Alan Grayson, Joe Wilson, and the Democrats’ Culture of Hypocrisy
Hurray! Alan Wilson finally apologized to the Republicans!
Haha, gotcha! No, he apologized to the Anti-Defamation League for calling the healthcare situation a “holocaust in America.” However, he remains unwilling to apologize to Republicans for saying their healthcare plan tells people to “die quickly.”
You can see the hypocrisy of the Democrats on this issue. When Rep. Joe Wilson told Barack Obama “You Lie!” he was hounded for weeks, and is still being hounded for it. He had to apologize (which was supported fairly bipartisanly) AND face a “resolution of disapproval” (which was almost exclusively pushed by the majority Democrats). When Alan Grayson insults every Republican by calling them killers, he apparently has to do nothing.
If you look at it fairly, “die quickly” is really the Democrats’ response to “death panels.” However, I don’t recall a member of Congress saying such things, though I’m sure someone will let me know if I’m wrong. Yes, Sarah Palin started that ball rolling, but she’s a private citizen again, isn’t she? Quite a bit different than an elected official, who should be expected to hold higher standards, though no doubt it will come back to bite her if she throws her hat into the 2012 ring for one office or another. Grayson should not expect to be held to different standards, even if his intended target wasn’t necessarily a personal attack.
On a final note (since I can anticipate some of the counter arguments), I understand that Wilson was held up as a hero by many Republicans. But Grayson is a hero to a lot of Democrats now, too. I don’t like this attitude from either side. The problem is that the Democrats are the hypocritical ones here because they’re the ones who started the game of hounding a Congressman for being disrespectful.
ashok
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#1
I really like your point here:
“…I understand that Wilson was held up as a hero by many Republicans. But Grayson is a hero to a lot of Democrats now, too. I don’t like this attitude from either side.”
I do not want to excuse Wilson, not one bit, and I feel the right-wing fringe has to be shamed and quieted first. But I do know that 8 years of saying Bush was the same person as Hitler is the cause of what we’re seeing now: that’s not to say “so and so started it,” but to keep in mind that the extremism of the Left must be challenged also. Trying to bring people like Van Jones into the administration was an affront for many Democrats, let alone Republicans.
rick386
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#2
’saying their healthcare plan tells people to “die quickly.” ‘ is by no means calling someone a killer. Although I would say it to reps, he did not. The hypocrisy lies with reps after talking death panel bs and then condemning grayson. It is by no means like shouting ‘you lie’ to the president interupting a speech.
All I see is the fact that Republicans can dish it out, but they just can’t take it. whaaaaaaaa
Finally I get to root for a dem with a sac.
Jul Paddy
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#3
I realise this is not a moderate site. Did you guys chastise Sarah Palin for making up the story of Bureaucratic death panels? What about when chuck Grassley said it? or when Michelle Bachman said it. Did you attack Joe Wilson when he refused to apologise to Congress? Did you question the motive behind the so called Tea Party express which were filled with epithets of the US president as a witch doctor, calling him an arrogant bloodsucking muslim? Did realise that on the official tea party website, they call Obama an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug?
No, but you are outraged at Grayson. NRCC called him and unstable personality. You guys can never argue substance and that is why you divert attention with name calling and stubbornness. Why the president is making this bipartisan is even a mystery to me. It really is. He should just let the democrats pass this bill.
And Grayson is right. The fact that you guys keep insisting that we ditch the healthcare process means that you want sick people to die quickly. And you call yourselves christians. Please
Doomed
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#4
I know Jul Paddy.
I just dont have any idea why Obama is bothering to ask the country what they want to do. I mean he got 53 percent of the vote he should just be able to do anything he wants. I mean after all this is a republic which practices democracy for cryin out loud.
As far as Grayson. Your right. Everyone knows that Republicans hate everyone except the top 1 percent richest people in the country. We all set up nights wondering how we can make Bill Gates, and John Kerry and the Kennedy Family and Al Gore, and Michael Moore happy. I know lets cut their taxes some more. The other 99.9 percent of us Republicans exist to please those guys.
As for those tea parties. Doesnt it just suck that America lets people call other people names that arent true….You know Like Bush is a Nazi…Bush is Hitler…Heil Bush….Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot…..dang this country. I just hate this place.
I know. Lets vote Obama dictator. Then you could round up everyone you dont agree with and just put them in jail.
There now that solves everything.
Interested
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#5
lol Doomed. Well like they say – 99 % of Liberals give the other 1 a bad name.
liberalpinko
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#6
When Republicans lie, as Wilson did, Democrats become angry. When Democrats tell the truth, as Grayson did, Republicans go mad. That so many can’t tell the difference is a tragedy.
Interested
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#7
see what I mean?
liberalpinko
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#8
Dear Interested, thank you for underscoring my observation.
Doomed
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#9
Just remember the SIN principal, Conservatives.
You can only save the savable. Some Liberals just arent savable.
When your talking to a liberal do they commit sin?
S…..Switch. When you talk to a liberal do they switch the subject. You know like you say….Polls show that only 43 percent Favor Obama care and they Respond…Bush is Hitler…Then you know your talking to a liberal.
I….Ignore the Facts…..When you point out that every poll in America says that Obama care is at 43 percent favorable…they find a poll conducted by three kindergarteners that show 66 percent favor Obama care. They simply ignore your facts and keep on spouting talking points. Then you know your talking to a liberal.
N….Name Call. When they run out of talking points and your still there….they just start calling you names….Then you know your talking to a liberal.
liberalpinko
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#10
“While it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative.” John Stuart Mill
Interested
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#11
Oxymoron if there ever was one.
So your great counter Mr/Ms Pinko is an European born over 100 years ago.
Who had this little gem
Really? That’s your shining example ?
Interested
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#12
I hear ya on that one Doomed. One of my – fairly far right friends sent this.
Naturally things have only added to the list in the months that followed those 5 months. lately add on to the worst unemployment in 26 years, his spending of millions of dollars to secure an Olympic bid (failure) for his crony’s in Chicago, spending of thousands of US Taxpayers dollars on his date nights, the beer summit, the snubbing of traditional allies in favor of traditional foes.
ahhhh too many to list. Empty Suit indeed.
Michael Merritt
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#13
@ashok
I don’t disagree, though I think Republicans need to craft their plans of attack carefully. Also, I mention in that article that all this “Alinsky” stuff is the right’s response to 8-years of “It’s gotta be Rove behind it!” from the left (though Rovism and Alinskyism are not without common features). So I get it.
@Jul Paddy
Yes, actually. Nice try on the drive-by criticism, though.
Wilson was out of line and apologized for it, and the request for it was quite bipartisan.
Many times, but we’re not going to get behind a keyboard every time the Birther express goes crazy.
Hey, did you know the owner of this site is a Muslim? No? Well, maybe start commenting regularly and you’ll find out more about this site, instead of making your opinions based on one article.
You’ll find conservatives have a very different take on this assetion. It’s not very bi-partisan at all at the moment (unless the recent Finance Committee votes hold, then it gets somewhat better).
@Interested
Because I’m sure George W. Bush never had a social life. Of course he did; it’s just that the Obamedia didn’t cover every second of it.
I still remain fairly comfortable. Even I was a little uneasy on policy toward Israel (and I don’t think Israel can do no wrong), though Obama seems to be learning some lessons. Case in point: their pressure on Palestine to not support the war crimes resolution.
And, you know, the missile defense system plans to continue pointing at Iran, to the chagrin of their Supreme Leader.
Interested
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#14
I think he should. I think he should stand with Pelosi and Reid and announce that very decision. And I think it should be very public – endless coverage.
…. endless amounts of campaign material for the GOP for decades to come.
They never covered a minute, hour or time.
Championing of empty suit. And they wonder why their industry is failing.
You may – but it’s standard hypocrisy of the left to cry about the world ending when Bush called it as he saw it with so-called Allies, and the cheering of the traditional allies by Obama.
Jeb
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#15
I thought I was the one who brought out the Rove parallel.
The question was about this sites treatment of Tea Parties not birthers (though there is overlap). This site as been near unanimous in its positive coverage of Tea Party protesters with some outright cheer leading.
The owner of this site is also one of its most unabashedly partisan contributors and definitely the most unabashedly partisan of its editorial staff. He has still failed to correct the horrible lie he told about Kevin Jennings and none here have bothered to correct him on it.
Michael Merritt
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#16
@Interested
Your criticism was Obama “spending of thousands of US Taxpayers dollars on his date nights”, not the media coverage surrounding it. My point was that George Bush too used Air Force One to get to and from his ranch in Texas, and probably other outings as well.
People tend to criticize what they don’t like, whether it was Bush’s or is Obama’s “Our way or the highway” approaches” I am comfortable now, but have some serious criticisms as well.
@Jeb
You’re right, actually. Sorry about that. It wasn’t far from my mind when I was writing the article, though. Fortunately, it seems that at least some people on the right (the ones who don’t let partisanship overwhelmingly blind them, anyway), seem to get this.
As you point out, there is some overlap, but there is also a large attempt by many on the left to conflate the two groups as if they were one in the same.
As for our coverage of the protesters, I don’t see this as a bad thing. They have a right to protest. The bailout bills had a lot of pork, and the healthcare bill overwhelmingly supported by Democrats is appalling, in my opinion.
There certainly are some wackos out there in the Tea Party movement (and for those people, “teabagger” is an apt term), but I reject the idea that the movement in of itself is bad. Most people are just fed up by what they consider bad policies, but don’t personally dislike Obama. They may even lend support to some of his policies.
I know of one such person in my state, who is now running for Congress against Rep. Joe Courtney. I may be slightly biased (she’s a former professor of mine), but there is nothing bad I can say about her character.
I cannot speak for anyone else who writes here, but if the places were switched, and this was an anti-war movement, I’d also support their protests, too.
I don’t support the spin on it, but Jennings did fail to report the incident.
Interested
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#17
You brought up the Media Coverage – not I, I responded to it. If you didn’t want to discuss it – Don’t bring it up.
I imagine as time goes on that comfort level will be more fully realized
Michael Merritt
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#18
I was saying that George Bush surely also must have used tax payer money to go on personal trips (I believe the President has an allocation for travel).
You original criticism was that this is part of what makes Obama an empty suit. Yet, you don’t seem to have a problem with Bush doing this same thing, and when pressed on the matter (that I described as a difference in coverage of the activities), you focused on the media coverage and ignored what I said about Bush.
I think that’s cutting it close to changing the subject, which we usually only see here from the liberal commenters.
Just sayin’…
I agree with you on the Obama-loving media seeking to cover his every fracking movement, by the way.
Interested
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#19
Just sayin’ the original subject changing was by you MM, then you didn’t like it when I responded to it?
I said.
You said
I continued your thread.
And you then didn’t like the media bit
Your right MM – that’s what we see from the Liberals. – usually.
If you would like to pick a topic that you will stick to – I’m more than happy to respond to it.