Elmer Smith: It's a small leap from 'You lie!' to 'You die!'

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20090911_Elmer_Smith__It_s_a_small_leap_from__You_lie___to__You_die__.html

By Elmer Smith
Philadelphia Daily News

Daily News Opinion Columnist

I THOUGHT THAT the gun-toting goobers who waved their misspelled signs outside the president's speeches represented a new low.

Until Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer warned parents to prevent their children from hearing a speech by the president for fear he would "use our children as tools" to spread what Greer calls President Obama's "socialist ideology"

Then it was Wednesday night in the Capitol, where President Obama addressed the nation and a divided House and Senate. A fool named Joe Wilson, who represents the people of South Carolina, demonstrated his acute lack of impulse control and home training.

"You lie!" the fool shouted as the president pointed out that his health-care plan would not cover illegal aliens.

He was not the lone fool in the chamber of our divided house.

Others booed, hissed and laughed derisively as the president spoke. Still others twiddled their thumbs, folded their arms and worked on pocket computers to demonstrate disdain for the president. snip

This is about hatred, a visceral, personal and poisonous hatred on a level we haven't seen since Abe Lincoln was president. And we know how that ended.

[Eric J in MN]

1. If a Congressman had shouted "You lie" during a George W. Bush address...

...would any of us take that as a death threat or incitement to murder him?

I wouldn't have, nor do I take someone shouting "You lie" at Obama that way.

[atreides1]

3. But that didn't happen.

Addison Graves Wilson is a member of the 'Sons of Confederate Veterans'.

In 2002, the SCV was criticized in the media and by a group of SCV dissenters for the SCV's views of Civil War history and the organization's alleged association with neo-confederate individuals and organizations. Joe Conason, writing in Salon, and Jason Zengerle, writing in The New Republic, have argued that the SCV has morphed from an apolitical organization dedicated to Civil War history to a politicized organization dedicated to preserving the "Lost Cause" version of the history of the Civil War and the 1861-1865 era. The SCV states that "he preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South's decision to fight the Second American Revolution".

Civil War historian James M. McPherson has associated the SCV with the neo-confederate movement and described board members of the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia as "undoubtedly neo-Confederate." He further said that the SCV and their equivalent for female descendants, the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), have "white supremacy" as their "thinly veiled agendas." The incident made McPherson a controversial figure among Confederate history groups and prompted a UDC boycott call and letter-writing campaign against him. In response to this boycott, McPherson stated that he did not mean to imply that all SCV or UDC chapters or anyone who belongs to them promote white supremacist agenda. He further stated that some of these people have a hidden agenda.


The fact that a black man is the president must really get to people like Wilson, and we don't have any idea about his true feelings for a Commander in Chief that doesn't look just like the good congressman. But when he's a member of an organization like the SCV, it leaves some to wonder what did he mean?

[paulsby]

9. jeez. talk about navel gazing

he said "you lie".

his meaning was pretty frigging clear.

man, some people crack me up

[Voltaire]

4. Then perhaps you should get out more

An environment is being created where it will seem like killing Obama will be a patriotic act to save the nation. And that is based in racism. Comparing this to how Bush was treated is ludicrous and I wish people would stop making that false comparison. While we talk, assholes are plotting and a president will fall.

We can talk after it happens and you can tell me how right I was.

[dem mba]

7. you don't think some far lw loons wanted to kill bush?

please. different reasons, but same dementia. remember when some guy threw a dud grenade at Bush? i agree the environment against obama is especially toxic right now, but you are whitewashing history to say Bush didnt have whackos from the left after him too.

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. That would be because Democratic congressmen don't do that, for one thing,

and for another, the intended audience of Democratic congressmen don't act out violently even if they SHOULD hear such incitement. When was the last time you ever heard of a mob of lefties going out beating some stranger because he was straight? When's the last time some lone-gunman leftie took out a RW icon like Randall Terry or Fred Phelps?

YOU would not take it that way - but the crazy righties DO. They act on these impulses and incitements.

Even the gun nuts that inhabit the gungeon here I would trust not to pick up their guns. We are Democrats and we understand self-restraint. THEIR gun nuts are the REAL gun nuts, and THEY are the ones who bring loaded guns to presidential speeches.

It is always a mistake to predict the actions of others by your own world view. We have to be like criminal profilers, understand what they would do by seeing THEIR outlook.

And THEIR outlook is batshit crazy.

[Hansel]

10. If you view the incident in isolation.

However, if you add in that Wilson was on Fox News and made a campaign ad yesterday ginning up the haters by claiming "I will not be silenced!", like any one is doing that, tells a different story.

Fox News has been selling hatred and completely false claims against Obama since he threw his hat in the ring. They have drummed on about him being a terrorist, Muslim, racist, hating White people, socialist, marxist, non-American, etc. They have made nazi comparisons and did an ongoing smear campaign against his preacher. They are on a campaign against ACORN (which they see is an inner city Black organization). Their obvious nearly 24/7 propaganda against Obama and frequent blowing of the racist dog whistle is pretty widely understood. Now they smearing Obama's appointments as being some sort of subversives. They have bragged about it and are begging for mud on more.

Wilson did this as a part of a strategy. Fox is playing to the nut jobs and Wilson went on their station to continue to advocate the insanity that he displayed during Obama's speech before the joint congress.

It's pretty obvious that Fox New's nearly continuous smear of President Obama is playing to a less than stable segment of society. Instead of doing the responsible thing of dialing it down in order to prevent the more and more extreme behavior we are seeing at town halls; they make excuses for it, attack anyone who criticizes it and continue to egg it on.

Wilson's choice to get all indignant that anyone would criticize him as trying to stop his freedom of speech is pathetic and is met to gain sympathy from the nut jobs. His choice of venue for doing it is suspect.

[godai]

2. It was kind of a strange sentence.

Did he catch himself in the midst of...you lie-ing bastard! or worse? Was this perhaps orchestrated beforehand? Our neighborhood website has a RW post today glorifying Wilson for speaking out. The crazies loved this. His apology seemed staged...'demanded' by the Repubs.

What kind of a sentence is ...'you lie'? Seems that a more logical outburst might have been something like...not so....not true...

[maglatinavi]

5. dems

I really, really find it difficult to believe that dems in Congress could be so aberrant, disrespectful and stupid... How can Obama possibly think of any bipartisan cooperation? Either they shape up or ship out ... I am getting frustrated with Obamas wishy washy position ...:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :rant:

[dem mba]

8. omg he's right!

if you change one letter, lie becomes die!!! omg u guys!!!

:eyes: