Haiku 091809

he yells 'Hey'
at folks fishing --
empty beer cans

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Recently, we read the following:

CNN.com: "Joe Wilson says outburst to Obama speech 'spontaneous' "

"The GOP congressman from South Carolina who shouted out during President Obama's health care address to Congress insisted Thursday that his outburst was 'spontaneous…'

"Rep. Joe Wilson shocked many observers Wednesday night when he shouted, 'You lie!' after the president denied that health care legislation would provide free coverage for illegal immigrants…

"Wilson … cited a report by the Congressional Research Service that he said showed the health care proposals would include illegal aliens…

"A CNN review of the Congressional Research Service report found that the health care legislation does address illegal immigrants. It says that noncitizens who can be considered 'resident aliens' under tax law, which doesn't distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants, would be required to buy health insurance.

"Yet the proposal clearly says that federal subsidies would go only to U.S. citizens and immigrants who are in the United States legally…"

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And we thought:

…Republican Joe Wilson (S.C.) says his heckling was “spontaneous.” It doesn’t make his behavior less rude though. It just confirms what some have characterized as a lack of good breeding. Or maybe, he was just drunk.

What about Republican Wilson’s claim that Obama lied when the latter denied that health care legislation would provide free coverage for illegal immigrants? In fact, the Congressional Research Service, which Wilson says is his source, refutes Wilson’s claim. The CRS report says: “… [T]he proposal clearly says that federal subsidies would go only to U.S. citizens and immigrants who are in the United States legally.”

Who’s actually lying then? At the least the American people deserve representatives who are intellectually honest. Laws shouldn’t be built on a foundation of lies. Opposition to proposed laws should not be based on distortions of positions and facts. Or outright lies. Or drunken outbursts...