Pirate's Cove

Eugene Robinson, Washington Post opinion writer, apparently thinks history started on January 20, 2009. On the Opinions front page, the article is entitled “An Un-American Display,” while in the screeching single page, it is called “No Way To Treat A President.”

Anyone who watched Wednesday night as President Obama explained his health-care reform proposals to Congress saw a chief executive making what sounded like a genuine appeal for bipartisanship — and his opponents behaving like a bunch of spoiled first-graders. Obama should ignore them, even if they hold their breath until they turn blue.

Um, no. He sounded like a petulant child getting more and more shrill because no one will give him that pony he has been begging for for 8 months.

House Republicans were particularly ostentatious in showing their disrespect not just for Obama but for the office he holds. The outburst by Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina — who shouted “You lie!” when Obama said his plan would not cover illegal immigrants — was only the most egregious display of contempt. Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the House minority whip, fiddled with his BlackBerry while the commander in chief was speaking. Other Republicans made a show of waving copies of their own alleged reform plan, which isn’t really a plan at all.

And Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas waved hand-lettered signs at the president, as if he thought he were attending one of those made-for-television town-hall meetings rather than a solemn gathering of the nation’s highest elected officials.

Throughout the speech, there was grumbling, mugging and eye-rolling on the Republican side that was not only undignified but frankly un-American. When I was a correspondent in London, I covered far more raucous sessions of the British House of Commons — that’s how Parliament treats the prime minister, who is the head of government. In the United States, that simply is not how Congress treats the president, who is the head of state.

I do the same thing when one of my roll ups are lying their backsides off to me or just throwing some BS at the wall. I bet you do, too.

Congress didn’t heckle Lyndon Johnson like that during the Vietnam War or Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. Congress didn’t even show that kind of bitterness and aggression toward George W. Bush, who did lie — specifically, about the intelligence that his administration relied on to justify an unnecessary war that has cost 4,300 American lives and enough money to fund Obama’s health-care proposals for a decade.

Do we need to get into this yet again, the WMD garbage? I won’t. It has been done a gazillion times (a gazillion is slightly more than a shatload.) As far as the costs go, if we put that money into health care, it would be deficit spending. Hmm.

But, considering that the Democrats have consistently called Bush a liar, have personally insulted him and his family for 8 years, and….. well, how about when they interrupted Bush’s 2005 State Of The Union speech with boo’s? And in 2006, where they applauded to cheer their own obstructionism?

Ah, the good old days of civility.

Anyhow, doesn’t matter, because all you Republicans are racists

You will note that I have not yet mentioned race. For the record, I suspect that Obama’s race leads some of his critics to feel they have permission to deny him the legitimacy, stature and common courtesy that are any president’s due. I can’t prove this, however. And if I’m right, what’s anybody supposed to do about it? There’s no way to compel people to search their souls for traces of conscious or unconscious racial bias. We could have an interesting discussion about the historical image of the black man in American society, but that wouldn’t get us any closer to universal health care.

Told ya so!

Chatty Kathy Parker also does her “Mr. Wilson is mean” schtick while doing her pretend Southerner bit.

Interestingly, there is not one editorial about 9/11 at the WP, except for Charles Krauthammer discussing Van Jones’ Trutherism.