Obama gave an awesome speech last night. It's what he does best. Let's hope it now translates into some action.
I admit that I am surprised by the blowback that some Republicans are getting for being so openly disrespectful of the president (they held up signs and one even yelled out "you lie!" during the speech). It's par for the course at town halls and on news programs, but apparently there is still some decorum left within the House chamber.
On the other hand, I always enjoy watching the British Parliament, where politicians openly ridicule and catcall their opponents. There's something to be said for being challenged real-time and having to respond to objections, as long as the objections aren't wholesale lies or fabrications.
But, fair's fair. If heckling is against precedent, it should apply to everyone. If congress is expected to show respect to a president who lies to them to get into a war, it should show respect to a president trying hard to get health care to all Americans.
Update: Yikes, five minutes into this post, and it already needs a retraction. Apparently, in Parliament, you can get suspended for calling someone a liar. You can say someone is guilty of "terminological inexactitude" or "being economical with the truth" but you can't call them a liar. Ah, the British. They sure know how to use English. However, note that they are allowed to jeer all they want.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Awesome Speech
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
Wah wah wah, but both sides do it..oh... maybe not
Lowering the bar once again
Caught in a landslide,
No escape from reality.
Look up to the skies and see...
That was delicious, cipher
Also in the UK parliament, the distance between the ruling and opposition party is just greater than a couple of swords held at arms length - just in case you are accused of being economical with the truth and feel the need to defend your honour (with a U of course).
Would defending my honour still involve slapping my accuser across the cheek with a glove and then dueling?
On the other hand, defending my honor usually means holding a press conference to call my accuser a no-good liar.
Neither of those sound very appealing.
I would like to see the Dixie Chicks and Joe Wilson duel. 'Wrong Way Wilson' gets a confederate flag on a wooden stick. The Dixie Chicks get a microphone, banjo and a tampon.
I just read something that predicted that Joe Wilson will now join Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber as a poster boy for wingnuterry. Sadly, I think that is true, without even dueling the Dixie Chicks.
I guess democrats booing the president in a joint session of Congress in 2005 or Harry Reid publicly calling Bush a liar isn't the same thing. Back then it was "speaking to power", but now it is "racism". And eight years of "Bush is Hitler" by the liberal protesters is excusable. Then it was "patriotism", now it is "unamerican". Let's not overlook that 35% of Democrats are Truthers who ridcule the 29% of Republicans who are Birthers. Democrats are "intectually honest", Republicans are "idiots". Can't you see the log?
Let's compare.
Bush was called Hitler because he invaded other countries, approved torture, renditioned (kidnapped) suspects from other countries, illegally wiretapped citizens, thereby subverting the constitution, arrested people for wearing T-shirts at rallies, spied on anti-war Quakers, and turned the Justice department into the political payback arm of the Republican party.
Obama is called Hitler for wanting a public insurance option.
Yes, there are crazies on both sides. Comparisons to Hitler are inaccurate. But some comparisons are more inaccurate than others.
Reid called Bush a liar on a news show, about something that Bush lied about. He did not shout it out in the chamber of Congress during a presidential address, about something that Obama did not lie about. These are apparently different things, as my post pointed out.
Post a Comment