I predict he will be become a conservative hero, inducted into the Maverick Hall Of Fame.
I thought his apology was carefully crafted to save face with the birther/town hall Republican base.
Through most of this thread, I thought it was about Woodrow Wilson passing the Federal Reserve Act.
Mostly not my fault. 
Not a big deal at all. Actually I like watching the British Parliament where they do British versions of that all the time.
He apologized, that should be the end of it.
But of course some moron in the WH had to say something like: It’s all over…he apologized…but he’s still an ass-zit.
Much worse in that he had time to think about it and obviously had BHO’s approval…and still hasn’t apologized.
Unless we want to see more of this, there should be an ethical charge for being out of order and the appropriate level of punishment. As entertaining as PM’s questions can be, it doesn’t seem to be any constructive purpose to it. If there isn’t a punishment, the hundreds of thousands of dollars raised by Wilson since this will encourage more of it, and if many start doing it, there won’t be counter money raised.
I’m all for an formal admonishment or censure so that our national legislature doesn’t become further debauched.
This.
There is normally cheering and jeering during presidential speeches to Congress. They’re not really speeches to Congress as much as they are speeches to the public with congressional window dressing.
Wilson is one of those people who doesn’t know when to clap with the rest of the crowd. Had he groaned on cue with the other Republicans he would have been another member of the dog and pony show surrounding the President.
Wrong venue.
To address the secondary thread here, he sure paid too much attention to that wanna-be Adam Weishaupt, ‘Colonel’ Edward Mandell House.
What does the word “conservative” mean, these days?
Not anything I associated with it.
I think it must mean “racist” now. I’m basing this purely on the number of people who suddenly feel the need to start with “I’m not a conservative, but…”
I would be considered more libertarian than anything but I don’t feel slighted if you call me conservative. I associate the term with fiscal responsibility and the idea that if you let people keep their own money they will be better able to care for themselves. It doesn’t mean pure capitalism nor does it ignore social needs but it does allow for personal responsibility. There are also religious connotations that many people wish to distance themselves from in a political discussion.
Since it encompasses many ideas the definition has different meaning depending how it’s used which is how many words are in the English language.
My conservative mom is not a fan.
I honestly don’t get this position. I’ve never voted Democrat, and I wanted very much to yell something like this at W. I had small fantasies of his trying to shake my hand on camera so that I could could icily turn away.
What is this “respect for the position”? What if some total lying jerk has gained the position? “I respect the office of Deutchland Chancellor, and refuse to desecrate it.” This is from someone who thinks Dodger fans are low-class for booing Albert Pujols for hitting against them. The difference is that Pujols is an upstanding man who did a good job in a non-critical contest, and W. is a lying scumbag who ran up the deficit and embroiled my country in an unwinnable war. The point is the actions of the person, not the height of the position.
That word “we” paints a lot of us with a very broad brush. Limbaugh and his ilk do NOT represent me in any way.
If you don’t get it, I’m not sure it can be explained. Your coworker might be a total jerk. Yet if you accuse him of lying during a proposal, but offer no proof, do you think you would keep your job? It’s the same thing. Everybody’s watching, so you’d better observe the rules of decorum.
I think the guy should get impeached. But I felt the same about Clinton, and anyone else who lied in official capacity while in office. I think we tolerate way too much in this country. If our representatives were actually afraid that they might face repercussions, they might do a better job.
I personally believe the office of the President should be respected, but I also think that if nothing else you should respect the decorum for ‘your’ office. As a representative or Senator you should respect your position or title if nothing else, and what you represent to your consitutuents. So regardless of your thoughts on the President, show respect to your own office and more importantly to those people that elected you.
Unfortunately(and I mean this sincerely), until you and your ilk find some way to out shout he and his ilk, to the public at large he represents the Republican Party.
Speaking as a Brit it seems to me that he was wrong because he contravened the conventions of his own institution and I suspect that the apology was lip service only.
In Britains House of Commons proceedings are a lot more boisterous,aggressive even, but calling a fellow member, let alone the head of government a liar is totally not allowed.
I don’t think that the apology was heartfelt because now the rightwingers are selling Tee shirts saying the same thing.
This increasingly moderate liberal thinks everyone needs to shut the hell up about it. Complete non-event, meriting Wilson’s complete non-apology and Obama’s complete non-response.
Yes they do. They’ve got microphones and they raise some of the same talking points (and Republican congresspeople are lining up to kiss Rush’s ass).
Unless you take away their microphones or get yourself a bigger one they do represent you, I’m afraid.
Maureen Dowd (NY Times op-ed writer) claims that he was really trying to say, “You lie, boy”. She adduces sufficient evidence of Wilson’s racism to make a good point, that he just cannot accept a black president. From what she says, he is being made out a hero for it in Carolina.
OK well my claim is that he was really trying to say “Mai Lai”, and was accusing Obama of being a murderer and war criminal.
My other theory is that he was really trying to say “You die!”, which was a coded signal to his assassination coconspirators, who, however, failed to materialize as planned, due to a lack of health insurance and the line at the ER being longer than they had planned.
Then there’s my third theory, that he was really trying to say “You, President Obama, are my hero, and your fearless and courageous battle against established special interests on behalf of our country is an inspiration to me and indeed to all Americans”, but due to the obvious time constrictions it got shortened considerably and came out wrong.
One way or the other, we can certainly agree that it’s silly to just assume that Wilson meant to say what he actually said, and it’s obvious that he really intended to say something much more loaded with controversial meanings. It’s only a matter of figuring out which it was …