An outburst like Joe Wilson’s was bound to happen if you ask me. And to be completely fair, the Whitehouse did ask us all to report any disinformation about healthcare. What the president was saying clearly qualifies, but I don't think this was exactly what they had in mind. I think it was a mistake for him to say so in that format, but still, I understand Wilson's frustration.
This is by far the most Orwellian Administration in history. It’s like they’ve taken Bill Clinton’s new definition of the word “is” and thrown it open to include the entire English language. “Transparency” now refers to a gaggle of appointees placed in office absent any review, many of whom with astoundingly radical backgrounds, and all placed in high positions in government without so much as a phone call to congress. “Competition” now means a government subsidized market participant who will keep prices so far below cost as to bankrupt an entire industry. “No Earmarks” means some earmarks. “No lobbyists” mean some lobbyists. “No Tax Increase” means no tax increase they’ll admit to. And “A balanced budget” means an unprecedented level of spending and borrowing so gi-normous, that even the margin of error is measured in trillions.
It’s hard to listen to the president talk about his goals, knowing full well that the law he’s proposing will produce results which are basically the opposite of them. But I thought it was just me. Like many experts, I lose track of what other people understand and don’t understand about my personal area of expertise. Things that are fundamental in my world, I assume everyone understands. But in fact they turn out to be quite beyond the comprehension of many people.
I think it’s clear that this is the case with Barak Obama. He’s under the mistaken impression that if he could find a way to eliminate “the profit” of the healthcare industry, then that money will show up as a cost savings for consumers. This is stupidity on stilts. And anyone who knows even the first thing about business knows that this simply isn't so. But that doesn't describe Barak Obama; apparently he doesn't know the first thing about business. He’s never been in a position where he’s had to worry about producing a profit, so he’s never had a chance to learn even that simple unavoidable fact.
To someone with his worldview, profit is the problem in the equation. And if you eliminate the profit, all things will improve. In reality, profit is what’s left over for you after you solve all the other problems. I think he's spent his entire life in an insulated cocoon, a mix of govenrment and academia. And in it he's been protected from the pressures of making one’s way in the modern world. He’s a full grown man who is very literate, exceptionally well spoken, and of at least average intelligence. But he understands no more about how the private sector economy or business really works, than my nine year old daughter.
And since that's so, the decisions he's making are all based on falsehoods, and are pointing toward disaster. The record of history is absolutely clear that when it comes to improving the lot of ordinary people, there is no system that can compare with the free enterprise system. But Barak Obama is still childishly doing all he can to destroy it.
And he’s not the only pseudo-child on the left. There are all manner of permanent adolescents with irresponsible plans on that side of the aisle. If he's a 10 year old with a loaded pistol, Nancy Pelosi is a toddler with a machine gun and Maxine Waters is an angry adolescent with a neutron bomb. And that’s why I think Joe Wilson’s outburst was a terrible mistake.
Even if today’s Republicans are no better or wiser than today’s Democrats, at least they’ve always managed to act like adults. With an opposition like theirs, this is not a line they want to cross, or no Republican will ever be able to get through another speech again. Of course Obama was misrepresenting the truth… he’s a politician… that’s the job. Joe Wilson should have kept his trap shut and behaved like an adult. Not out of respect for the man (I certainly don't respect him ) or even out of respect for the office. He should have kept quiet out of common courtesy alone.
He may have been right in what he said, but he was absolutely wrong to say so. There is an appropriate format for calling a politician a liar, and that wasn't it. And I sincerely hope that this pinhole in the dike of good manners doesn’t bring on a later rush of childishness and misbehavior from the Democrats.
%%%%%UPDATE%%%%%
I've been having a little trouble with insomnia lately (an old problem for me) so I was asleep last night and didn't see the speech until this morning. And now that I have, I must confess... to see that look of abject horror on Nancy Pelosi's face it was almost worth it... almost.
I still think it was a big mistake to breach protocol in that way, but given the meteoric distortions and outlandish manner in Obama's 'we'll call you out' statement, I'm more sympathetic to Wilson's loss of control. He apologized, as it should be. Hopefully we can just move on now.
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