Meet Joe Wilson, Conservative Martyr

(AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

The Democrats believe the angels are on their side but they better hope one of them is not named Satan. Just as President Obama was reasserting control over the health care reform debate after a wasted August, he's got to deal with another phony controversy - this time it's the "political martyrdom" of Congressman Joe Wilson.

Late this afternoon, the House of Representatives voted 240 to 179 largely along party lines to pass a resolution expressing disapproval of Wilson's infamous "You Lie" outburst during the president's speech to a joint session of Congress last week. As satisfying as that must be to many Democrats, the transmogrification of Wilson into a political pi?ata (and thus the latest cause celebre' for the right) may turn into yet another side issue diverting the public's attention from health care reform, which you might recall, supposedly was the most important item on the White House's fall agenda.

No doubt the Dems still have a month's worth of bile left over, courtesy of the tea party folks who turned August into a veritable hell for them. Who wouldn't want to deal out a little payback, should the opportunity present itself? And on paper, at least, Wilson constitutes their dream villain. A member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, Wilson is just one of seven members of the South Carolina Senate to vote in favor of letting the Confederate battle flag fly over the state house in 2000. What's more, there are those now deconstructing his loudmouth heckling of the president as a display of good ol' boy racism from south of the Mason-Dixon line.

But do the Democrats really want to go there just now? After the summer flap over Henry Louis Gates arrest, the White House doesn't need another distraction where race is the sub-text. Conservatives are already crying foul, arguing that this is the sort of show trial that only a San Francisco liberal might dream up. But it's not so black and white. In fact, the best known San Francisco liberal of them all, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, didn't seem especially eager to pick a new fight with the Republicans. Last week, Pelosi said that it was "time for us to talk about health care and not Mr. Wilson," a signal that the Obama administration wasn't eager to fuel this controversy any further. (I know. That was "last week" and things change. Still...)

Too late. The Wilson affair now takes its place along the other time-wasting mini-novellas this administration has had to deal with since spring. The more this melodrama plays out on cable television and the blogosphere, the less serious debate we'll have about the Obama health reform plan. Michael Steele and the GOP's congressional leadership couldn't have asked for anything more. Call it the Republican Rope-a-Dope.

.....

You Can't Say That? Oh, You're In Congress. OK.

In the aftermath of the Wilson affair, there's been no shortage of bloviation about the permissible boundaries of speech afforded to elected representatives who want to criticize the president.

This is not the first time Congress has found itself in the midst of a debate over defining proper rules of the road for the hired help. Happily, there are already existing guidelines. During the first year of William Howard Taft's presidency, the House drew up a report in response to unflattering remarks made about the president during a floor debate.

According to section 370 of the House Rules and Manual, a member is allowed to:

• refer to the government as "something hated, something oppressive."
• refer to the President as "using legislative or judicial pork."
• refer to a Presidential message as a "disgrace to the country."
• refer to unnamed officials as "our half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs."

So if Wilson or any other back bencher really wanted to give his lungs a workout on the House floor, they would be well within their rights to issue the following (imaginary) denunciation:

"Ladies and gentlemen, this president's giveaways to foreign countries only underscore the hatred of the average citizen for a government given to increasingly oppressive policies. Our president seems to be more interested in pursuing pork - to pay off his political debts - than he is to tending the needs of the people he was elected to serve. But I can't claim to be surprised by someone who won't provide a legitimate birth certificate. The president's statement made earlier today was simply a disgrace. Then again, considering the half-baked nitwits he's appointed as advisors, is it any wonder that our foreign policy is in such dire straits?"

More Joe Wilson Coverage on CBSNews.com:

Republicans on Attack Over Joe Wilson Resolution
Joe Wilson Gets Choked Up Over Floor Speech
Joe Wilson's Wife: I Couldn't Believe He Said It
Race Issue Simmers in Joe Wilson Flap
Will House Democrats Censure Joe Wilson?
The Joe Wilson Chronicles
Andrew Cohen: Joe Wilson's War
Watch the outburst.

[bills416]

Wilson says he got "carried away" in the moment. BS! This is an educated man in Congress...he knows very well how to behave and not get "carried away". You don't get to this level of government and not be aware of the behavior expected of you. Next thing, we'll be having fist fights in the halls of Congress.
I believe this was a calculated move on his part to curry favor with his right wing constituents. He (and the people he represents) can't just come out and say...I don't want a black man as president, so they choose to find any other way to demean him...communist, nazi, socialist....not an American citizen..and on and on.They throw anything his way, hoping something will stick. And the people that believe this are willing and WANT to believe it so they can rationalize their bigotry.

[Libexposer]

It's not about race or him being Halfrican American although I can't be sure of the American part of that... it's because he's a terrible leader! Under him, we have grown the largest deficit in American history, are surrendering to the muslims in Iraq, and meanwhile he's pushing a socialist healthcare bill while he taxes my family relentlessly to fund trips for his wife on Air Force One! Tell me all here, this cannot be the change you wanted....

[noloyalisti]

You can see what these extremist, anti-American Republi CON reps think of the rules of the Congress they agreed to uphold.

They are so out of touch with the American people, 85% who thought it was uncalled for. Unfortunately, the brainless, racist Wilson is only the tip of the iceberg with these fascist Neo CONS who have taken over the CONS party.

[purplebutterflies]

Who said it is wrong for an American to stand up and speak his mind? Now ex-president Jimmy Carter is saying it's racial ???? He did not call him by any name, he just called him liar....that was it: the only reason racial is coming into it is because he's from the south and they can get more attention by using racial. He apologized and Obama excepted so what's the deal? Obama can stop all this but he's is using this.
I tell you Tiger Wood showed more character than Obama when someone said a racial remark about Tiger....he said the guy apologized and he except and told the press it was done and over with!!!!
Congress and Obama is using this to get sympathy. I think people use racial to hide the truth of what is really going on what they want to keep others from looking at. I was raised that GOD made all people and we are all different in so many ways and the color of skin is only a small way of many others ways.
By the way it is our constitutional right to say we disagree with our leaders. I am an American, our fore fathers fought for the right to speak out when we disagree with our government, in a non-violent way.

[bills416]

"Who said it is wrong for an American to stand up and speak his mind?"
Where were you when Americans were speaking our minds against Bush and the war in Iraq? We were called unpatriotic, and were told to leave our country if we didn't like it. Look back at some of the Hannity shows when they were talking about protesters against Bush. I suggest you take his advice.

[noloyalisti]

This guy is a member of the Sons of the Confederacy or something like that. He represents the extreme wacko, racist right wing of American that is being led by the Republican Party, the party of death and spending.

[mafoster121]

Go JOE ilive in S.C. You called it the way you see it.
YOU GOT MY NEXT VOTE. FREEDOM OF SPEECH

[hologram5]

Wilson is nothing more than a racist *********. Everyone knows it now. He has gone too far. It is one thing to disagree but entirely another to dis him on the floor of congress.

[noloyalisti]

Wait, I though the conservative martyr was Palin. If Wilson is a hero, it is to the 20% crowd that has gone off the deep end with the Republican Congress.

[pjk12354]

Conservative Martyr...............how about an idiot who just didn't know enough to keep his mouth shut?

[quatermass2]

I regret that when Wilson had his little fit, Obama didn't stop, look up, and say, "I believe someone just called me a liar. Sir, please stand up and say that again to my face." Wilson is just a cowardly little *****, hiding in the back benches and sweating fever dreams of a Confederate cracker.