I noted last week that Congressman Wilson’s outburst during the Joint Session of Congress was inappropriate and that he did the right thing in apologizing. Not everyone agreed with that assessment, and that’s fine.
I also noted the hypocrisy that the Democrats were showing by not dropping the issue. Yesterday they pushed the envelope further. The House voted to rebuke Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) for shouting “You lie!” during the President’s address. They wanted another apology, he refused, and they voted 240 to 179 to ratify a “resolution of disapproval.” We have stupid, but then we have outrageous as Fox News reported:
Making an obvious reference to the Ku Klux Klan, Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., said Tuesday that people will be putting on "white hoods and white uniforms again and riding through the countryside" if emerging racist attitudes, which he says were subtly supported by Wilson, are not rebuked. He said Wilson must be disciplined as an example.
Gee that’s original. You criticize President Obama, you are a racist. We’ll all break out our KKK outfits that we were keeping in storage for just a time as this. And I suppose I am now racist for criticizing Congressman Johnson.
You might as well accuse me of ageism as well since former President Jimmy Carter said something equally stupid:
Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday that U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson’s outburst to President Barack Obama during a speech to Congress last week was an act "based on racism" and rooted in fears of a black president.
"I think it’s based on racism," Carter said in response to an audience question at a town hall held at his presidential center in Atlanta. "There is an inherent feeling among many in this country that an African-American should not be president."
The Georgia Democrat said the outburst was a part of a disturbing trend directed at the president that has included demonstrators equating Obama to Nazi leaders.
"Those kind of things are not just casual outcomes of a sincere debate on whether we should have a national program on health care," he said. "It’s deeper than that."
No, it couldn’t possibly be because of a deeply held beliefs and values you hold are being trampled on. It has to be racism. They pushed the envelope on Wilson, and they may find that it pushes back in time.