Most Americans are seriously pissed at Joe Wilson's "YOU LIE" blather.
Sixty-eight percent of Americans interviewed in the Sept. 11-13 USA Today/Gallup poll say they oppose what Wilson did, while 21% say they support it.
Over half of those asked claimed to follow the story somewhat to very closely.
Not surprisingly, there were party differences in people's opinion, but not to the degree one might expect. (Remember, these are people being asked in a poll, not showing up at a rally and being featured on TV).
For Republicans, the break down was 39:52 support:oppose
For Democrats, the break down was 3:96 support:oppose
This PROVES that what we are seeing in congress ... the activities of the Republican party ... do NOT represent the people who elected them. This is good news for Democrats because it suggests that there will be further blue shifts in the next two election cycles.
Gallup agrees with me:
Americans by more than a 3-to-1 margin oppose rather than favor Rep. Wilson's shouting "You lie!" during President Obama's healthcare speech last week. The fact that most Democrats oppose Wilson's actions is not surprising. The majority opposition among Republicans is perhaps a little more unexpected, particularly given the vocal support that conservative talk-show hosts have given to Wilson, and given reports that contributions to Wilson's re-election campaign have soared as a result of what he did. Republicans may be taking their cues on the incident from Republican leaders in the House and Senate, who have generally criticized Wilson's actions.
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atheists caused 911 - treat them accordingly
you have forfeit your life
http://www.sotoman.info/freethinking/index.php?topic=1198.0
Felixmab, check your email. Then check with your lawyer, because unless you have a really good explanation, a random death threat will be reported to the RCMP and the FBI. Even worse, it will be reported to the ISP you used.
actually I am going to CRUCIFY you...
http://www.sotoman.info/freethinking/index.php?topic=1198.0
There always seems to be that 21% who are the lowest of the scum in the US. No matter what the issue, these 'tards are always on the wrong side.
Greg, I think his spam messages have been showing up all over (just for information, not to harp on your response) - he, she, or it, seems to be blindly spamming anywhere possible. You can probably expect more of the same.
The poll results give me a little hope that sanity might rear its head once again, but I see one obvious thing that would prevent it from doing so: the rational folks summarized in this poll, from both parties, don't have a national stage, and aren't likely to get one any time soon. They may (stress may) influence people around them, but the process of moving their influence from local to broad will be excruciatingly slow, if it happens at all.
Dean: Spam has a link back to some site .. which is why it exists. The name here indicates that this is Dave Mabus. The ISP is from BC, Candada. I did not know Dave Mabus was in Canada, and in fact, I have no idea who it is.
I am 99.9 percent sure that this is nothing, but I do take that 0.1 % chance as a threat to my readers who happen to be atheists, so it is prudent to take it seriously. The comment has been duly reported to the authorities.
I have a joke in my mind linking the Futureshop stores of Canada (this comes from one of them), the US special forces, and Somalia, but I'll keep it to myself.
Yes, Mabus is known to live in Canada. You know, it may not be that he posts a bunch when he goes off his meds. That may just be how long it takes him to find new internet access once he's shut down.
dean is correct that PZ has had many a go 'round with him. He's in PZ's dungeon, where PZ gives his real name (which isn't Mabus, BTW). The dude is very, very disturbed.
A note regarding Canadian law: While most threats of harm have to be credible in order to fall afoul of the law, a threat of death is an assault regardless of credibility.
Admittedly, even if you do manage to get someone before a judge on such a charge you are going to be lucky to see anything more than an absolute discharge[1] unless there is a long pattern that crosses over into harassment.
[1] i.e. you're guilty, but you aren't going to be punished nor will you have a criminal record.
I'm guilty of a blockquote f*****p of major proportions in post 7. sorry 'bout that - I'm going for a good long bike ride to clear my mind.
While it is heartening that Wilson is widely seen as a jerk the fact remains that he is highly likely, barring meteor strike or similar, to be reelected. While the condemnation of wide swaths of the American populations might make him feel bad he will get over it.
He is comforted by the fact that he has advanced the GOP cause of making this administration look like a failure, even at the cost of damaging the nation, and that he will be richly rewarded for his performance when the GOP retakes the congress. Dreams of juicy committee assignments, Obama's humiliation, and well formed congressional pages dance in his head.
Art; Politics is the art of war. What Wilson bought himself is one million dollars in funding he didn't have before . But his opposition got two million, and will get another couple if the right people play their cards right.
This means an easy win for a 700K race is going cost Republican donors five times that ... to keep a "sure thing" seat ... in a year when they need to not be wasting money like that.
I promose you that the above two paragraphs are an accurate summary of the substance of the conversation that Wilson and the GOP leadership had over the 12 hours or so following the "YOU LIE!" outburst.
If you notice Wilson walking a little funny these days its because he got his balls clipped.
Your overlooking that part of the art of war is to play to your strengths while exploiting your opponent's weaknesses. Historically the GOP, with its willingness to sell off public property, environmental protection and tax cuts to the wealthy, has always had more money up front and access to more deep pockets than the Democrats. When you add in perks like use of corporate owned airplanes, buses and property the difference is often close to two-to-one. It has only been in the last two cycles, through the use of fund raising on the web, that the Democrats have come close to parity.
The GOP can afford to spend money. The Democrats are already facing funding fatigue.
That two million dollars that Wilson's opponent gets is two million dollars that will be subtracted from Democratic coffers for the midterm and two million that will be spent on a district that the DNC can't win. Any time the RNC can get the DNC to spend resources it is short of, money, in battles it can't win it is a RNC victory.
There is also the fact that Wilson is now a wingnut rock star. All abuse and accusation directed his way becomes part of an alleged pattern of persecution of 'socialist fighting patriots who speak truth to power'. If he is walking funny it is because he is getting serviced several times a day by wingnut groupies.
No doubt the 'reasonable' and 'civil' wing of the GOP is going to make a great show of taking Wilson out to the woodshed and disciplining him. But it is all show. Over the next year or two carefully observe what happens to his committee assignments, office assignments, staff allocations, and look for major projects that start up in his district, all the sorts of perks that come when a politician follows orders and takes a hit for the team. Also look at how his family is treated. His wife might end up on a major charity or in a major administrative position. Or his son gets into a college several miles ahead of his academic ability.
At the very least he, or a family member, is assured of a seat of several corporate boards, a cool $50,000 - $100,000 for four hours work four times a year. A lucrative book deal and a seat on a right-wing think tank are also common rewards, wingnut welfare, for loyal soldiers.
Forgot to add the link pointing out the relative financial strengths of the DNC and RNC:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/0309/RNC_outraises_DNC.html