# Censure for Rep. Joe Wilson? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 10, 2009, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546 "2009-09-10T12:15:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/81 "2009-09-10T19:26:35Z")
If this keeps up, it’s going to get just like Commons Question Time here. And that’s a good thing. 😉 If only Wilson had had the presence of mind to shout “Rubbish! Resign!” instead of “You lie!”. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/82 "2009-09-10T19:35:12Z")
“Balderdash, Sir! Tommyrot!” (I love the classics…) ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/83 "2009-09-10T19:40:45Z")
> [@col\_10022](#): > > The difference is that Bush actually lied. > > McCain is a different story and I sorely wish he hadn’t been forced to sell himself out to the right wing whackos to get the party endorsement. We’d probably be in a very different place if McCain had won the presidency when he originally ran against Bush. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/84 "2009-09-10T19:49:25Z")
> [@](#): > > One of the things I got from this whole exchange is proof of McCain’s general integrity. If only he’d picked a different running mate. McCain was getting his ass handed to him long before he picked Palin. That’s why he did it–it was a Hail Mary move designed to breathe life back into a sad campaign, and it worked until Palin had to actually do some press. This is exactly the sort of issue where McCain likes to show his “maverick” side–issues where it doesn’t really matter and it’s not really that controversial. In the campaign he removed any doubt that when the rubber hits the road he’s just as big a choad as any of them. He might have a little more integrity than the average Republican member of Congress, but that’s like being slightly large as teacup yorkies go. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/85 "2009-09-10T20:30:12Z")
Rob Miller’s ActBlue warchest is currently climbing toward $450,000.00, and both the ActBlue secure donation server, and robmillerforcongress sites are choked with traffic. Wilson had a brief press statement where he looked like he was about to cry…but still claims the house bill doesn’t say what it says. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/86 "2009-09-10T20:39:59Z")
This played right into OBama’s hands as it deflects from the political mistake that is his trying to push health care reform during a time of economic mess. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/87 "2009-09-10T21:04:12Z")
Would this even be a matter for debate in, say, the UK? Just wondering. It’s my understanding that – despite the Brits’ reputation for courtesy and reserve – the rules of decorum in Parliament are a lot looser than those in the U.S. Congress, sessions are a lot noisier, and it’s quite acceptable to shout things like “Shame! Shame! Resign!” while the P.M. is talking. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/88 "2009-09-10T21:14:35Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Would this even be a matter for debate in, say, the UK? Saying that someone has lied or is lying is considered unparliamentary language in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Camus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ba8739/32.png) [@Camus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Camus)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/89 "2009-09-10T21:17:09Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Would this even be a matter for debate in, say, the UK? Just wondering. It’s my understanding that – despite the Brits’ reputation for courtesy and reserve – the rules of decorum in Parliament are a lot looser than those in the U.S. Congress, sessions are a lot noisier, and it’s quite acceptable to shout things like “Shame! Shame! Resign!” while the P.M. is talking. Not to mention that the prime minister is also a member of parliament, subject to the same rules and ultimately a vote of confidence - very much unlike the President. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/90 "2009-09-10T22:34:04Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] Face it - if this were Bush or McCain, the SDMB would be bubbling over with praise for anyone who did exactly what this guy did. [/QUOTE] > [@CalMeacham](#): > > Are you saying the SDMB would be bubbling over with praise if someone heckled Bush during a Presidential Address to Congress? > > I seriously, seriously doubt it. What alternate reality do you inhabit? If a Democrat had heckled Bush like _You Lie Joe_ did Obama last night I think it is possible that a few SDMB members would indeed offer praise for the heckler. However, in very short order they would be… censured… by clear-thinking Righties and Lefties alike, and that would pretty much be the end of celebrating the doofus who was impolite enough to say out loud, in chamber, to Dubya what everyone else was merely thinking. In any case, while it is just possible to imagine some hot-headed Democrat heckling George W. Bush in some general manner (e.g. "Booo!) during a joint-session of Congress, it is nearly impossible, for me at least, to imagine that heckle consisting of the words: “You lie!” As for McCain, it would simply never, ever, happen. He is one of their own and just commands too much respect. Sort of like Obama, except we’re dealing with a troglodyte yahoo here (_You Lie Joe_). (Did anyone here have a _You Lie Joe_ doll when they were little? **Shodan** , maybe? I think they just made a bad movie based on it, too. Maybe you saw it.) ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/91 "2009-09-10T22:36:32Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Didn’t you hear? Obama was so upset by Wilson’s remarks that he’s giving his resignation speech right now. Yeah, but he’s lying. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/92 "2009-09-10T22:40:34Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > This played right into Obama’s hands as it deflects from the political mistake that is his trying to push health care reform during a time of economic mess. In what way is that a mistake? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/93 "2009-09-10T22:44:22Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > Let me edit that for you: > > > [@](#): > > > > Do you really want to set this precedent - heckling **in the Congressional chambers, in violation of hundreds of years of US Congressional etiquette** draws formal censure? [Do not mess with text inside the Quote box](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7697048#post7697048). If you need to re-phrase another poster’s remarks, use the standard quotation marks. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/94 "2009-09-10T23:02:59Z")
> [@Kearsen](#): > > If Obama wanted OUR people out of Iraq, then they would be back. I think it’s safe to say that Obama does indeed want them back here at home–just like every other American who has an ounce of sense. Unfortunately he is suffering the very heavy political, economic, and humanitarian straight-jacketing that his damn-fool predecessor left him (and the rest of the country) with. You should know he can’t just “pull them out” even if he wants to. As Colin Powell once warned Gee Dubya about Iraq: “You break it, you bought it.” And man, did he ever break it. But sadly, that means that Mr. Obama has bought it too–only he had no choice. However, I will say that I’m a little disappointed that Obama has not acted to get U.S. forces out of Iraq more quickly. But then, I’m not privy to all the information he has about the security situation in Iraq. On edit: Oh shit! I just now read the post directly under the one I just quoted. I guess I’ve been beaten to the punch, yet again. Rats! ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/95 "2009-09-10T23:38:43Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > We’d probably be in a very different place if McCain had won the presidency when he originally ran against Bush. We can go all over with this. We’d probably be in a very different place if Bush the Elder had not sold his soul to Reagan’s handlers. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/96 "2009-09-11T00:00:54Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > We can go all over with this. We’d probably be in a very different place if Bush the Elder had not sold his soul to Reagan’s handlers. And , …we’d be in a very different place if this place we’re in was really really different. That’s my theory , the theory which I have , which is my theory, which is mine. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/97 "2009-09-11T00:03:27Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > And , …we’d be in a very different place if this place we’re in was really really different. That’s my theory , the theory which I have , which is my theory, which is mine. Ann Elk! I knew it was you. ---
**Author:** ![Amulet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4491bb/32.png) [@Amulet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amulet)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/98 "2009-09-11T00:34:38Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > He did apologize, so I’d wait to see what happens next. If he stays out of the limelight for a while and appears genuinely contrite, I’d let it go. If he shows up all over Fox News in the next few days, or sends out a fundraising letter in the next few weeks talking about how he bravely stood up to Obama and his socialist commie fascist health care plan, Congress should immediately slap him around. He’s already done that and more on his webpage and is begging his followers on Twitter to replenish his war chest in light of all of the “attacks”: > **[Page Not Found - Piryx](https://secure.piryx.com/FileNotFound.aspx?aspxerrorpath=%2Fdonate%2FWzJc4e8g%2Fjoewilson%2Fattack)** [http://twitter.com/CongJoeWilson](http://twitter.com/CongJoeWilson) ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/99 "2009-09-11T01:02:57Z")
> [@Amulet](#): > > He’s already done that and more on his webpage and is begging his followers on Twitter to replenish his war chest in light of all of the “attacks”: > > [https://secure.piryx.com/donate/WzJc4e8g/joewilson/attack](https://secure.piryx.com/donate/WzJc4e8g/joewilson/attack) > > [http://twitter.com/CongJoeWilson](http://twitter.com/CongJoeWilson) Yep, and he’s on Hannity tonight. Fuck him. ---
**Author:** ![Peanut\_Gallery](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/838e76/32.png) [@Peanut\_Gallery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanut_Gallery)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546/100 "2009-09-11T01:44:12Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > If you’re curious as to some other things that Congress has decided was “unparliamentary language”, here are some. These all led to censure motions, or withdrawal of the statements to avoid censure: Thanks for posting those. I was almost convinced to side with “let the embarrassment be his punishment”, but having read those, I believe he should be censured. Not as much for heckling as for the specific charge of “you lie”. It seems that has a tradition of being considered off-limits. I mean, didn’t he read the very first sticky thread at the top of the [page](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=448632)? On the other hand, I’ve always liked the craziness of the British House of Commons, and have often wished for more of the same here… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/censure-for-rep-joe-wilson/509546.md?page=6)