Joe Wilson, National Treasure

Joe Wilson distinguished himself last Wednesday, when during a speech by the President to both houses of Congress he called out to the President "That's a lie." I especially liked Thomas Sowell's take on it. Thomas Sowell, the indispensable maker of sense in a seeming irrational situation has another such article today entitled Fables for Adults in Townhall.com today. Without saying so in so many words, as Congressman Wilson, Sowell calls the President out for lying to the American people. Here's a quote:

The dog looked down into the water and saw his reflection. He thought it was another dog with a bone in his mouth-- and it seemed to him that the other dog's bone was bigger than his. He decided that he was going to take the other dog's bone away and opened his mouth to attack. The result was that his own bone fell into the water and was lost.

At the time, I didn't like that story and wished they hadn't told it to me. But the passing years and decades have made me realize how important that story was, because it was not really about dogs but about people.

Today we are living in a time when the President of the United States is telling us that he is going to help us take that other dog's bone away-- and the end result is likely to be very much like what it was in that children's fable.

Read the whole thing. (Warning-mixed fables ahead-Warning) The majority of people can see perfectly well that the President is lying, even some on the left who support his signature legislation. What Sowell is saying is that we are likely to sell our birthright for a mess of porridge if we listen to the siren song of this guy. To quote Joe Wilson, "That's a lie!"

Meanwhile, Sandy Rios says that They Can't Handle the Truth in a piece today also on Townhall.com. The "They" are the Representatives and Senators of "We the People" who have become so enthralled with the status, the decorum, and the collegiality of their offices, that they seem to have forgotten how to rebuke their fellow members when those members deliberately mislead, dissemble, and out and out lie. The money quote:

I wonder if the Founding Fathers would have shared Senator McCain’s sense of outrage? I don’t know if they called King George a liar, but they called him a tyrant, several times—in the Declaration of Independence. The King of England (and, at that point, America) a tyrant. Pretty strong words, spoken and declared in writing one by one within those sacred chambers.

Strong words emanate from strong convictions. Oh, for the passion of the Founding Fathers to sweep across the Congress. And if the current Congress is so offended by honest concern and passion, perhaps 57 percent of the people are right, let’s replace them all and fill the chambers with those willing to fight to preserve the nation—representatives less concerned about their political futures and reputations and more concerned about the future of the country.

Joe Wilson should quit apologizing, and start demanding apologies from Pelosi, from Waxman and Reid, and most of all, from the President himself.