Expulsion? Joe Wilson Stole the Air Waves and Disgraced the Nation

As we remember the victims of the attacks eight years ago, we find ourselves reaping the strange fruit of its influence on American politics.

Representative Joe Wilson turned a joint session of Congress into a brainless town hall meeting, a Mission Accomplished photo-op, and a cynical 9-11-based justification for the death of civil liberties delivered in one very tight ball of that signature GOP swill: one part cynicism, one part fear, and two parts pie-eyed dogma. And all the man did was shout.

What was it the man said? "You lie!" That's it. What immediately preceded this ejaculation was an assurance from the president of the United States that health care reform did not include free medical assistance for illegal immigrants. The assurance was true. Wilson was mistaken.

It seems reasonable to ask that this man be punished, but Rep. Wilson is not going to be forced out by the Democrats, nor even censured. That's a shame, but we're learning to expect these missed opportunities on the Left. Had a similar attack been hurled at a speechifying Republican president addressing a joint session of Congress, the offending party would be unable to secure work as a greeter at Wal-Mart before a week had passed. Wilson does not deserve to walk the halls of power in our nation's capital.

The embarrassment we should feel as a nation when the words, "You lie!" bounce around the globe reaching folks in the wealthier nations who don't equate major health problems with financial ruin the way we do here, should be keen. It can also be a learning opportunity. The episode highlights a grave and growing tendency in the United States media: going where the drama is rather than the substance around which the drama occurs.

Wednesday night's speech was classic Obama. News outlets from across the political spectrum heralded the address as a sea change in the debate about health care reform. But was it? All the media want to talk about is Wilson. Drama! Excitement! Political peril! What did the president really say? You'd never know it from the coverage, but he said very little to move the needle any closer to a public option. I agree with my colleague Megan Carpentier that we're more or less right where we were last week.

The media reacted to the evening's two great performances. The one rendered by the president got pride of place. It was very good. Then there was Rep. Wilson's outburst. It was wildly dramatic. It raised questions that people just love to discuss. Is it okay for someone to shout "You Lie!" or "Liar!" during a presidential address? (It is not allowable.) Is this the beginning of a Jerry Springer era on Capitol Hill? Have the Tea Baggers finally got their pinstripes?

Perhaps all of the above Wilson-related possibilities are true, or some of them are, or maybe I'm wholly mistaken. It doesn't really matter. The drama of 9-11 is somewhere informative here, because it gave birth to a new way of seeing an overheated news cycle, and the ways it could increase both the value of advertising inventory and the strength of a political idea in the popular imagination. It was the first time modern media (minus social networking) had a huge historical war event to play around with; it was the first time a president had modern media to launch propaganda linked to a major attack on the homeland, and everyone made hay like mad.

9-11 added exponentially to the army of news addicts cable news had been amassing since its inception two decades earlier. No one doubts that it pays to feature stories with native drama--like tea parties and shout-fests at town halls--and to keep viewers hungry for information, not about the substance underlying the situation or issue, but information that increases a sense of expectation around "recent developments" at a story's surface. The breaking news chiron is now ubiquitous, regardless what's happened "out there." Enter the hellions. The news has to make bank even if the news cycle's dead. In the case of health care reform, the crazy activist stories replace the real drama that should be occurring in Congress, where Democrats should be pulling out all the stops in a heroic battle to secure a public option that would provide health care to all Americans. The story allows a lot of garbage information into the public sphere--tea baggers, birthers, truthers, the dead forest of stupid that prevails among charismatic amateurs--and the waters are muddied, and, more often than not, the (villainous) GOP prevails.

Most people rubber neck. If it bleeds, it leads. People are attracted to the harrowing moment, the outrageous lie, the astounding feat of (fill in the blank). The problem is this: too often we focus on the "what" at the expense of the "how" and the "why." We lose the issues in the hubbub. Substance disappears in the folds of a never-ending parade of different political styles that make their bread from the dough of human emotion, not human intellect, and while this may be entertaining, it is in the process now of sending this country, and every nation attached to it culturally, to hell in a hand basket.

Joe Wilson was wrong about Obama lying. That's one problem. The second problem is this: we're spending too much time thinking about Wilson, and not enough time discussing how absurd it is that Obama and this Democratic majority can't push through a strong public option.

Now for an ancillary problem attached to Wilson's glitch. Simple math, folks. We got us here a white, no-name congressman from South Carolina (I am a Yankee who thinks "Mississippi Burning") calling an African-American president a liar during what is most assuredly his only shot at national prime time television of this magnitude ever. He stole the nation's airwaves. For that, and the larger insult, he should have to pay.

Wilson now has bragging rights and hero-status with those crazed town hallers and all the other astroturf absurdity-swilling idiots who are bounced every which way Rush Limbaugh and his ilk happen to point their foul and explosive hindquarters. I am willing to wager an impossible to prove proposition: that this no-name shlub from South Carolina would never have interrupted a white politician.

I can't prove it, just like I can't prove the withering attacks leveled by Republicans at the current Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, would be more civil were that position occupied by a man. I may be wrong about Representative Wilson's worldview, (and if I am mistaken, I apologize in a general way with no desire to go further because I still think he's pig vomit), but when I thought about what he did, and tried to find an historical corollary for it, I was reminded of those postcards southerners used to send around of themselves attending the lynching of African American men in the South, people who were executed quite often for offenses that would have ended in a fist fight, or merely the hairy eye ball aimed across the room at a cocktail party, were the crux of the matter to have been located between two white men.

It would be nice to simply point out that Wilson was wrong--no current proposal includes free health care for illegal immigrants--but the point lies elsewhere.

There have been a few notable approaches to the story. Moral cretin extraordinaire John Podhoretz is someone I never read unless I have to. The Week made me do it. I read there:

Wilson "deserves censure" for his conduct, said John Podheretz in Commentary. There's "no excuse" for interrupting the president while he's speaking to a joint session of Congress. That said, Wilson "is about to become a folk hero."

Rahm Emanuel put the thing clearly: "No president ever has been treated like that, ever."

Michelle Chen, an Air America intern who also writes for RaceWire asked, "what else besides thin air might be informing Wilson's allegation?"

What else indeed! The hidden meme here was clear as day to the people Rep. Joe Wilson was trying to reach when he stole the nation's airwaves and used them to drag the country to new lows regarding public discourse and the honor due the president. It was pitch-perfect, dog-whistle racism. For the theft of air time alone, Wilson should be sent packing. For the offense he committed against America, he should be relegated to the rubbish pile of history.

With one idiotic, calculating, despicable, sneering shout, Rep. Joe Wilson may have harmed the presidency more than Bill Clinton's dalliance with Monica Lewinksy and when George W. Bush squandered all the good will of the world America had garnered after the attacks of 9-11, proclaiming that Saddam Hussein needed to be deposed because the guy tried to kill his daddy.

First published on Air America.

Follow Beau Friedlander on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BeauFriedlander

Comments

[beyondliberal]

So much for "southern gentlemen".

[Cil]

YESSSSSSSS­SSSSSSSSSS­SSSSSS!

CNN JUST ANNOUNCED ON TV THAT ROB MILLER HAS PULLED IN OVER A $MILLION!

YESSSSSSSS­SSSSSSSSSS­SSSSSS!

[LiamR]

Rep. Wilson would never have shouted at a white President. But his outburst punctuated the President's speech perfectly in that it clearly illustrated not only the anti-Obama venom but the fact that this rage is based, not on facts or issues, but on race. And that's been the issue all along with the rabid teabaggers, the pistol packing lunatics showing up at Presidential events, and the raging airwaves of the right.

These people are not patriots, they are literally insane.

It is indeed a mystery that we cannot get a comprehensive health care reform bill after working so hard to put the Democrats in power.

[Flavor]

You got it!!!!!! spoken well.

[Yellowstonedemocrat]

Signed on: the rethugs are not patriots; they are insane. Many of them are uneducated rednecks who will scream about the constitution while knowing very little about it. They love to say the pledge of allegiance, as long as we have a white, republican president. Under a black democratic president, they will talk about seceding.

Rahm Immanuel was right: no president has ever been treated this way. This is a throwback to the 1850s, when a South Carolinian beat up a northerner with a CANE right in a Washington, D.C. congressional house.

Are we headed for another Civil War? If so, it is again about race, no matter how loudly the rethugs deny it.

[Flavor]

Flavor, can't prove he would not have interupted a white politician but I doubt it. You see, what we are really seeing is (jealousy), because what we have as a president is a very intelligent black man, speaks with clarity, good looking, smart, and educated, it hurts the (rep.) party to pieces. See people they thought they had a boy toy and they thought to themselves this will be a piece of cake, well old men, do us all a favor either join in or Step Out Of The Way! We are tired of the lies, the digging holes your trying to do to this president and everyone knows your party has enough mess all on it's own.

[LRM216]

Oh get over it already. Politics is dirty, always was, always will be. Like the dems never did this to Bush or other repubs?

[offred]

Not during a state address in one of the legislative houses.

Besides, Bush is pretty much universally acknowledged as being guilty of every nasty term Democrats threw at him, in particular, of being a LIAR!

[Apartment604]

I campaigned for Obama and will almost certainly do it again in 2012, and have worked for progressive Dems and progressive causes my entire career.

But this is stupid. When someone apologizes and is forgiven by the person he insulted, it's over. Done. Time for everyone else to let it go.

[bronceye]

Joe Wilson has just cemented his reelection win. By showing his teabagger base that he can be even more obnoxious and irreverent than they, they will flock to the polls for him. You gotta understand the undereducated mind to understand the repube base. By yelling at a black man, he will be worshipped.

[brtwf]

Why was my earlier comment not posted? What kind of forum is this? Only people who agree can post things?

[ConfusedBaldFatGuy]

I have a couple of questions no one can seem to answer, including my Congresswoman, Susan Davis...
How will my business compete against my competitors, who hire undocumented workers?
Who is policing, and actually doing anything about the hiring of undocumented workers?

Our business has always played by the rules, everyone is on our payroll, we pay 50% of their health care insurance now, wheras most of my my competitors use undocumented workers, or call their employess, "independant contractors" and aren't subject to Social Security, workers comp, medicare, or disability withholding.

We fear with the implementation of forced health care insurance, we will be forced to lower our profit margins even more, and ultimately will force us out of business.

[offred]

Your arguments about how the use of undocumented workers is unfair to employers who follow the law are excellent.

I've always looked at using undocumented workers as people taking jobs I'd be delighted to do. But you've made me realize that you, an employer who plays by the rules, are being penalized as well.

You should think about expanding this into a HuffPo article and submitting it.

[AlaskanWannaB]

$773,000+ and climbing. Yippeeeee! Folks, keep the money coming in support of Rob Miller and against CongressIdiot Joe "You LIe" Wilson!

Go to: http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/19079 and donate until it hurts.

We want to reach $1 million by tonight! Please forward info to your friends and family.

[dreamwillneverdie]

Good luck. His constutuents are cut from the same cloth he is, if not worse. This is the belly of the beast whose neck is red, the very people whose boundless stupidity have done us in.

[Duppy]

Republicans are a pretty useless bunch. They are now irrelevant and the democrats need to neutralize them and kick them to the curb. They should be ignored and laughed at.

[Beau Friedlander - Huffpost Blogger]

It seems like the Dems plan on ignoring folks like Wilson and allowing the GOP to develop an image problem where such idiots come to represent the party. Not sure if they're right, but we may never know because it seems like they aren't going to counterattack. Wilson really should have been censured.

[MollieinATL]

Just awful.

Now Wilson is bragging "I will not be muzzled!" This - after he apologized and Obama graciously and swiftly accepted his apology. So, he's essentially pulling a "Miss California" - even before the conservative talk show hosts can do it for him.

Wilson just replaced Assemblyman Duvall as the Most Revolting Politician of the Week.

[Beau Friedlander - Huffpost Blogger]

Wilson just became an important voice on the right, and that says it all, because he is clearly a midwit with bad impulse control. Says it all about the GOP.

[Harbinger08]

Wilson was just upholding South Carolina's proud tradition of uncivil and barbaric behavior on the house floor.

[Crocodilian]

The "hidden meme" is not exactly racism, though its there. There's an odd consistency in the wingnut's views of Obama and Clinton: he's not "their" President. The crazy right has for a very long time been attached to "nullification" -- as in, "if we don't like it, we don't have to do it".

The danger of this nullification theme is hard to judge, but the intentions aren't. Whether its Joe Wilson's outburst -- and parenthetically, what are we to make of someone who wants to assure that everyone can carry a gun at all times, when he demonstrates that he's not even in control of his mouth?-- or the Birthers, the message is clear: the Constitutional arrangements agreed to as a foundation of our nation are _not_ accepted as rules of the road by the wingnuts. They're happy with them when Bush becomes President while losing the popular vote, but seem to feel that they can "opt out" when someone they don't like gets elected

[Beau Friedlander - Huffpost Blogger]

The nullification view is a good one. The same goes for social issues. If they don't like it, there is no argument to persuade them of consider another point of view. I think there are race issues here. The two (nullification and quiet racism) aren't mutually exclusive.

[Crocodilian]

No, nullification and racism aren't at all mutually exclusive. Nullification first came up before the Civil War, 1832 and in fact, the state in question was . . . wait for the surprise . . .South Carolina.

Then, as now, the explicit context was whether the Federals could write rules for the nation (in that case a tariff), but the far-from-hidden subtext was racism (then: preservation of slavery, now: hatred of black President).

[MacAndCheese]

A lot of republicans needed a time out that night. I swear, it was like watching a high school assembly after high carb lunch. Where is the adult supervision? Are they intentionally going low brow? Is their base of Christian conservatives expanding to people who wear tin foil hats to keep the government from spying on their thoughts?
I find it interesting Joe Wilson a retired Colonel (reservist). He should have learned somewhere along the line how to maintain himself and how to address the Commander in Chief.

Southern white guy trumps civilized protocol and educated discourse.

[vie2012ne]

Did you happen to watch the civilized Democrats during Bush's SOU addresses? Either you have a short memory, or you weren't paying attention.

[bandit09]

No member of congress ever called that fraternity boy a liar despite the fact he was a liar. (See Iraq war)