Obama said he'd "call out" those who "misrepresent"--when is he going to call out Wilson?

[ima_sinnic]

Personally, I don't think much "calling out" is going to go on, because (true to my name) I'm too cynical to think it would really happen.

Noticing some DUers commenting on the play that Wilson's getting on right-wing news, it would be fantastic if Obama would actually ACT on his words and challenge Wilson to publicly debate him on the point of health benefits for "illegal immigrants," or at least to back up his bullshit so that it can be responded to. It would be wonderful to see Wilson get ground into the dust as his own lies bite him in the butt -- but it will never happen. Obama's too "nice" to actually "call" somebody "out."

[Peacetrain]

1. The President is going to call out the "lies"...not get into a back and forth with the liars

That is what they want.. their fifteen minutes of fame, and then the big bad old President is picking on them..

Seriously...

[saltpoint]

2. Wilson is allegedly a grown-up. That he did not behave like one two

nights ago suggests that he called himself out by drawing attention to himself, by disrupting a scheduled address in the people's house.

The President, the Vice President, and the Speaker of the House shot fast stares at Joe Wilson, stares that conveyed their assessments of his breach of protocol.

If you act like a two-year old, as Wilson certainly did, others have a right to regard you as one.

[bigjohn16]

3. Wilson is a gnat buzzing around the President.

To challenge him to a debate would be beneath the office of the Presidency.

[Empowerer]

4. He already did . . . on national television . . .

"Calling Out" doesn't necessarily mean shouting someone down or calling them out of their name.

In this case, the absolutely most effective "calling out" that the President could have done was to give him that withering look from the well of the House of Representatives for the world to see. And that's just what he did.

As we move forward, if Wilson and others keep up with their lies, there are plenty of surrogates in and out of the Administration who can handle him (notice that he said "we'll call them out," not "I'll call them out") - it's not the President's job to get down in the gutter with the likes of Wilson. And the last thing he needs to do is dignify that petty little man with any more attention from the leader of the free world.

But Wilson was called out quite nicely the other night.

[RoadRage]

11. ^ What they said...

[phleshdef]

5. Um, Wilson has all ready been called out. He doesn't need to.

[alsame]

6. I think Gibbs should start his press briefings every day by

citing the lies told the previous day and naming those who told them.

[nevergiveup]

7. Rude boisterous fools like Joe Wilson alway become the cult heroes of the right

and instant media stars. Obama is wise to ignore these little people.

[MadBadger]

8. Wow, you suck at politics. Calling out Wilson to debate?

Calling out Wilson to debate? That is way beneath the office of the presidency to have a debate with some fucktard Repuke COngressman.

The only person that would get anything out of that would be Wilson

[ima_sinnic]

15. I "misspoke" when I said "debate." I meant, why not address the exact point

that Wilson keeps insisting is a "lie."

The "debate" would be: Please say exactly what you think is a lie.
Wilson: "illegal immigrants" bullshit, bullshit etc.
Caller-outer: The facts are actually these: etc. etc.

Or it could simply be: Wilson says that illegal immigrants would receive healthcare coverage paid for by your tax dollars, but the truth is this: in all 4 bills currently being considered . . .

[MadBadger]

17. Right now the issue is framed as "RW Douchebag lacks Class."

Why Change the storyline? The White House has the upper hand with Wilson, lets leave it at that and move on.

[Gman]

9. He doesn't have to

it's being done for him and he just gets to stand back and look good.

[dionysus]

10. i think you would be able to come up with criticism on how obama ties his shoes if challenged to.

[Kahuna]

12. Do you really think that the prez meant that literally? C'mon. nt

[DevonRex]

13. You're scraping the bottom of the barrel for stuff to complain about.

zzzzz

[Orsino]

14. It's not his job to discipline other people's children.

When Wilson's behavior is coherent enough to address, and germane to health care reform, Obama can do so on political grounds.

[quantass]

16. Wilson raises over $200,000 after outburst! (LINK)

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/11/defiant-wilson-raises-more-than-200000-after-outburst/

[Spazito]

21. So?

What is your point? His opponent has raised over $750,000.00.

[treestar]

18. Man, that would give Wilson an awful lot of legitmacy

I had never heard of the asshole until he did his thing - let's not allow him to use it to make his claim to fame any more.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

19. I think that any comments by Obama against Wilson would probably be gratuitous

He's getting piled on so much right now that I don't think Obama really needs to do or say anything at this point.

[ecstatic]

20. The only right response for Wilson types is the one Sen. Frank

gave to that loony: "What planet do you live on?" There is no reasoning or logic going on in their minds. It's impossible to get through to them. The people of average IQ and higher get it.

[polichick]

22. He can call out Pawlenty today for talking death panels on Morning Joe. nt

[4lbs]

23. Pawlenty doesn't have a vote in Congress and polls have already shown that the death panel talk

hasn't caught on outside of the lunatic right-wing base anyway. To still be using "death panels" is so last month.

[polichick]

24. Still, he should be called on it. Fortunately even Joe Scarborough...

...couldn't buy it and asked Pawlenty to point death panels out in the bills.

[4lbs]

25. I agree that Pawlenty should be called out on talking from last month's Republican Talking Points

sheet circulated to all the zombie.. err... Republican yappers.

Evidently, someone in the RNC forgot to email him this month's list of batcrazy right-wing talking points. He's probably being punked by Michael Steele.

[polichick]

26. Lol - maybe Steele is threatened by him so he's out of the loop. nt

[BR_Parkway]

27. Obama doing that would be like Palin responding to Levi