Countdown: Special Comment About the Shout of "You Lie"
By Heather Thursday Sep 10, 2009 6:45pm
Keith lets Rep. "Wrong-Way" Wilson have it in this Special Comment.
And finally, as promised, a Special Comment about the shout of "You Lie" during the presidential address to the joint session of Congress last night on the matter of health care reform.
The 43rd president of the United States lied the nation into the war, lied 4,343 of his fellow citizens to death in that war, lied about upholding the constitution, and lied about Weapons of Mass Destruction.
He lied about how he reacted to Al-Qaeda before 9/11 and he lied about how he reacted to Al-Qaeda after 9/11.
He lied about getting Bin Laden, and he lied about not getting Bin Laden.
He lied about nation-building in Iraq, lied about the appearance of new buildings **in** the nation **of** Iraq, and lied about embassy buildings in nations like Iraq.
He lied about trailers with mobile weapons labs in them, and he lied about trailers with Cuban prostitutes in them.
He and his administration lied -- by the counting of one non-profit group -- 532 times about links between Al-Qaeda and Iraq. Only 28 of those were by that President, but he made up for that by lying 231 times about W-M-D.
And yet not once did an elected Democratic official shout out during one of George W. Bush's speeches and call him a "liar."
Even when the president was George W. Bush, even when he was assailed from sidelines like mine, even when the lies came down so thick the nation needed a hat... he was still the President and if he didn't earn any respect, the office he held demanded respect.
More over, that President and his Congressional tools like Congressman Addison Graves "Joe" Wilson of South Carolina insisted not just unquestioned respect for the office; they wanted unanimous lock-step compliance with the man.
And when the blasphemy of mere respectful criticism somehow came anyway -- say by, or built on that by, the real Joe Wilson -- lord help he who might have made the slightest factual error in that criticism.
Congressman Wilson and his masters and the flying monkeys of right-wing media would pursue the erroneous critic to the ends of their careers, firing hot accusations of moral or intellectual confusion and incompetence at the unbelievers.
And that is the line Congressman Wilson crossed last night when he shouted "you lie" at this President of the United States.
Not the respect line.
The stupid line.
Hey, Mr. Wilson!
"This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the President's remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the health care bill," you hurriedly said last night as a nation caved in on you, and your own party's leadership coerced you into saying something. "While I disagree with the President's statements, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the President for this lack of civility."
For the lack of civility, Congressman?
Is that what you think this is about?
Of course your comments were inappropriate and regrettable -- you are a Republican trying to de-legitimize the elected president of the United States -- that's all you do, and that's all you've got.
Of course you let your emotions get the best of you. At a figure of $435,296 in campaign donations from the Health Sector, of course your emotions would take over when your gravy train was threatened.
It isn't about "inappropriate and regrettable," Sir!
Your comments were inappropriate and regrettable and.... **wrong**!
You got up in front of the world, embarrassed your district, embarrassed your state, embarrassed your party, embarrassed your nation, shouted at the President like he was a referee at a ballgame and you were a drunk in the stands, and you were wrong.House Bill 3200 specifically says, Sir, in language made precise and binding -- in section 246 -- under the heading, quote:
"NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS"
Look, Congressman!
All capital letters!
For the benefit of the factually-challenged!
"Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States."
You got it wrong!
There is no ambiguity, Sir. There is no disagreement!
The bill says those here illegally will not be covered; yet whether through stupidity or a willful attempt to mislead the gullible, you decided to spend whatever credibility remained to you, on a position in which you are utterly, inarguably, and -- in a manner obvious to newborns and the more sophisticated of farm animals -- wrong!
You apologize for your lack of civility?
When are you going to apologize for your lack of... being right?
Wrong-Way Wilson.
Whatever it is, it's congenital.
Wrong-Way Wilson just wrote an op-ed, on August 27th for the Columbia, South Carolina newspaper "The State," about the non-existent death panels that he and Mrs. Palin saw in their dreams -- or something:
"Those who have stood up and shown up to have their voices heard have already made a difference in this debate."
Perhaps henceforth Mr. Wilson should soft-pedal the "have their voices heard" part.
"...citizens have discovered and brought to light numerous aspects of the health care overhaul (H.R. 3200) that are deeply troubling. These include the end of life counseling program, which has been correctly highlighted by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a program which could lead to seniors being encouraged to seek less care in order to protect the government's bottom line."
Perhaps henceforth Mr. Wilson should soft-pedal the Palin Paranoia, since **he** caught enough of it that last night, he made himself look like an uninformed eight-year old screaming at an adult.
"Americans... want and deserve this honest debate."
Perhaps henceforth Mr. Wilson should remember that the word "honest" is as important as the word "debate."
The latter without the former is better known as Political Tourette's Syndrome.
The evidence that Wrong-Way Wilson and reality are strangers goes back much further than last night.
When Congressman Rob Filner said the U-S had helped Saddam Hussein's chemical and biological weapons, Wilson went nuts.
Worse, he accused Filner of a quote "hatred of America," and insisted "you shouldn't say that" and "you should retract it" and "you know it is not true."
It was true.
It had been confirmed by the Commerce Department... in 1994.
Wrong-Way Wilson was... wrong.
A year later, when it was asserted that Senator Strom Thurmond from Wrong-Way's home state had fathered a daughter with a black woman, Mr. Wilson called the assertion a quote "smear on the image" of Senator Thurmond.
This was after Senator Thurmond's family had acknowledged not just paternity, but the fact that the Senator had maintained a secret relationship with his daughter, and provided her money, for decades.
**After** this was admitted, Congressman Wilson considered references to it a "smear" and said Thurmond's daughter should have kept it to herself.
Coincidence, of course, Wrong-Way, that it would be **you** who would consider the confirmed, acknowledged bi-racial child of Strom Thurmond as a "smear"...
And then it would again be you who -- in the middle of a festival of blind racial rage dressed up as a health care debate -- would shout out, "you lie" at a bi-racial President of the United States as he addressed Congress.
And just a coincidence that you're a member of a radicalized, insurrection-glorifying group, accused of harboring white supremacists, called "Sons Of Confederate Veterans."
---
Back to **this** incident. You have swallowed some of the Kool-Aid you mix up for those damn fools who believe you, Congressman.
You sounded as pathetic as one of those poor souls, stampeded by corporate funding from the insurance and health care industries, who shout out nonsense at those demonstrations of willful stupidity that have been mislabeled "Town Halls"… these places where a citizen's life is reduced to acting out that ridiculous maxim, if you're going to be wrong, be wrong at the top of your voice.
But Congressman -- you're not supposed to be a Town Hall panicker, you're not supposed to be a Rube defending the efficacy of the Snake Oil, you are a Congressman -- and still you were wrong at the top of your voice!
Town Halls, Death Panels, Oligarhys, a multi-racial president who is accused of hating half his own ancestry, neuroses about communist artwork, the idea that fascism and socialism aren't mutually exclusive, grass-roots protests bought and paid for by lobbyists and corporations, scared seniors terrified enough to turn to insurance companies for protection against reformers who want to increase their coverage and cut their rates, birchers, birthers, deathers, the voices in Michele Bachmann's head, the Republican rebuttal to the President of the United States given by a guy who thought he could become "Lord Boustany" by paying a couple of English con men…
And now to top off this pile of stupidity: Congressman Wrong-Way Wilson, who -- when a President publicly, and ostentatiously, gave credit for part of his health care reform proposal to the very Republican he swamped in the election last year -- Wrong-Way Wilson... followed that bi-partisan gesture, by shouting "you lie" as soon as he heard the truth.
It is... this week, evident... that the greatest threat to the nation... is not terrorism... nor the economy... nor H1/N1... nor even bad health care.
It is rank, willful stupidity.
When did we come to extol stupidity ahead of information, and rely on voo-doo, superstition, and prejudice ahead of education?
How many Republicans believe in Death Panels... and Brownies and Elves?
When did we start to listen to -- to elect -- the impregnably dense?
I was almost too fearful of using the word "impregnably" because of the prospect that Governor Palin would go after me the way she went after Letterman.---
The time has come to rise up and take this country back, to again make it safe... for people who actually completed the seventh grade.
The crime of Wrong-Way Wilson was not reflected in his emotions, nor his disagreement, nor his inappropriate conduct, nor in his incivility. It was in his prideful wrong-ness.There are many vague portions of this bill, but section 246 says it plain: "NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS."
I defend Congressman Wilson's right to incivility. A little incivility six years ago might have stopped the Iraq war. He can shout anything he wants, at anybody he wants, in any circumstances he wants.
Providing that he is willing to suffer the consequences of his actions, I am willing to suffer him.
This nation can survive a president being disrespected by some nickel-dime congressman from Beaufort; the shame falls onto the shouter and not the one shouted at.
But this nation cannot survive the continued acceptance, the continued endorsement, the continued encouragement, the continued institutionalization… of stupidity I think if Mr. Lincoln were alive he might re-cast his most famous imagery in the light of the truest of our present crises:
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half smart, and half… stupid.
Section 246 is written expressly: there will be no health care funding for those who are here illegally; that there will be no mechanism created to establish such funding.
I fear Section 247 will have to be reitten expressly: so that there will be a mechanism created to establish... Stupid Panels.
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What a lame, weak kneed butt head. GOD, we are such a nation of f*cking morons. I watched this turd being interviewed by vannity...and what a joke of a politician. he is overwhelmed with being in the spotlight, and he has as much on the ball as the biggest pimple on a fat man's ass.
Get your head out of your asses South Carolinians!! Quite sending such dumb asses to Washington. Don't you have something better than this f*cktard?
the biggest pimple on Right Fat Rush's ass...
big pimples on a fat man's ass have been known to produce draft deferments during war time so at least they... unlike Mr. Wilson... are good for something. Depending whose ass the pimple is on.
After almost thirty years living in Charleston, SC since growing up and being educated in Washington, DC, I'm quite used to having the state dissed, usually appropriately.
I would ask only that commenters such as yourself take into consideration the fact that we don't all have our heads up our asses. Yes, Wilson's a fucktard. I didn't get an opportunity to vote against him...I have my hands full with Henry Brown in the 1st District. He too is knee-knocking stump stupid.
In a state that is majority African-American, I am continually amazed that these people continue to get elected. That, unfortunately, is not likely to change soon.
Henry Brown finally had a challenger in 2008 that shocked the shit out of him. She was an out lesbian, smart as shit. She'd have been a great Congresswoman. There's hope yet.
And I think, depending on his district, he might well be HELPED by this in the eyes of his constituents.
Make no mistake, I think S.C. is a lovely state. Every summer as a kid my family took camping trips to different places. All over the US and eastern Canada. Charleston S.C. was the ONLY place we ever went back to, went to twice. We loved it so much the first time we headed back there a couple of years later rather than go to a new place.
But at the same time, S.C. is one of the southern states with the biggest racism problems... it's one of the most unrepentant states. There are STILL whites-only restaurants there.
This guy is not some alien with alien attitudes who got elected by mistake - these southern politicians reflect the views of enough people to get elected. Apologetics can't change reality. We let the south rewrite history so many times to save face - "the war was not about slavery," etc.
It's time for that to stop. It's time for good southerners to risk offending friends and family to stamp this stuff down.
And in the north too. There's plenty of bigotry in the north, it just manifests itself differently, more quietly and politely, doesn't have "lost cause" and pride crap all tied up in it.
Since his opponent has received at least $500,000 in contributions in just one day, and since Blacks in his district , who previously thought he was OK, now realize he is a moron, and will NEVER vote for him again!
Republicans are *ssh0les.
my next bumper sticker!
would also be an excellent compliment to the 'i'm with joe' shirts
i saw on rachel earlier...
It would be a great bumper sticker except for the fact that they really are a'holes, and one of those a'holes would probably shoot out your back window if they saw that sticker on your car!
Has just won at life in my book. This speech, this...refusal, of endorsing blind stupidity. It's beautiful, it's amazing.
Mr. Olbermann, I salute you, and stand by you.
A piece of poetry!
I wonder if Mr. Wilson will enjoy President Obama campaigning against him next election?
Wow, South Carolina really is a fountain of crazy, isn't it? Strom Thurmond, Sanford, and now this guy.
I've been trying to figure out where these people are coming from on the healthcare issue. It seems to boil down not to the fact that there is language in (at least one of) the bills that precludes healthcare insurance for illegal aliens, but rather to the fact that determining who and who is not an illegal alien is (seemingly) not allowed. Since public taxes would pay for a public option, it would seem that requiring proof of legal residency for public-option coverage would take care of that question, but yet it seems that two (?) such amendments to one or more of the various bills have been defeated.
Sorry for the confusion and ambiguity here, I'm just summarizing and trying to figure out what is going on.
My question, to those who know more: (1) is what I've written above true? and (2) how is it wrong to require legal residency for the public option?
I have my guesses about #2, but please fill in on both.
Can someone -- ANYONE who knows about this -- answer these questions? If enforcement is an issue, then the crazies have a point. Someone please explain how the residency clause is enforceable. Or, if it's not, then why not enforcing it is okay.
Have you ever heard of a social security number before? Try getting insurance without one.
I don't quite understand the original question, but here is a comment.
From what I saw on NBC news tonight, there is apparently a "loophole" in the current bill which would allow undocumented immigrants to get coverage because the current bill does not require one to show proof of residency.
My comment/question is, that happens now, doesn't it? Don't undocumented immigrants get treated in emergency rooms anyway, without proof of residency? Aren't doctors supposed to treat them regardless of their residency status?
My point is, whether or not that language is in the bill seems irrelevant. Even if it is in the bill, I do not think doctors could morally not treat someone who comes into the emergency room.
Emergency Care and Health Care are two different types of care. A Human Being can not be deprived of emergency care because it's, you know, an emergency. In order to obtain health care, aka Insurance, requires a SS#. If you don't understand what a SS# is then give me yours and I'll tell you the secret to what all those numbers mean.
Roket,
I'm not disagreeing with what you're saying. I should have been more clear in my post.
If you don't have health care (insurance), then the only care you're going to get likely will be emergency care. People who do not regularly see a doctor for either routine exams or when they really should see a doctor may wind up in the ER eventually.
After I reread your post I realized my blunder, my apologies please. I guess I thought you were the original poster, xyzzy.
Have a good one....time for bed for me.
hospitals are losing money hand over fist because they keep treating undocumented workers and the uninsured. So, why aren't they supporting health insurance reform? Because, they have racheted up the cost of each element of care they provide so that they can offset the lost revenue.
For example, a good friend of mine had to have a laparoscopic procedure that required less than 15 minutes of her specialist's time. She was charged over $40,000 just for the high-tech equipment her surgeon used during the procedure. The surgeon's billing and the hospital's billing were in addition to that obscene amount.
& care not about "RIGHT" or "WRONG!"
It's called "SOCIOPATHY!"
Read.
When the Congressional hearings on health care reform started several months ago in the Senate, doctors, nurses and other activists who were attending Sen. Baucus' hearing and shouted out, "Put Single Payer on the table!" were arrested and dragged out of the hearing room.
But when a dipshit Congressman who is showing no civil decorum during a speech by the POTUS calls him a liar, he is asked to be interviewed the next day about his "feelings"?
Okay, I'll admit (as all of us must) that in 2005 during Bush's State of the Union speech, he was booed by the Democrats....
So, emotions are running high already!
afternoon, and Ron Reagan admitted that Dubya got booed, so everyone expects a little wacky behavior during these things, but that this went way over the line...
Yeah,I saw that too.
I am so glad that Ron Reagan (Jr.) speaks out against these crazies. Need to get him on the air more often since these asswipes worship his dad so much.
CALLED HIM A LIAR,
EVEB THOUGH THEY SHOULD HAVE!!!
I don't know now which southern state has a worser reputation, politically - Texas or SC?
both it's a tie.
each has a rather specific measure of Teh Stoopid: Gov. Good Hair wants Texas to secede. I'm fairly confident this is Teh Texas Stoopid.
I'm sure SC has it's own Teh Stoopid. Since I don't live there, I cannot speak to their specific measure of Teh Stoopid.
Can anyone else help here?
It's a close race, with Oklahoma coming in third.
Really, with DeMInt, Graham, and Wilson, what the heck is up with this state? Are they one of those that are talking secession, too?
Olbermann nailed it, especially the excellent job detailing Bush's lies (well, as many as he had time for).
rates pretty high! and Kansas.
What about Florida?
more complacent than stoopid , but it is close.
They cannot even elect good actors.
MISSISSIPPI!
Thank goodness for Keith Olbermann! He exposed the evil and hypocrisy of the Right Wing extremists. So true, our biggest THREAT to our nation and Democracy is the Republican Extremist Party.
we went along to get along and this (cries of death panels, socialism, birtherism, etc.) is the thanks we get?
NEVER AGAIN
My health care plan currently consists of "an apple a day." I remember the good old days during the 1990s when I actually visited a dentist and got regular pap smears.
Too bad health care reform does not have a provision for mandatory lobotomies for inbred, cracker, racist members of Congress. Such a bill would garner overwhelming public support.
You got pap smears from your dentist?? That's some one-stop shopping! Bwaaa!!
(Sorry, i'll finish my coffee now ;P)
BIPARTISAN stupidity!
We The People have GOT to stop this insanity!!!
..vote 3rd party.
The GOP & DNC teams are chronic incompetent hypocritical sexual deviant f**k ups.
For those who don't want to "throw away" your vote, what exactly is your vote worth? besides a giant douchebag or turd sandwich?
The audio is really low on the vid (that and I'm slightly hearing impaired), but at least I can read it thanks to Heather, and at least I tape Countdown on the DVR every night.
Keith tells it like it is!
That was excellent. Keith is right on. Well done, sir!
for 8 years, but never got this kind of treatment.
Was amazed to see Johnathan Capeheart ask someone on (I think) MJ yesterday about 'can you imagine what would have happened had someone yelled that out to Bush?'.... And, of course, being the frigging dumb bunnies they are, no one even answered it.
Like birthers and town "hollers," this is Rovian politics at it's best. Without the shouted "you lie," the media might be comparing the necessity of health care reform to the vacuous slogans of the Republicans.
Maybe Wilson did this "for the cause?" Just asking.
of DISTRACTION.
And you're correct—it's having the desired effect.
The news is paying attention to the propaganda and not the facts.
I've read on a couple of other blogs (Newsweek, CNN) comments from people who said they saw Rove laughing with Hannity about what Wilson said.
No doubt it is Rovian politics.
THEY BOTH LOST!
I can't use all the other words in the English language that describe Wilson and his semi-educated Klan partners. It's a product of generations that were trained by the Strom Thurmond's of the world or his kin folks and the training that will be perpetuated by the same kind of in-bread mentality and overt bigotry that has always existed in the South because they want it to exist. This is where a man of ANY color other than white will NEVER be welcome to live, work, raise a family or exist without looking over their shoulders every minute of the day because someone WILL put a metaphorical "blade" thru their hearts at any moment because it amuses them at the time ....
This same kind of breading and education and thought manipulation and devotion to cause also brings you the Haley Barbour's, Rick Perry's, Mark Foley's, Kay Bailey Hutchinson's (this ultimate brain busting is NOT limited to the male of the Klan), etc. that will do every thing in their power to preserve their way of life in the South...
There are some hard lessons to be learned here because you can't break the cycle with logic, rational speech, progressive thought, widely acclaimed programs that help millions...They simply don't care.
That is the harsh truth...They also need to be dealt with on that level.
I watched KO's Special Comment twice tonight....very inspirational; one of his best. I sent him a "thank you" email and encouraged him to expose these idiots, these stupid fucks. I am sick of their lies; I am sick of their stupidity.
Keep it up, Keith! Let's rid teh stupid from this country!
That's right. Consider a whole class of people less than you, label them with a name that dehumanises them, but also a word that incites extreme ire among the fake law and order crowd. Then enact exclusive legislation against your fellow humans and carry out inhumane acts against them to reinforce your own fake feelings of superiority.
I do hate what my country has been turned into by these fucking assholes. This 'no treatment for subhuman slave people' is as fucked up as the country is. And we can lay this modern day hell on the door step of the Thugs' meanness and the Dems' lack of spine.
If this group had been in charge in the 60s, we'd still have separate facilities for the Negroes.
We're denying healthcare to the people our American farms and companies UNDERPAY, ILLEGALLY and UNDER THE TABLE to SUBSIDIZE our inexpensive food, goods and services.
It's certainly not very American.
Sadly, I think it is rather indicative of America. We're very, very selfish, xenophobic, and really don't care about the means as long as the end is acceptable.
People who tell you otherwise aren't paying very much attention.
It's indicative of greedy corporations and politicians and certain segments of the population of America.
BRILLIANT!
and funny in spots!
we've got to stop teh stoopid!!!
i learned earlier on countdown that my congressman john shitkus actually walked out of the speech - during the last minutes...
as i posted earlier at TP -
i'm not sure if he has an opponent coming up, but it would
sure be fun to raise some money for that person...
i've put out the word here... that's the first i'd heard of it...
anyone know about why/when shitkus left the chamber?
i think i caught a glimpse of him hanging out with the
birthcertificate/healthcarebill sign holders...
i found this:
Shimkus walked on Obama: 'Frustrated'
[...]
"Congressman Shimkus was frustrated that the president was not offering any new ground and left with just minutes remaining in the speech,'' spokesman Steven Tomaszewski said today in response to our question about the late-speech walk-out.
"Regardless of the words the president used, the tone did not bring Republicans on board,'' the congressman's spokesman said. "As George Stephanopoulos said, 'He was right on the edge of anger,' and as Rachel Maddow said, 'I think liberals will be happy.'"
[...]
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/bl...
guy can't even talk for himself...
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009...
http://thecapitolfaxblog.com/2009/09/10/hoffm...
Why don't you send an email to Keith or Rachel? Don't know if they will see it, but they do have email addresses for the purpose of people sending messages. Perhaps they might investigate and broadcast it.
Keith: countdown@msnbc.com
Rachel: Rachel@msnbc.com
he could be Jesus Christ himself and walk on water and turn water into wine and the Rethuglicans wouldn't vote for anything he says or approves of. They are determined to "break" him and make him fail and they will continue to act like horses' asses in that pursuit as long as he is in office. I hate to say this, but I think they are determined to get the fringe riled up so much that one of those 2nd Amendment nuts will assassinate him.
I wasn't all that happy. He is ready to sell us out. He caters to the RePUKES, and could give 2 cents for us, and I could see the phoniness in him now.
:)
So Shimkus was frustrated....
Who cares?
I have a feeling that he and the rest of these dimwits, rubes and inbred crackers are something else....SCARED SHITLESS at the prospect of getting tossed out on their butts at the midterms.
I have a feeling some will....but some won't.
If I remember correctly, Shimkus doesn't have much to worry about. I believe he represents (giggle) a good part of southern Illinois.
The rubes, dimwits, and crackers down there will probably keep re-electing this zombie for a long time.
And...talk of secession?
Hell, THAT'S ALREADY HAPPENED!
These people have seceded FROM A STATE OF INTELLIGENCE!!!
bots that lurk in this site. Too embarrassed to come out?
They jumped on Olberman over Maria Bartiromo brain fart and someone posted this too them
"If you don't know how old you have to be to get medicade then what are you doing debating it on national TV"- Olberman to Maria Bartiromo Worlds best number 3 Sep, 01 2009
"get Medicaid..." Do you mean 'Medicare'? Our grandkids were put on Medicaid when they were born...(our daughter is working and now has private insurance..they have been off Medicaid for several years..)
Not trying to be a smart a**...just asking if maybe 'Medicare' is what you meant
miss spell oh well
just theatre. another staged event.
This, and what moniker said above about Rovian politics. Now can we PLEASE find something else to talk about? Wilson's an idiot, but his antics have done exactly what Republicans would want: they have distracted the media, the political machine, and even we the left from the actual important issues at hand.
Why are we still paying any attention to him?
Are you EMBARRASSED?
It is the stupidity that is ruining this country. However, the media is largely responsible for the escalation of the stupidity. If the media was comprised of real journalists instead of simply personalities, there would be fact checking and calling out the liars when these preposterous stories and events take root. If you kill a lie with the truth at the beginning and shame those that act beligerantly at the onset, you can halt these kind of insulting behaviors. Today, there is no price to pay for lying or acting like an a**. That needs to change.
when you de-regulate the airwaves. Used to be news department COULD NOT be run for profit. They were required BY LAW to be run solely as a public service, in exchange for the right to lease the airwaves from the government.
But when Ronnie and his bunch came along, away went all those regulations, and you have the blathering circle-jerk that is called "news" in this country today.
You want to solve the problem? Re-regulate the media. It's the only way to rein in the greed, mendacity, and downright STUPIDITY crowding the broadcast media today.
They will not be decent on their own. Their accountability must be REQUIRED.
fellow activists, we must stop framing this as strictly a Republican shortcoming! The Corporate Megalomaniacs are the oppressors (granted, the majority of these Corporatists are--by definition--Republican), and they have spent loads of time and money to perfect their nefarious subjugation of the poor slobs I call "We The People" (that would be all but the 453 wealthiest corporatists on the planet, and their too numerous Teh Stoopid sycophants who have swallowed the wealth carrot meme--hook, line, and sinker.)
BTW, I have had it with having to dumb down to placate Teh Stoopid. What a crock! No more. They will just have to deal.
They started it, and they did the most to mess it up!!!
Keith hits it out of the park, as always. Intense, impassioned, and right on the money. But I have just one question:
WHERE ARE YOU, JON AND STEPHEN???
I'll bet they're WEEPING with frustration right about now.
WHO wouldn't be EMBARRASSED??????
Who cares if an illegal alien *buys* insurance?? Isn't this the kind of responsible, socially minded behavior we should want to encourage? If this person takes out a policy and pays the premium every month, the community is not on the hook if the person has an accident and racks up $35,000 in Emergency Room bills.
Perhaps we should also prevent illegal immigrants from buying car insurance! I know I'd feel much better on the freeway knowing that a certain number of other motorists -- the ones with no right to be in my country!! -- were prohibited by law from carrying a policy.
And yes, even if we get the public option, it will be funded by member premiums, and not (as some seem to think) by taxation. The *subsidies* will be tax-funded. Whether illegal immigrants can get subsidies is what these people ought to be talking about.
Rethuglicans would like to see ALL those "illegal alien Mexicans" sent back over the border pronto, and while they're at it, they want them to "take all them black and brown people and all them other furriners with 'em". That's what we're dealing with here----pure xenophobia coupled with paranoia and white supremacy nuts. God help us!
The more important question than "shouldn't everyone buy coverage" is "why aren't we doing this the intelligent way and endorsing single payer?"
I honestly believe that a nation of healthy people is a benefit which outweighs the possibility of a deficit increase, but then again, I'm not out buying and selling life insurance policies or betting various industries on the idea that people don't live very long due to poor health.
Wilson's opponent Rob Miller is now up to $690,000 on ActBlue since last night. Hoping he reaches a million. Contribute if you can. Over 18,000 people have.
...and people go nuts. With all the shit that is wrong in the country today, this hardly seems worth more than about ten seconds of anyone's time. A "special comment" about this? C'mon.
Wilson should be thanked. He did everyone a favor. While the MSM and both parties continue to pretend that the Modern Republican Party isn't made up almost exclusively now of vile lunatics, Wilson did a damn good job of showcasing many of the Right's current attributes, among which are --
Stupidity
Insanity
Dishonesty
I say we should thank Wilson. And pity him. Then, the people of S.C. should replace his sorry ass in the next election.
There isn't some recent decline in Republican civility. Their presidential campaigns have been despicable for decades. McCain's was largely a pack of lies spewing forth from the mouths of a bunch of mean-spirited, nasty SOBs (including Palin).
The problem is that a significant percentage of Americans today are no different and the GOP is representing their constituents far more genuinely than most Democratic elected officials are. The Modern Republican Party consists of a bunch of stupid, ignorant, selfish, and dishonest racists representing a bunch of stupid, ignorant, selfish, and dishonest bigots. A perfect fit, if you ask me.
Joe Wilson should be Time's Person of the Year. It would be a fitting tribute to just how disgusting the Right in this country has become.
Actually, I have an email already typed up in which I do thank Mr. Joe Wilson for confirming, once again, the true nature of the repuglican't party. Once his website comes back up, I will send that thank you note to him. Wilson's web site is still down as I am typing this post.
I have been trying to understand when the right-wing extreamists fully took over the GOOP, I personally have always blamed limbaugh because it seems to me that he was the first to make it ok to be that way. I dont recall Republicans being even remotely the way they currently are in the 80's, they morphed throughout the 90's into the fringe group they are today and I see it as falling in line with limbaugh and his lies.
I am glad to have discovered Mr. Neiwert's blog Orcinus some years back, I am glad that the first blog I ever read was Media whores online, I am glad that my currentr favorite blog is Crooks and Liars and I am glad that we have Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow on tv to help counter the constant stream of lies, half truthes and inuendo that fatboy and his unending flow of demon-spawn have been dealing in since the beginning of the 90's.
I just dont have the words for the people on the right who continue to show themselves to be everything except Americans by the sheer stupidity of their "beliefs," there are not curse words that can be strung togeather strong enough to shame these people back into humanity or humility. I can only guess where all of this will eventually lead to.
The real crime here was not the hypocrisy or the taking of sides, it was the propaganda. And that's the story that's going unmentioned by the media.
It's obvious there was a conspiracy among the leadership of the Republican party to create that moment, and Wilson happened to be the fall guy.
Unfortunately, you can number yourself among those who took the bait and got punked.
All in all, good points though. Frankly, I don't think it was really necessary to delve into the lies of George W. Bush. On the subject of hypocrisy, it might have been worth pointing out that Wilson was the man who penned the bullshit bill to punish the Dixie Chicks for speaking out against George W. Bush (not in front of Congress and the American public on live TV, but at a concert in England).
KEITH IS A GENIUS!!!
The title, of Anti-Faux.
Hi everyone,
After hearing all the garbage, lies and misinformation spread by the GOP, and after WrongWayWilson's ridiculous outburst last night, I'm really scared about stupidity being the norm in the future.
We have a reality tv dumbing down our nation, "role models" like Jon and Kate splashed all over the "news", and Sarah Palin being held up as the savior for the GOP, birthers, Glenn Beck and Rush, Creationists, Paris Hilton, need I go on?
I recently saw a movie called 'Idiocracy' by Mike Judge, and it seemed like a frightening prediction of what our world will turn out to be, and it terrifies me, that stupidity is becoming all the rage. Why does the GOP think is it good to be so stupid, and feed it to the media in such massive quantities? I am terrified for our country, that stupidity is taking over.
It is taking over, the republican'ts. The rest of the world is not effected much by these people (which is partly why the dittiots dont care about the rest of the world).
I take comfort that despite all of the media coverasge freely given to the most insane rightwinger in this country, they are still only 28% of the population. Fat boy used to tell is sheeple that the country was mostly conservative, if that had been true then as popular as he was among cons, he would have had aloty more than 20 million listeners in a nation of 250 million (at that time). He's gone from 20 million to 15 million and the nation is now at 300 million and the republican'ts have lost two elections back to back. Take comfort in that fact.
YOU are contributing to the "dumbing down!"
Keith O. is right. Why are stupid people with stupid comments put on TV like they are geniuses? When people say stupid things that can be easily refuted they are not instantly corrected? You see it in the MSM all of the time. Facts are just ignored and no one seems to notice.
Keith O is right the US is promoting stupidity.
It is true that Bush lied to the congress over and over again.
It's too damn bad that nobody yelled, "You lie" at the time.
I hated it that the dim dems sat on their keisters while Bush was driving us into war.
Wilson was wrong on the facts.
It's really too bad that Obama didn't have the information on hand to directly confront the SOB.
That would have been spectacular.
I think Wilson was factually wrong.
Was he wrong to heckle the president? I think that Bush should have been heckled for all the crap he pulled. I dislike the fact that Bush got a free pass from congress, and a free pass from the press corps.
As far as I'm concerned, the person is an elected official, not a king and should be challenged publicly when appropriate.
Barney Frank has an interesting take on this with Rachel Maddow.
That after the last eight years. All the lies, all the greed, all the ignorance. I just don't see how anyone can be a republican any longer!
My uncle sent me an email with a lot of very good pictures(I am speaking of image quality and not subject matter. There must have been 25 different pictures of 911 and the planes flying into the towers. Along with the words; We should never forget 911. Knowing that he voted for bush/chenny not once but twice I replyed with;
Yes we should never forget that bush/chenny with advance warning that BinLaden wanted to attack us and that they had plans to use planes as bombs, they did nothing to try and prevent an attack!
They ignored all warnings bush stayed on vacation, they had been briefed and did Nothing! They allowed the attacks to succede through inaction then over reacted or used the incident as an excuse to enter Afganistan, only to get into Iraq for fun and profit.
So yes we should remember 911.
I can see no other conclusion that can be drawn from the last twenty years and in particular the last eight years.
republicanism is a mental illness!
How else can you explain the position we find ourselves in and the people we are dealing with?
republicanism is a mental illness! Its like mass hysteria that has gripped 25% of the country. Maybe we can come up with a vaccine like for the swine flue? If it doesn't cure them maybe it will do the humane thing and put them out of our misery!
We do have an ignorant part of our society and it's our fault. We should push for higher educational standards to make children thinking machines instead of "faith" machines steeped in mysticism and mythology. This is what comes from an electorate where 75% of the populace believes there are angels, devils and a god. Instead of focusing on real world problems, they are mollified by their "faith" and "prayer" instead of thinking through problems and acting on solutions.
they needed Afghanistan to get all their 'ducks (and equipment) in a row' before launching into Iraq .... so they 'needed' to go into Afghanistan first. jmo
But he doesn't plan on reading the bill. Just voting NO on it.
There is more class in your pinky than in a whole shipload of conservative infotainment pundits and shock jocks. Who cares what they think anyway, these days in the information age anybody can be a pundit. Years from now people will marvel at how in 2009 anyone cared what a teevee pundit thought.
forget the anti-ko jerks that lurk here who approach repub mentality.
Maybe the Morons on the right are waking up oh yeah! Wrong Way is going down. What lies are they going to say he has sons in the Military DUH! The present VP has one in COMBAT DUH!, Yes, Yes, Yes censorship maybe the BASTARD can get thrown out of office, this is GRAET the BASTARDS on the right are starting to devour themselves.
Thanks for the LIE Countdown Keith, Now please dig up the CRAP on the AMERICAN TRAITOR cheney, I never want this Country to forget these MORON and TRAITOR SELLOUTS.
Unfortunately those that we would want to remember can't remember to tie their shoes in the morning or unzip before going to the restroom. Yes, that would be the heartland.
Liberal AND Proud I no longer watch the kool aid sipping Olbermann or Maddow or their evil GE masters.
Wait, I gave up TV after Groucho died.
Before I stopped shopping at Whole Foods.
AND I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU. YOU ARE CUTTING OFF YOUR NOSE, TO SPITE YOUR FACE!
that's an extraordinarily long line
Olbermann is absolutely right about Reslugs dying out, with ignorant assholes like Wilson etc. representing them and spewing proven lies to them.
gives more respect to his local preacher who doesn't have to pay any taxes like the rest of us do.
Send your OWN PERSONAL comment to Joe Wilson: Donate to his opponent Rob Miller at ActBlue--he's now up to $745,000. Push it to a million.
Congress may dither in reprimanding Wilson but we can send a message to him and any other Republican who demeans the office of the Presidency. Over 20,000 people have now donated.
I did however, just donate to his opponent Rob Miller.
That's a comment in and of itself.
It was a few days ago when a small percentage of Americans were called stupid on TV. The clip was covered here. My comment then was the percentage of stark raving morons was grossly underestimated. I'm not glad that Keith agrees with me, I'm just more disappointed and embarrassed by this train wreck of a nation.
I don't see how we get out of this one. Stupid panels would require a good number of people with intelligence to judge. I'm afraid we don't have enough smart people left to really know how stupid we are.
...Max Baucus is working with Joe Wilson right now to make sure none of them "illegals" ever gets any of that sweet, sweet government-provided health care that's going to kill everyone's grandma.
Ladies and gentlemen, your Democratic party in action.
Wilson lie. Wilsom has snake eye.
OK now health care!
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