Tag Archives: Joe Wilson

Just another rant from 2009

The summer of 2009, filled with what apparently was just the beginning of nasty Teapublican behavior ugly rhetoric and a whole lot of pollution spewing out of all their holes… I called it the summer of my discontent

I believe in the right to freedom of speech, I do not believe that the speech should invoke fear, hate, lies and death. Americans should not go overseas and speak ill of the President, no matter who is in office. The position of President should be held with great regard definitely not disrespected by any American while in other countries.

I am a person of colour (mixed decent) from a huge family who has had to live with the fear of being non-white while driving, walking, shopping etc. Fact is, people of colour live this way, and it is not right. In the year 2009, we were blessed to have our first person of colour (Bi-Racial) as our President. I do not know him personally, but he seems to be kind, gentle, calm, cool and definitely not an angry man and has had nothing but angry words, behavior, and hate spewed at him. It is disguised by some as freedom of speech, others as a fear of government take overs; most if not all attitudes exposed a fear of change and (republicans) definitely get it, don’t want it and caused a $24billion shut down to express it. The election in both 2008&2013 results showed a diverse group of say 53% voted for Obama as our next President. It is a worthy reminder to Republicans because they lack a sense of acceptance that these events actually took place. However, we all know Republicans met the same night Barack Obama took the office of President devising a plan a of attack which has turned out to be… obstruction. The last administration failed us in my view, my opinion and right to freedom of speech. I don’t think I am alone in that feeling but I don’t wish he(bush) were dead, or any ill will on any level to him(bush). Yet, the comments from the likes of Joe Wilson or a rush Limbaugh, g beck and so many members of Congress and or Conservatives has taken me back because I feel the hate right through the TV. The lies and the miss-information has reached an all-time peak, I found myself so irritated, I had to join the effort to fight back against the Teapublicans rhetoric . As some ex and current people in politics use our 24/7 news cycles as a platform to spread what they call “news” which sounds and feels like old style Southern propaganda, once laced with disrespectful language against the Office of the President has become an all-out assault. Yes, as a person of colour I am upset, compelled to respond to each tweet that even remotely sounds like racial hate, fear, and whatnot. I was repulsed, it was disrespectful, it was sad, and inappropriate. I ask Congress , where are the grownups, knowing Joe Wilson and his other Teapublican comrades had/have to be told this behavior was inappropriate, told to apologize is beyond my understanding of adult behavior. Yes, this is what the first amendment covers, yet, I would wager that given the right circumstance this gross misuse of our 1st amendment rights by the democratic party would be given the hammer until they apologized on national TV.

Oh wait, this is happening.

What we all heard spewed by righties back in 2009 continues in 2013 seemingly embodied by southern men acting in old style southern political tactics and if you know your history, understand it, it is clear enough. Then add that old cliché : what goes around comes around and its meaning (A person’s actions, whether good or bad, will often have consequences for that person-wiki) is definitely scary but we must all Stand Up Speak Out and fight against that old cliché becoming an ugly reality. The GOP shutdown was just the beginning of a train to derail what could be an improvement of American lives, yet ole’school politics would rather increase the casualties

Our President is a man who wants to put us back on track because some greedy fools derailed it.

The solutions to our economic problem should have nothing to do with the colour of our President’s skin. It should be about folks who saw the problem, wanted to change it in a bipartisan way and Barack won the office twice. Though Teapublicans decided, “Just say no” was a much better way to do the People’s business. We all know change is hard, it takes time and obviously a certain group of people have been led to believe that President Obama is not only taking us somewhere else that could be bad for America, they use heritage, his skin colour and edit his conversation to portray him as the “the other.” or worse

These claims are outrageous.

The President’s agenda seems simple to me. Maybe he is ahead of his time or at least the clock that Teapublicans are trying to push us all onto. Americans deserve a right to live a good life, afford health-care, a life where upward mobility is possible, a right to be all we can be – educated, a right to jobs for the 21st century and equal rights should be the norm not a political football.

During the summer of 2009, the path to prosperity or the lack thereof was being laid out right before our very eyes by folks like rep. Paul Ryan. I wonder why my fellow Professional Lefties did not see it then because we now have a Teapublican paper trail. I wonder if the PL knows how their members of Congress voted during President Obama’s 1st term, let alone the fact that a number of blue dogs sided with the extreme right. That was then and though most if not all bluedogs were voted out of office in 2010, members of the tea party not only replaced most but have done their best to make our Government look silly chaotic seemingly without compassion morality and more Wall Street than Main Street

Those in public service , take an oath to do no harm call themselves Public Servants, but if you take a hard look at how the Congress of 112th,2nd Session has acted lest we talk about the 113th Congress …

you would be feeling discontented too

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Rep. Joe Wilson – a needed reminder

11/21/2011 Nativegrl77

Op-Ed Contributor

Joe Wilson’s War

By JOANNE B. FREEMAN

Published: September 18, 2009

New Haven

ON Tuesday, seven Republicans broke party ranks and voted to reprove Representative Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, for calling President Obama a liar. One of the renegades was Bob Inglis, who upbraided his fellow South Carolinian for a breach of House rules. “That problem could have been fixed by an apology to the House,” Mr. Inglis explained.

And he was right. In fact, his comment reminds us that Congress has a long and storied culture of apology, to go along with its long and storied culture of insult — and that the two traditions are inextricably bound together.

Congressional insults — and apologies — had their heyday in the first half of the 19th century. Much as we envision the pre-Civil War era as the golden age of Congressional oratory delivered by the likes of Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster, alongside this eloquence was a generous helping of rough-and-tumble brawling.

Men pulled knives and guns on one another. There were shoving matches and canings — the most notorious being the 1856 attack by Representative Preston Brooks, Democrat of South Carolina, on Senator Charles Sumner, Republican of Massachusetts. Tables were flipped, inkwells and spittoons went flying. Occasionally there was a grand melee with dozens of congressmen pummeling one another, emerging after a few minutes of mayhem with torn clothing, assorted bumps and bruises, and toupees askew. Not surprisingly, accompanying all of this tumbling and punching was a slew of insults.

Most powerful of them all was “the lie direct.” According to the formal code of honor then in play, a man who didn’t keep his word was no man at all, so there could be only one response to such a charge: a duel (or very careful negotiations to avoid one). For that very reason, “throwing the lie” was a handy strategy in Congressional debate. The gasp-inducing drama of the moment was precisely the point. Nothing called an audience to attention as quickly as the threat of gunplay. Whether one was trying to attract attention from the press, derail a debate or humiliate an opponent, the lie direct was a grand slam in the game of politicking.

But untarnished victory required one final step: an immediate apology to the House or Senate — delivered on the floor. In part, this was the logic of the code of honor. The only way to offset a public insult was with a public apology; the audience that had witnessed the insult needed to witness the making of amends. And when a combatant voluntarily apologized as soon as a fight was reconciled, he prevented the opposition from milking his misbehavior for partisan gain.

In addition, a quick apology prevented an exchange of words from becoming something worse. In 1836, when a panicked speaker of the House began to adjourn the body after a tussle between two congressmen, several members instantly protested that this would prevent a public reconciliation. The result could have been ugly. As a House clerk put it, had “the speaker adjourned the House, as he was about to, there would have been a battle and blood would have been spilt upon the floor.”

These formal apologies nearly always followed the same script. After harsh language or fisticuffs, the combatants would rise to their feet and apologize in open session. The 1856 apology of Senator Andrew Butler, a South Carolina Democrat who was also the uncle of Preston Brooks, the assailant of Charles Sumner, is typical. In the flurry of outraged debate after the Sumner caning, Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts insulted Brooks. Butler immediately jumped to his feet and called Wilson a liar. Within minutes, Butler was on his feet again. “This mode of attacking my relative is very trying,” he said in apology. “I used a word which I hope will not be put down. I have never used an epithet on this floor, and therefore I ask that it may be excused. I make the request at the unanimous instance of my friends.”

As antebellum congressmen well knew, serious insults required serious apologies. So important were these rituals that they sometimes required hours or even days of negotiations for acceptable terms. In 1837, when Representative John Bell, an Anti-Jacksonian from Tennessee, called Leonard Jarvis, a Jacksonian from Maine, a liar during a debate, the outraged Jarvis first insisted that the matter would have to be settled “in another manner,” meaning in a duel. Jarvis also made clear that he wouldn’t retract the words that had prompted Bell to insult him in the first place. After several hours of wrangling by dozens of congressmen, Bell withdrew his words unconditionally.

No one assumed that such apologies were heartfelt. As The New York Times groused in 1859, these “Congressional rowdies” seemed to “have got it somehow into their heads that they can descend to any depth of blackguardism, if they only make an apology immediately afterwards.” Even so, these apologies meant something. By publicly apologizing to his colleagues, a congressman not only paid obeisance to the dignity and order of the House or Senate, but he also upheld the civility of Congressional proceedings as a whole.

This sentiment was perhaps explained best by Senator Louis McLane, a Jacksonian from Delaware, in an 1828 debate over the vice president’s right to call men to order. Written parliamentary rules were useful, he said, but the Senate’s tradition of “liberal comity” was “more efficient than any written rule.” What would preserve the Senate was “the great moral influence of the power of the body for its own preservation.” For this reason, the Congressional culture of insult was necessarily accompanied by one of apology. Whether it exists today remains an open question.

Joanne B. Freeman, a professor of history at Yale, is writing a book on Congressional violence in the first half of the 19th century.

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thirsty Thursday &some News …

09/15/2010 Nativegrl77

This week the 206 has had good bad and somewhat pleasant weather. The left coast is definitely experiencing fall with a little bit of heat now and then. The dog days of summer are waning.

President Obama will be in Connecticut for 2 fund raisers, has put Liz Warren in charge of setting up the Consumer Agency we all know was needed and is now going to help protect if not advocate and enforce financial reform. There are reports that President Obama has ordered all oil and gas platforms that are unused closed. All I can say is finally. The facts are that the latest explosions have created chaos and are unsafe for the workers as well as exposing the truth of limited and or no inspections or improvements done in years, which just seems unreal. We all have to ask why these things were left unattended to for so long and is this yet another gaffe on the part of last President as well as the local state government officials. The latest explosions in the mining and or energy industries have created deaths that could have been avoided but because we have a President willing to act swiftly for the safety of All Americans future deaths on such high risk jobs should be reduced or stopped. It also is just one of many examples of this being the moment for America to move forward into the 21st Century people.

We are all inclined to being competitive by nature … yet on some level everyone wants all people to be civil, prosper, and seek opportunity, which sounds great until the ideology of us against them comes up. Republicans have become the group that has now outed themselves as the Political Party against the Middle-Class. If people would just take the time to read listen and understand what the Boehner’s, Bachmann, mcconnells,mccain, cantor and more are doing and saying: the difference is ideology it is one group who feels the middle class needs to be put back on track thus getting and or starting the economy back up. The 2Wars, AIG, housing bubble and the 2 huge Tax Cuts for the wealthy got us into trouble and as far as i can tell most Republicans plan to go back to the way Bush ruled and that has to be a sign, a warning to people out there on the fence. Any vote for the Democratic Party is a vote for moving into the 21st Century and as we all know Americans are suffering, have been for decades. This is a moment to make changes to help everyone not just a select few contrary to what Republicans offer. Is it hard to understand that had Bush and his admin done what was right our economy; meaning the Banks, Auto industry and anything related would not have needed a huge amount of cash thrown at it to save it. It is true and unfortunate that Republicans have been able to reduce legislation that the impact on our economy is slow. The stimulus bill; had it been larger would have stimulated the economy faster, the rich, middle and lower class would be in much better shape but Republicans have a different plan and it includes throwing All Americans under the bus in order to gain back control. Think about what it will mean to you and your family if Republicans gain back control. Ask yourself, can we afford another or absolute crash to our economy. Can we endure the threat to shut down our economy and will the middle class, the poor, disabled, elders, and people of colour be apart of the plan or victims of the Republicans because repealing, shutting down or anything else they plan to do if in control will have consequences and impact all of us.

The 9/11 and Katrina catastrophes were not just examples of bad governing they made me realize that the cold truth to how Republicans would handle a true disaster on our home land. It was embarrassing to know that warnings of possible levee failures and repairs needed were not taken seriously. I still cannot understand why the Army Corp did not make them as prescribed. How many people lost their lives that day because of incompetence by local and state government officials who failed to have a comprehensive emergency plan. It is now 10 years later and people are either still struggling or were forced to make the difficult choice of relocating and is it just me or has the NYC local and state government decided to save money, clear out the poor and wait for the value to increase and rebuild in order to make money. There are reports that the 9/11 site created health issues for the first responders and still might be an issue but what they should have done was to confirm the health risks and then deal with it.

The facts behind why our economy crashed has been forgotten by many but the house of Bush made decisions that hurt the middle class and these same errors will be repeated by current Republicans if they gain control of Congress. The last guy sent huge sums of money to Iraq instead of spending that money on Americans. It should upset and outrage everyone. I have my theories about the truth behind our crash but here we are; we have a financial mess that is local and global because we are all connected yet a large group refuses to accept that. We have a new President that come in to clean up the big mess left by the last guy. It is obvious big things had to be done to fix the mess of the last eight years. Think about it, after years of tax cuts given to the people making the most obviously wealthy and though they claim to be the ones creating not just jobs but are providing opportunities? The fact is that the money did not trickle down then, it still is not and will not trickle down to the middle class .The fact is people that the WEALTHY stopped spending and started saving, yes; too many people were given loans for housing …it was a big mistake… loans were given to people who could not pay because the money seemed unending, greed and someone felt let the next guy fix the problem and instead of taking hold of the problem and solving the last guy passed the worthless buck and gave it to our new President. President Obama has a huge mess to fix and those of us who have been watching know Republicans have tried to back him into a corner forcing him to be seen not only as a failure but loose votes from the very people who voted him into office. The problem is can people who vote see the BS that is truly the Republican Party of NO? We have come a long way with great legislation put into place to help all Americans but because Republicans have stalled, blocked, and scaled down a lot of legislation so we continue to dig ourselves out of a recession …people need to wake up see the light find the Jesus moment and realize the only way for us to get back on track is to get more democrats in Congress.

I ask – what would your neighborhood look like had Republicans been successful in blocking HR1586, called a bailout by Bachmann, Boehner said when will the bailouts end…Come on HR1586 keeps our children’s Teachers employed, keeps our Police employed and the streets safer, our homes and elderly able to get help if and or they need it. These things would be unavailable people . This is no joke folks , it is not propaganda; all anyone has to do is remember search and or read your history.

For 22 months Republicans have made it impossible to get out of the Recession ditch completely with no votes on legislation that would impact the middle and lower class. Now, two years later people who use to be considered middle-class are now experiencing what is like being out of a job, being homeless, being on food stamps is a non-partisan issue, yet, Republicans do not agree. Again, they have voted no, blocked and made Harry Reid scale down legislation that could not only have gotten us out of this recession, reduced unemployment, create more jobs and the nasty hate rhetoric now being used overtly probably would be but a memory. Republicans have yet to move past being left out of the plans for the stimulus, health care and financial reform bills but were willing to get on the floor of Congress and filibuster all our chances as Americans to get back on track because they want President Obama to fail. The things that no American should forget because as Public Servants we expect them to behave at a higher standard than the average American but the comments made that any legislation would be President Obama’s waterloo, the outburst that Joe Wilson had during our President’s speech will not be forgotten. When you listen to those on the right like fox news spewing hate and engaging in fear mongering on any given day; it makes you wonder what really is the motive and could people who once seemed reasonable truly believe the nonsense that these people are willing to say just to get attention or stop any progress related to all the issues on the minds and table of Americans.

It is offensive as an American to hear the comments thrown out there at my President by those on the right or Public Servants let alone to the office of President

President Obama genuinely tried to be bipartisan and while those left of center were becoming more and more upset our President who I believe understands politics a lot better than the pundits remained cool accepted the comments being made behind his back and now we all know the plan was to embarrass him. The old school politics would continue to be a battle. Mr. Boehner is just one example of putting ones Party first before America. We have millions of people still hurting, even Republican mayors and governors came forward to say vote yes, yet Boehner and his associates agreed to meet with the President in private; made comments on national tv that they would like to see the proposal before making any decisions then told his fellow Republicans to vote no to anything offered up. This showed just what kind of person he and some of the Republicans are and M. Steele stating that,” being bipartisan is overrated ” shows that Republicans see politics as a game — Republicans see We the people as pawns willing to withhold help real Americans need.

id laugh but it hurts

Other News …

**Starting today the Black Farmers will ride Tractors to DC to press Congress to act on the settlement promised but still unpaid for involving minority farmers.

**Thousands of dead birds found in the Gulf

**Senate to end debate and vote on small biz bill

**Under President Obama the deficit has dropped by 8% …what the Media won’t tell you

**Karl might become a hurricane by Friday

CSPAN …

-President Obama boosting American exports

Senate Impeachment Proceedings for Judge Thomas Porteous – Day 3

House Judiciary Subcmte. Hearing on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking

Pres. Obama Remarks on Small Business and Bush-Era Tax Cuts

State Department Press Briefing

House Financial Services Subcmte. Hearing on Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac

Defense Department Press Briefing

White House Briefing with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

House Republicans Press Conference

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thoughtful Thursday &some News

09/02/2010 Nativegrl77

As we roll into the Labor Day Holiday and hurricanes continue to slam the East Coast. We have News of another oilrig explosion, the Middle East peace talks have started, and many candidate debates for the November election are getting heated and somewhat ugly. The Islamic community center is being used on a daily basis as a tool of fear by folks on the right to scare or put the fear of something in white people. The idea that it is working to some degree is so offensive let alone the relationship to the talk around our Constitution. I cannot help but think these reactions are related to how folks like Gov. Brewer and McCain are projecting onto others regarding SB1070 …the “Other” that somehow someway needs to be controlled and treated differently.

The overt attacks on Muslim Americans who lived worked and died in NYC on that awful day 9/11 continues to happen on an daily basis …fear- any fear mongering of any kind should not be accepted. It needs to stop and while i feel someone in the Republican Party could put a stop to the constant fear mongering. I definitely will not hold my breath. The projection of fear and falsehoods coming from the right still stirred up against President Obama has become an annoying yet effective rouse on the American people. Its starting point is not obvious but the Media on all fronts have given the story legs by the amount of coverage. The coverage in my opinion has now provoked folks into hate and or what seems like actions of hate crimes. The move toward violence is based on the rhetoric coming from the folks on the right. I guess it has always been there but now it seems to be coming to the surface without any editing. The things said, the actions being encouraged against Muslim Americans by people We the People put into public service is offensive and does not represent what my family taught us at home or at school.

I will admit that I find it somewhat amusing to see how easy folks on the right want to throw out labels to describe President Obama’s actions. It does seem to be a nasty primal reaction to the unknown that they definitely are projecting on others who seem weak in a time when the jig is up so to speak. People should respect this President more –respect the office of President more- Joe Wilson’s behavior was unacceptable and seems like just another example of the attitudes seemingly accepted by the right and encouraged by what I definitely feel are people of weak minds acting out. Separate but equal …or are we moving backward to a time when life was separate and definitely not equal.

Albert Einstein said, “Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weaker minds.”

With Wall Streets creative accounting procedures, this finally came to an ugly head after years of betting against the people. If you need a reminder just watch the show, “House of cards”, by David Faber on Cnbc. It was a cruel and vulgar view but an awakening moment at how greed affects the mind. The movie was a truthful documentation of the nasty journey our economy took devised for who, by who and how it (they) brought all of us down with them. Now, while we all wait for Congress to come back from recess and the November elections we have to wade through the BS currently on the 24/7 News cycle and much of it is just not worth the folks spewing it out. I definitely do not watch faux News and Cnn is becoming more of an issue everyday.

I thought the News was or maybe i am just naive but I feel the News should be balanced fair and truly devoid of all opinions that are not true anymore and the opinions can be very disrespectful of President Obama and that bothers me. I cannot say I felt that way about Bush maybe some with Clinton but the talk seems or is different, the comments are as if they feel they are above President Obama. The President definitely is educated, smart and above the middle class i do not get the impression that most in the Media completely respect Obama
if we have to subscribe to labels … call me a Marxist who believes in Socialism at this time ….. We need someone who cares, who is socially responsible and who believes the gap between the haves and have none needs to shrink … school me …what can be wrong with caring for all the people of the US … not just the one percent… especially since that one percent has been wheeling and dealing starting from the house of bush and trickled down to main street … gotta admit it’s time for a change.
Obama is not a socialist or a Marxist … he is a Christian with centrist behavior as the President of the free world. Though i believe he must move more left of center to get what he needs to be done, I will give my hope faith and trust that he has learned where Republicans stand and what their agenda is moving forward. It is with great hope that everyone comes back to the Peoples business …get the Democratic Party informed on how voting this November will create the change we all voted for in 2008. It is quite sad to watch folks muddy the truth with miss-information about why the economy has not improved, why we needed to make sure teachers, police, firefighters were keep in place and why helping your fellow man is obviously is apart of being a Democrat because Bachmann and other Republicans are calling it a bailout. The notion that we have Boehner saying when will it all end when will the bailouts stop and he was talking about unemployment for All Americans including his own constituents are affected btw. The question is they listening to the rhetoric coming from the mouths of Republicans and or Tea baggers. Republicans want to repeal everything this President has done that will help get us back on track, help get us all back to work yet Republicans by way of saying NO in the Senate because of the 60vote rule. Think about it -Boehner and other Republicans said no to your family friends and associates but want to keep the Bush tax breaks, which btw were not paid for and were scheduled to expire. My question is for anyone to answer …do you realize these actions were not paid for so who will be the ones to pay…obvious answer is the Middle Class. It this what people want? Who out there has a voice of reason telling you that going back to what we had means more trouble more chances of actually falling off that cliff the last administration failed to pull us back from. I still do not understand and want to know when did they actually know there was trouble as well as why did they wait until the last minute …before the 2008 Presidential election? I have my theories, but the whole thing should be a warning for all those wondering just what plan Republicans have to get the US back on track.

Other News

**News of another oil rig explosion though all 13 people have been accounted for

**2nd day of President Obama middle east peace talks

**Officials has formally called for evacuations of the Southern region and the Gulf Coast

In a “bitter debate filled with personal attacks,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and challenger Carly Fiorina (R) faced off for the first time during the California Senate election. The debate focused mainly on economic issues, with sharp exchanges also coming over the issue of climate change.

According to a USA Today analysis of government data, “[h]ealth care spending this year has grown at its slowest rate in a half-century, a sign that people are forgoing medical care during the recession.” Medical care spending rose at a 2.7 percent annual rate per person in the first half of 2010, “the smallest increase since the Bureau of Economic Analysis began tracking medical care in 1959.”

Harvard Law School dean Martha Minow told students this week that Elizabeth Warren is no longer teaching a class she was slated to teach, fueling speculation that Warren may be nominated to head the new Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. “Professor Warren regrets that she will not be able to teach you this fall and we regret the last minute change,” Minow’s email read.

Undocumented “immigration to the U.S. has slowed sharply since 2007,” according to data released yesterday by the Pew Hispanic Center. Pew’s data finds that the number of undocumented immigrants coming into the country “plunged to an estimated 300,000 annually between March 2007 and 2009, from 850,000 a year between March 2000 and March 2005.

CSPAN

White House Briefing with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs

FCIC Meeting on “Too Big to Fail” – Day 2