The Aussie Brings a Useful Perspective

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/09/16/an-australian-take-on-joe-wilson/
Posted by Sallie James
"Mainly, though, I am surprised that questioning of power is not more valued in America. To be sure, the President of the United States is not answerable to Congress in the same way that Ministers (including Prime Ministers) are to a Westminster-system parliament, but I would have thought that questioning the president would be well within the bounds of a nation conceived in liberty and on the understanding that all men are created equal. You got rid of infallible kings in 1776, remember?"

I have wondered this too. It has become the common perception that govt actions are both necessary and good for the People, despite the fact that govt has but one tool to wield to make things better: coercion backed by people with guns. That the leftists - characterized by the ACLU and pacifist tendencies - view the coercive force wielded by govt as a 'good' has always seemed contradictory to me.

"I get why the Democrats are making political hay out of Representative Wilson's outburst, even if I think they are hypocrites for suddenly finding religion on civility, given their own history. And I thoroughly reject, by the way, the notion that much of the criticism directed towards Obama is based on racism, even if this sort of talk gives unfortunate credence to the claims. But those same Dems who are shocked (shocked!) by Joe Wilson's behavior are right now allowing a tax cheat to pull the nation's purse strings."
My comment - given the last two presidents - Clinton and Bush - and the more or less continuous stream of charges that one or the other had lied about something (to which the Dems had to add "and people died" to make the unspoken point "of course our President lied on tape and it's verifiable but it doesn't matter because it was just about a sexual dalliance"). It is a curious human phenomenon that humans identify with those in power if it is perceived that the one in power 'represents' them somehow. "He is me!"
"Meanwhile, the Dems are keeping "internal" investigations of Charlie Rangel's ethical violations very quiet indeed. Quite frankly, I'm far more interested in those than I am in Joe Wilson's rudeness."
The absurdity, the hypocrisy, the double speak, in politics is beyond comprehension. I think the current system in effect filters out 95% of those who feel compelled to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.