Hey Freepers! Want to see HOW we KNOW Joe Wilson is a Racist? Let Me Google That For You...

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=joe+wilson+medicare+bill+bush&l=1

You see, Joe Wilson was for the tax-payer funded care of Illegal Immigrants under Bush.

He wouldn't disrespect Bush, but it's OK to disrespect Obama. And you can't say it's because Obama's a Democrat and wants to care for immigrants or because Ol' Joe was emotionally caught up in the argument.

Not racism.

Now, the smearing of Strom Thurmond's biracial daughter for speaking of her "shameful" existence....THAT is evidence of racism.

The being one of only 7 people to vote in FAVOR of continuing to fly the Confederate flag over SC's capitol? Ditto.


Editing myself to thank the OP for the clarification. Now I understand the argument.

The arguments you lay out point directly at it.

One could, of course, argue that the difference is the party of the President, rather than race, but it would be a weak argument. Purely political gamesmanship (read: hypocrisy) is not new has not led to unprecedented outbursts during joint sessions of Congress in the past. Something was different this time, something that prevented Wilson from being able to stop himself from shouting at *this* President. Something that suggested to Wilson that the normal guidelines of conduct did not apply to the man standing before him.

Or whatever it's called? (my version would be "Sons of Fucking Idiots Who Thought Ownership of Other Human Beings Was A Valid Reason To Declare War On Your Own Country and Kill Half a Million Fellow Americans")

And the Southern Poverty Law Center has noted that this group has been taken over by white pride groups in the past several years.

Does Wilson still claim membership? If not, when did he distance himself from the group? What prompted that?

These are questions I would love answers to.

You've gotten Hartmann's attention before. Maybe he'll notice this thread, too. :evilgrin:

Wilson hates the idea of a Black telling him what he is going to have to do. Plain and simple. Boehner's hateful looks are evidence enough to me that he is no better. McConnell's sneer follows right along. They all act like they know something is going to come down and can't wait. God knows, they've tried hard enough to bring it about.

lmgtfy.com

http://www.alternet.org/story/142563/14_things_you_need_to_know_about_obama_heckler,_rep._joe_wilson


2. Wilson is a member of the organization, Sons of Confederate Veterans, reports Dave Niewert of Crooks and Liars, which "as the Southern Poverty Law Center has detailed assiduously, has been taken over in the past decade by radical neo-Confederates who favor secession and defend slavery as a benign institution." (Not that Wilson's affiliation has anything to do with his unprecedented heckling, during a presidential address before a joint session of Congress, of our first African-American president.)

was for the tax-payer funded care of Illegal Immigrants under Bush. In other words, he, at one time, was for giving money to illegal immigrants ("brown people") and that's your proof that he's a racist? Really? I thought this would be used to support the argument that he's NOT a racist.

I'm sure there's lots of proof (and I see some already posted) but this isn't it.

That he was compelled to denounce Obama when he addressed the joint session of Congress.

Well, it certainly doesn't seem that Wilson was passionate about this issue when Bush was in office. A newfound passion, I guess?

What really compelled him to be the first person to heckle a sitting President during a joint session? What compelled him to break with rules of decorum to shout "You Lie!" to *this* President?

Under * he supported this, and under Obama he doesn't (and felt compelled to make an ass of himself during the joint session to say so).

The conclusion I'm supposed to draw is that this is necessarily racism? I guess if I thought there was no difference between * and Obama except the color of their skin, that would be the logical conclusion, but I don't believe that.

Could it possibly be because Obama is a Democrat? Could the outburst be a quick way for a relatively unknown repuke to distinguish themselves and make a name for themselves (and possibly get backers for a 2012 run in a repuke party with no clear front runners)?

So we'll never know if he would have heckled him.

We do know, however, that Wilson has an established record with racism, most notably when he blasted Strom Thurmond's biracial daughter for "smearing" Thurmond by simply stating she was his daughter.

Only Wilson can know why he decided decorum did not apply when President Obama stood before him.

I'm just saying that there are a lot of reasons why Wilson would have done this (and it's probably a combination of things), but this isn't a good example of racism that some people seem to be trying to paint it as. It, IMHO, diminishes the claim of racism for all.

As for the Clinton years, I don't even know if that's a good example. The press would have played it a few times and let it die. The web 10 years ago was nowhere near what it is today, "viral videos" were rare, in large part because it would take 20 minutes to download your 30 second movie on a 56K modem. Now, with a click of a button, everyone who wants to can see this, send it to a friend or whatever and the technology doesn't make it a big hassle.

Of course Joe Wilson's a racist. He's a white Southerner isn't he?

Democrats and racists, all of them, as they are white Southerners.

I also find it humorous that most defenses are also despicable. I loved Moron Joe going on about how they lied about and hounded Bill and Hillary just as the normal course of business so there is nothing to see here.

Damnation!!!! Civil Rights prosecutions and being dragged through the mud have some impact. People will admit to anything to avoid getting hit with the 'R' word.