GOP Congressman Paul Broun To Obama During SOTU Address: 'You Believe In Socialism'

While no Joe Wilson-like interruption came from the joint session of Congress that sat before President Barack Obama during his State of the Union address Tuesday night, one congressman heckled more quietly, countering the president online throughout the speech and even claiming that he believed in "socialism."

The Twitter feed of Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), who once paradoxically called Obama a Nazi-like Marxist dictator, proved to be a veritable stream of criticism, culminating in a tweet that countered a point by Obama about global competition by saying, "Mr. President, you don't believe in the Constitution. You believe in socialism."

It's just the sort of rhetoric that has been denounced in the wake of the shooting in Arizona earlier this month, perhaps most visibly through the symbolic gesture of a bipartisan seating arrangement for the State of the Union. As HuffPost's Ryan Grim reports, however, that plan didn't go over as smoothly as many would have liked.

But Broun can't be blamed for that, nor can he be accused of being disrespectful while in the direct presence of the president, because the Georgia congressman apparently released his torrent of missives from the comfort of his own office.

Roll Call reports:

Broun spokeswoman Debbee Keller told Roll Call that her boss tweets about the address every year from the confines of his office, instead of attending the event in the House chamber. "Out of respect, he watches the president's speech from his office and uses his desktop computer."

Mr. President, you don't believe in the Constitution. You believe in socialism.less than a minute ago via webPaul Broun
RepPaulBrounMD

Comments

[OdinOfTheNorth]

10:31 PM on 02/26/2011

How is the fact that the Dear Leader is a socialist news to anyone?

[ffny]

01:17 PM on 02/26/2011

And Rep. Broun as do most Rep. and all Conservatives believes in Anarchism.

[Koali]

12:50 PM on 02/26/2011

This makes him a coward.

[Paul Hacker]

04:24 PM on 02/25/2011

When Republicans make asinine comments like that, they lose me altogether. First of all, what is "socialism" supposed to mean in the Republican vocabulary? I'm sure the congressman has no conception of what it means and simply uses it as a scare word. Secondly, if he is suggesting that state-sponsored medical care is "socialism," he had better start wondering how many countries, starting with his neighbors just to the north are "socialist." Thirdly, since Social Security and the income tax are forms of income redistribution, do they also count as "socialism"? Since the Republicans are rabidly engaged in returning us to the days before the New Deal, they probably consider everything done since 1933 as socialism.

[jettNY]

07:09 PM on 02/27/2011

exactly

[mespeland]

04:16 PM on 02/25/2011

These politicians are losing the respect of a lot of people every time they open their idiotic childish mouths. I never thought I would ever see such a bunch of imature men all in one place. It's like these people are saying things out of desperation.

[tatt]

02:22 AM on 02/25/2011

Have just been to New Zealand for a months holiday and it really is the best
remedy to nimrods like Broun so pick your country or just turn off all news for a month
rinse and repeat

[GregCoyote]

02:19 AM on 02/25/2011

Then he believes in communism. Just substitute the "state" for "corporation" and there you
have the road we are on...far from socialism. The upper 2% of the population, maybe as few as 400 families are our real Rulers. Or want to be as soon as possible. They are the ones that can throw millions into campaigns to elect their operatives. Yes, operatives. The only organized efforts the left depends on are unions. So it's a big surprise where the Bagger and GOP governors are going.

[torgman3]

03:00 PM on 01/31/2011

Did this guy get his medical deegree form one of those Carribean MD mills?

[Harold Darling]

11:50 AM on 01/30/2011

Rep. Paul Broun statement assumes that socialism and the US Constitution are incompatible; which is not true. Under the Constitution, Americans are free to adopt a socialist economy.

[robbob35]

08:27 AM on 02/25/2011

You obviously believe in socialism also. I give you credit for admitting it, but major demerits for misunderstanding the Constitution. The Constitution and the country itself are about individual liberty. We are supposed to respect the individual unalienable rights of our citizens. Socialism is about collectivism and the subservience of the individual to the state. In a socialist society, the individual doesn't matter.

The Constitution is a brilliant document that recognizes the need for government to do certain specific things that are neccesary for the preservation of the society, but prohibits the government from doing things that would rob us of our liberty.

[Harold Darling]

10:37 PM on 02/25/2011

Is it your contention that socialism is unconstitutional? For your reply claims that my understanding of the US Constitution is flawed, but you didn't say why socialism is unconstitutional.

Your understanding of socialism is mistaken; for socialism and capitalism represents an economic system, not a style of governance. Socialism and capitalism exists under dictatorships and democracies.

For example, all of the Nordic Countries are socialist democracies, but many third world oil producing countries are capitalist dictatorships.

And yes, for the record I'm a democratic socialist who votes for democratic candidates.

[billw8017]

03:04 AM on 01/29/2011

Believing in the Constitution does not preclude Socialism. Henry Clay's 'American System" was a federal program of infra structure improvements, mostly roads, which is pure Socialism, and part of "promoting the general Welfare." This is a long tradition in American history. The Virginia Company, for example, was designed to share the profits of the colony which owned everything commonly.

[Harold Darling]

11:51 AM on 01/30/2011

I am pelase dto see that someone else noticed that socialism and the US Constituti­on are compatible.

[robbob35]

08:37 AM on 02/25/2011

Wrong. You have been miseducated. Read the Declaration of Independence. Read the Federalist Papers. Read the Anti-Federalist papers. Read John Locke's Two Treatises of Government. Read Madison's notes on the Constitution. Read the 9th and 10th Amendments. The Constitution is about LIMITED federal government, not socialism. Technically speaking, one could probably make the case that socialism could be experimented with on the state level, although I personally think that would be a horrible idea, but in no way is it compatible with any of the federal powers granted by the Constitution.

What's most disturbing to me is that you've been so indoctrinated or miseducated that you would even think such a thing would be desirable. This is yet another reason we have to break up the NEA and institute some serious educational reforms so our schools can get back to teaching children HOW to think instead of teaching them WHAT to think. And ferchrissakes if we were going to teach them what to think, let's at least teach them pro-American values instead of importing failed European socialist ideas.

[russej]

02:00 PM on 02/25/2011

Limited government? You mean where the people have limited representation and the neocon overlords, big corporate donors, and their elected stooges have all the access?
Educational reforms? You mean where we base all success in school on standardized test results and completely de-emphasize previous philosophies of cooperative learning, problem solving, and critical thinking skills?
Pro-American values? Here I would postulate you are referring to those presented in course material written and authorized by the Texas State Board of Education only?
Yessiree. You sure got a handle on some great ideas there. Scott Walker would be so proud of you.

[Rogman66]

11:31 PM on 01/28/2011

"out of respect"

What a crock.

[jwells66]

11:26 PM on 01/28/2011

This would have been so much better if Al Franken had sent a Twitter message back to him saying "YOU LIE!" That said....if most kids can't take their technology into classrooms, the diningroom table, and church, as it is "disrespectful"....how do conservatives say it's okay to do so when the President is speaking?

[bungholio]

01:47 PM on 01/28/2011

hey congressman Bozo, go back to freshman college and sign up for Poli-Sci 1A, learn the definition of "socialism".

[tlcpro]

09:56 AM on 01/28/2011

People like him throw the word socialist out there to scare the rest of the people who think in shallow terms like he does. The president is not pushing for Socialism, he is pushing for the repair of a broken system. Something must be done before we begin rioting in the streets like they are doing in Egypt.

[ellann]

08:44 AM on 01/28/2011

This is why I'm ashamed to tell people I am originally from Georgia. When I lived there, people were civilized and definitely not right-wing nuts. Now, the inmates are running the asylum. I hate extremists of any party but this man is beyond extremism. Georgia should be ashamed.

[Rudy Reber]

01:41 PM on 01/29/2011

No kidding. I left Georgia after nine years (this dipstick Broun was my congressman) and wouldn't go back if you paid me.