the CIA briefings.
daleyrocks (718861) — 9/13/2009 @ 4:00 pm“Maybe Wilson should agree to apologize again when Pelosi agrees to apologize for her lies about the CIA briefings.”
I would turn on the tv to hear this. Would be especially appropriate if Nancy has to stand next to him while he is saying it. Talking about wild blinking!
PatAZ (9d1bb3) — 9/13/2009 @ 4:11 pmWith all the discussion and analysis of whether any or all of the proposed versions of ObamaCare will, as a practical matter, require coverage for undocumented alien residents of the US, I have a question: If it requires coverage for “illegals”, will the law (choose your version) also require the taxpayers of the US to cover medical payments for near relations in other countries? Could a US resident “illegal” have their spouse or children in another country covered?
MTF (66ae88) — 9/13/2009 @ 4:20 pmMTF:
Your use of quotation marks around the word “illegals” is outrageously declarative of your position.
Let me break it down for you. If you enter the country using extra-legal means, you are, by definition, here illegally. That makes you an illegal alien. Using the quotation marks to surround a definition (math reference) is a mockery of a definition. You can mock the definition all you want; it won’t make my hamburger taste any different. But it will show you for the fact-free, agenda-driven fool you are, despite your attempts to sound moderately conservative.
John Hitchcock (3fd153) — 9/13/2009 @ 5:06 pmJohn, this whole “undocumented workers” nonsense bores. I believe in reciprocity. Just as soon as you or I could stroll across the border into Mexico, work, send some of our money back to the US, and get emergency medical care with no problem—and have politicians urging the Mexican government to be extra nice to us—why, until then, I don’t want to hear this stuff from the Left.
After all, we are supposed to be the Bad Guys, right?
Eric Blair (0b61b2) — 9/13/2009 @ 5:21 pmI just want him to apologize for that hideous fake-baker tan.
Leviticus (30ac20) — 9/13/2009 @ 5:40 pmBy the way, I sent Joe a small donation. Anyone else?
Kevin Murphy (3c3db0) — 9/13/2009 @ 7:54 pmThe Dem talking point is that Wilson, single-handily, has now given them carte-blanche to pass health-care reform.
I know that because I saw their representatives say as much with their talking points today on the truth-visor — I mean TV — today.
I don’t know exactly how that works, but they did manage to crash Wilson’s Web site.
Talk about the politics of personal destruction: They’re after him and they will not be satisfied until his carcass hangs from a light pole in Nuremb — I’m sorry — I mean Washington.
Ag80 (64bef0) — 9/13/2009 @ 7:55 pmPolitico reported,
A source on Rep. Joe Wilson’s campaign says his fundraising has broken $1 million — and surpassed that of his Democratic rival, Rob Miller — since his outburst of “You lie!” during President Obama’s address to Congress Wednesday.
The source said Wilson’s current tally is $1,005,021 from 18,859 donations amid a high-profile campaign on the Drudge Report and elsewhere telling conservatives that Wilson is “under attack” for his willingness to take on Obama.
Still, Wilson’s success — despite having been criticized by Republican leaders — represents the power of the conservative grassroots to reward politicians who confront the White House in the sharpest terms.
Dana (863a65) — 9/13/2009 @ 7:59 pm“They’re after him and they will not be satisfied until his carcass hangs from a light pole in Nuremb — I’m sorry — I mean Washington.”
Ag80 – Absolutely, his dirty little decret according to the libs is that he gets government health care – because he is a veteran! OMG!
Either that or that he used to take caffeine pills.
Is there anything the fiend will not stoop to?
daleyrocks (718861) — 9/13/2009 @ 8:08 pmWait, doesn’t he get government health care because he is an elected member of the US HoR? Or is that just for the dummycrats?
John Hitchcock (3fd153) — 9/13/2009 @ 8:15 pmJohn – I was just parroting the headlines from the fringe lefty loser sites on Memeorandum from Friday. It’s funny how they are usually so similar.
daleyrocks (718861) — 9/13/2009 @ 8:25 pmdaley, I didn’t take your words as your beliefs. I saw the irony in what you said.
But, think about it, the dude does get the premium stuff. And accusations of him trying to pull the rug out from under poor dumb people because he gets the low-grade stuff only works if nobody looks at the premium stuff.
Looking at the premium stuff, people would say “why can’t I get that, too?” and then dummycrats would have a real cataclysm (treble-rhymes with something even more dangerous) on their hands.
John Hitchcock (3fd153) — 9/13/2009 @ 8:37 pmDana:
That’s all good, but he really should not have said what he said during a joint session.
I don’t know the guy. I don’t live in his state. However, his constituents have re-elected him for several years, so I’m assuming he represents their interests.
If that is the case, I hope he wins. People should be free to elect anyone who they believe reflects their views.
Right now, in my case, that happens to be Republicans. However, they don’ have my vote, guaranteed.
Now, I will step upon my feeble soap-box:
But to tell you the truth, I’m starting to go a little “Beck,” Satan revere his name.
I want our leadership to preserve and revere the Constitution and the nation that it is built upon. If a Democrat stands up and says he or she will do that, I’ll support him or her. Same goes for a Republican.
But, I no longer will support any politician who simply plays the game.
Our government — who we have entrusted not only our lives, but also our well-being and our future- — has morphed into a huge bureaucracy that only exists to save itself.
And to do so, they continually pit the people against one another as if our freedoms and our individualism and our way of life is something that’s no more than the points on a scoreboard.
I’m tired of the MSM, the parties, the nay-sayers and the whole damn lot that hate the country because they think the nation is something that it is not.
The United States is a little bit different from the rest of the world. Sure, we have problems. Sure, we disagree on issues. And, we have done things wrong. Sometimes, monumentally so.
But, we truly do represent something different to the rest of the world. Despite what many Americans — and many people in the world — think, we are not trying to build an empire. That is so Teddy Roosevelt.
I can’t speak for all Americans, I can only speak for myself. But, I want America to a be a free, independent nation that protects it’s self-interests while opening its arms to all who seek freedom and opportunity.
I also expect the people who come here to accept our our Constitution, our values and our consideration as Americans. I know that sounds racist and xenophobic.
But, why else does America exist? Why do so many want to come here and live in a society that affords them equal rights and equal protection under the law?
And, why do so many consider that wrong when they’ve enjoyed the freedom and the wealth that this nation provides?
Steps off soapbox and goes hug asleep child.
Ag80 (64bef0) — 9/13/2009 @ 8:38 pmI will not support any Democrat, period. It’s the Republicans in Congress who own the moderate, waffling ground. Very few Democrats are there anymore, after Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America (hopefully there’s another Contract coming very soon). The Dems that survived were skewed far-left. Half the Republicans, or likely more, are far too left-appreciative and far too out of touch with their base (I wrote about this). I will vote Republican when necessary (I am still registered Republican) and third-party conservative when a worthwhile candidate shows up.
John Hitchcock (3fd153) — 9/13/2009 @ 8:55 pmRemeber when that idiot RAMSEY CLARK was demanding we appoligise to LIBYA after we bombed them that time? SOMEONE SHOULD GIVE RAMSEY CLARK A SWFT KICK IN HIS READ END
Krazy Kagu (524740) — 9/14/2009 @ 9:42 am