I have no problem believing the reporter is probably right @cosmovitelli I'm just saying that in the world we live in, having all the facts on your side doesn't automatically save you from being portrayed as a douche/villian/whatever.

He could very well be right, but he attacked him in the wrong way in the wrong time. He basically just threw out a "wah, you're lying!" fit out of nowhere with no real compelling proof that he's right. He did it so clumsily that Romney is able to sidestep the whole thing and play it like he's the victim of the rabid conspiracy theorist.

If you want to look at it from the other side of the aisle. You got Joe Wilson's "YOU LIE!" outburst at the state of the union. Playing devil's advocate, even if the guy was 100 percent right. He still comes off as a dick and it portrays the republicans as frothing-at-the-mouth maniacs

I'm not saying people shouldn't do stuff like that, but you have to at least acknowledge that you're not exactly going to win a lot of people over with clumsy outbursts like that regardless of how right you may be.

>> ^MilkmanDan:
It was hilarious to watch the third Republican representative (Joe Wilson) say his piece while reading off a notecard.
A) He reminded me of listening to fellow students take turns reading aloud in English class in the 5-6th grade range. Eventually you got to the one dim kid in class, that still has to use 90% of his brain to merely process the letters into words; with slight halts and stutters, and vague attempts to add inflection and emotion to the language that fail miserably.
B) His presentation makes it blatantly obvious that he has absolutely no understanding or actual personal opinion on the issue at all, he is simply parroting the lines of some lobbyist / campaign contributor.
People criticize Obama for having "teleprompter charisma"... I'd say that shows that he understands what he is speaking about enough to voice his own opinion, or at the very least that he is intelligent enough to fake it (which is still more comforting than the alternative). In that short clip, Joe Wilson came across as being only barely literate.


I was disappointed that no one yelled "you lie!"

It was hilarious to watch the third Republican representative (Joe Wilson) say his piece while reading off a notecard.

A) He reminded me of listening to fellow students take turns reading aloud in English class in the 5-6th grade range. Eventually you got to the one dim kid in class, that still has to use 90% of his brain to merely process the letters into words; with slight halts and stutters, and vague attempts to add inflection and emotion to the language that fail miserably.

B) His presentation makes it blatantly obvious that he has absolutely no understanding or actual personal opinion on the issue at all, he is simply parroting the lines of some lobbyist / campaign contributor.

People criticize Obama for having "teleprompter charisma"... I'd say that shows that he understands what he is speaking about enough to voice his own opinion, or at the very least that he is intelligent enough to fake it (which is still more comforting than the alternative). In that short clip, Joe Wilson came across as being only barely literate.

Some much needed context:

(AP) WASHINGTON — Show me some civility, Republicans cried Friday after a Missouri congressman speaking on the House floor was caught on microphone apparently cussing out a fellow Missourian.

Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, D-Mo., had just finished addressing his Republican colleague Todd Akin Thursday.

Skelton then turned to the side and muttered "stick it up your ass."

The comment was just audible on the C-SPAN tape of the proceedings and was not included in the Congressional Record, the official record of speeches on the House and Senate floor.

Skelton's spokeswoman, Jennifer Kohl, said the comment was not intended to be broadcast and was "said out of frustration in the heat of debate." She said Skelton, a veteran lawmaker known for working well with Republicans, planned to apologize to Akin.

The dispute arose over opposition from Akin and other Republicans to inclusion in a major defense policy bill of a provision extending federal hate crimes law to include violence against gays.

Akin, a member of the Armed Services Committee, had spoken before Skelton, saying the hate crimes measure was "poisonous enough in fact that we refuse to be blackmailed into voting for a piece of social agenda that has no place in this bill."

Skelton, in his on-mike reply, said he wanted "to remind my fellow Missourian" that the Senate had voted for the defense bill, with the hate crimes provision, by a vote of 87-7.

Akin's spokesman, Steve Taylor, said the remark was "shocking and not characteristic of Skelton's behavior." He said Akin, who has a son going to Afghanistan in three weeks and is normally a strong supporter of defense legislation, was "very disappointed in the personal digression."

National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Tom Erickson issued a statement that "Skelton needs to apologize, not only to his colleagues in the House, but also to his constituents who shouldn't have to put up with this sort of behavior from their elected representatives."

Both parties have complained recently about the lack of civility in the House, the Democrats after Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., yelled out "you lie" during a speech by President Barack Obama on health care legislation, and Republicans after Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., said on the House floor that the GOP approach to health care reform was telling sick people to "die quickly."

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/09/rep-skelton-to-rep-akin-s_n_315821.html

Obama is change you can believe in, but what good is belief? People wanted somebody so different than Bush, they elected someone who spouted poetic rhetoric, forgetting all the while that he's a politician like the rest of them. Joe Wilson called Obama a liar, but who is he to judge? They're all liars.

Fuck America, and fuck Americans who thought Obama would bring change to this corporate welfare state.

Paid for By Joe Wilson. How much did he have to pay his wife to say those things?

>> ^lampishthing:
"As we now know that was congressman Joe Wilson R-YouFuckingkiddingme?"


FTFY. Awesome line.

>> ^Rotty:
Keep flogging that DEAD horse.



No one gives a fuck about JW, its just indicative of the sillyness involved in the healthcare "debates". Thats the point TDS is highlighting.
Joe Wilsons's outburst is one of the many low points an a continuum of ludicrousness presented by the republicans.

>> ^Rotty:
Or, maybe get a fucking job.

?

"As we now know that was congressman Joe Wilson Are You Fucking kidding me?"

Wait, where in my video does Olbermann appear? Where does Jimmy Carter say everyone opposing Obama is racist?

For that matter, was what Olbermann said literally "everyone who opposes Obama is a racist", or was it more along the lines of "might the excessive vehemence of the opposition be partially fueled by racial animosity?"

Are we no longer allowed to ask the question "what role does race play in this"? Or is it now that people have to turn a blind eye to all racially charged subtexts out of fear of being accused of "playing the race card"?

Fuck that. For all the years I've heard people bitch about how "Political Correctness" is some sort of restraint on their speech, is it any different if the politics we're being correct about become "thou shalt not ever accuse anyone of racism"? There's a good reason to be "PC" -- it's about treating other people with respect. There's no good reason to launch into tirades at everyone who ever suggests that someone's actions may have been racially tinged.

Joe Wilson probably doesn't deserve the label "racist". Do I think there's a reason to suspect race played a role in why he's so worried about illegal immigrants benefiting from reform, and that Obama's race might have lowered his inhibitions a bit when it came to treating him with disrespect? Hell yes.

Do I think the sea of older, white, southern people who refuse to accept Obama as being born in the US are all racists? No. Do I think race plays a role for some of them either consciously or subconsciously? Yes.

Do I think Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift because he's a racist? No. Do I think he was bringing racial animosity to the event, and casting undeserved aspersions on the judges? Yes.

I get why this issue is a sensitive one, but people seriously have to stop acting as though the accuser is always the one who deserves scorn.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2009/aug/10/palin-death-panel-remark-sets-truth-o-meter-fire/
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/sep/09/joe-wilson/joe-wilson-south-carolina-said-obama-lied-he-didnt/

It's a bit of a pain in the ass. Assuming you use Firefox, you look at the iframe embed they provide, take the URL inside it and navigate to the URL. That will lead to a page with just the video on it. Highlight the video (or do Edit -> Select All), then right click, go to "View Selection Source", and in the mess will be an actual embed for the video that you can then cut and paste into the submit window for VideoSift.

I do it so often it's second nature by now, but it's obnoxious. At least it's possible to embed their videos, the Huffington Post ones are literally impossible to sift.

In reply to this comment by JiggaJonson:
How did you sift that? http://www.videosift.com/video/Olbermann-s-Special-Comment-on-Joe-Wilson

I ALWAYS have problems sifting NBC posts

do anything special?

I never knew... Kanye and Joe Wilson are cousins.

Maybe if the bill were rewritten in crayon we could finally get past all this ignorant debate.
Failing that, maybe if it weren't written at all but presented in the form of a series of adorable illustrations featuring a lovable cat named Charlie printed on placemats in the Congressional Cafeteria...maybe then we could lower the barrier of entry for Conservative Republicans low enough that even those perpetually confused, screaming adolescent, politicians could finally comprehend some of the less challenging parts of what's being proposed.

I know it's too much to ask for elected Republicans to display any level of dignity but could we at least expect a passing proficiency with readying. Hooked on Phonics Congressional Addition anyone?

It's no wonder the people who elected Joe Wilson live in terror of the government taking charge of health care. If I believed the government was filled with people like Joe Wilson I wouldn't trust government to walk my dog.

How did you sift that? http://www.videosift.com/video/Olbermann-s-Special-Comment-on-Joe-Wilson

I ALWAYS have problems sifting NBC posts

do anything special?