There are at least three reasons why we should just "look forward," not demand censure for Wilson, and in fact should never even mention his name again:
- It's over, he apologized (or at least "apologized"), and Obama accepted it,
- Continuing to talk about him is a distraction from health care reform, and
- Continuing to press the issue will make him a martyr.
But those three reasons do not hold a candle to the more important reasons why he SHOULD be censured.
Below the fold.
I know, from reading here and in other publications, that I am not alone in an experience I've been having for quite a while now: Over and over, as each vile new Republican or wingnut lie or distortion came to light, I kept thinking that nothing they do any more could surprise me, that they had gone so low there was no shock level left in me that they hadn't already breached.
But then they would come out with the next one, and I'd be shocked all over again.
Muslim
Terrorist
Foreign national
Nazi
Death panels
Indoctrinating children
Think about it. There are tens of millions of people in this country who literally believe that the man holding the office of the Presidency of the United States of America (1) is not qualified to even have run for office, (2) is advocating a program which will require senior citizens to undergo euthanasia because they are too much trouble to bother with any more, and (3) should not be allowed to talk to the schoolchildren of America unless his remarks have been pre-screened.
And still they keep at it. The Limbaughs, the Becks, the Hannitys, the Bachmanns, the Grassleys, on and on and on.
And now, Joe Wilson.
Joe Wilson isn't any different from all the others, except for one thing: He did what he did not at a town hall meeting, not in an on-camera interview, not from behind a radio mike. He did it in the chambers of the United States Congress during the president's address to a joint session.
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It's often been said that the annual State of the Union address is the closest thing we in this country have to the pomp and pageantry of royal events in countries that are monarchies.
The speech Wednesday night was not the State of the Union, but it was the same type of formal occasion, scaled down a step or two. One of the three branches of our government was formally addressing a second branch, with the TV cameras of the world covering it. Everyone who is anyone in DC was there.
And into this rarefied atmosphere, this solemn moment that represents America at its most bipartisan, America as a collection of political antagonists who despite their differences have nonetheless somehow found a way to create a functioning democracy, a democracy that expresses its disagreements through debate rather than violence and renews itself regularly through the ballot box rather than through frequent coups and revolutions -- into this atmosphere an elected member of Congress named Joe Wilson chose to bring his street thug tactics. He chose to act like a teabagger, a town hall rowdy, a member of a street mob.
After the initial shock, we got to work. In the space of just a few hours, we raised over a million bucks for Wilson's opponent (and here's the link to add to that total). And, perhaps to our surprise, it seemed like this time, mainstream opinion was with us. Wison issued the standard non-apology apology so fast you might have thought it was Rush Limbaugh he insulted. Wilson has been roundly condemned, even by the TV pundits. And wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, we hear that even John Boehner -- JOHN BOEHNER -- has been calling on Wilson to apologize on the floor of Congress
So maybe we start congratulating ourselves on our fundraising, and maybe we allow ourselves to think that surely this time will mark a turning point, that people are so shocked that surely Wilson and those of his ilk now understand they cannot keep sinking ever lower.
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But, in our hearts, we know that isn't the way it will roll.
We know that despite the public outcry, what this event really signals is that there simply are no longer any lines that the other side considers taboo to cross. If there is not decisive, formal action taken to counteract it, we will only see continued deterioration of our democratic structures. If we keep letting it grow incrementally, the result will be that it will in fact keep growing. If no line is drawn here -- drawn clearly, unequivocally and forcefully to say "NO! No further!" then we can expect more of the same, or likely worse, at the State of the Union address, at Obama's second inaugural if it comes to that.
And aside from these niceties of political decorum, the other escalation that we are seeing in this incident is the escalation of the degree to which delegitimization of this President is accepted. True, it isn't "accepted" in the sense of being approved by mainstream America, and hey NWTerriD didn't you notice that Boehner is calling for Wilson to apologize?
Yeah, I noticed. I also noticed that Wilson has refused Boehner's kind offer. And apparently the Rethugs are going to just let him get away with that refusal.
"Please apologize so we don't look bad."
"No!"
"Oh, OK."
And the cynic in me wonders if that was what was intended all along. If Boehner just wanted to make it look like the Republicans disapprove of Wilson's outburst, but behind the scenes maybe there's much rejoincing and high-fiving:
"Hey, Joe -- nice job putting the Obamanator in its place the other night! Sorry I gotta pull this bullshit move of asking you to apologize, but you know, if I didn't, they'd start demanding all our heads. But you just say no, and we'll move on, and in a week everyone will have forgotten about it."
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Wilson's behavior is, so far, unique. In a tangible way, it goes further than any other smear on this president has gone. And because of when and where it happened, in some ways it goes further in undermining civil political discourse than anything any other politician has done in recent history.
That is why it provides a unique opportunity for Congress to communicate something important through censure. If this action that violates not only our unspoken norms, but also the formal rules governing Congresional behavior, isn't seen as deserving of censure, then it opens up the door to even worse. And if the door is open, the history of the past months shows us there will be Republicans willing to walk through that open door. If Wilson is not censured, I don't know what the next incident will be, but I know it will be even uglier than this one.
We are at a frog-in-the-test-tube moment. The frog's legs are beginning to cook, and we really need to turn down the heat.