Rep. Joe Wilson said he was sorry.  Not so much for saying President Obama was a liar, mind you.  But for the setting in which he screamed "YOU LIE" at the nation's chief executive when he said during last night's speech that the benefits accrued from health care reform will not be extended to illegal aliens.

In a brief appearance this morning, Wilson said he contacted the White House "because the (House) leadership wanted me to..."  He then explained that Obama WAS lying and described just how he IS lying, and then dashed off for a floor vote.

For his part, the President accepted Wilson's apology.

That being done, the Republicans began to lie in force.

House Minority Leader John Boehner held a press conference in which, among other lies, he said Obamacare WILL extend to illegal aliens.  This is despite the fact that fact checking groups have said government subsidies would only be available to citizens and legal residents.  But who are you going to believe?

Right wing activists scurried to Wilson's defense.

Red State.com said...

Joe Wilson has been identified as the Republican who yelled out that Barack Obama was a liar.

He gets a drink on me!

CONTRIBUTE TO JOE WILSON HERE. Joe Wilson's opponent raised $11,000.00 in an hour after Joe Wilson stood up to Barack Obama. We must help Joe Wilson.

Keep the lie alive, in other words...

Hot Air.com calls Obama a "Liar" on its front page.

And on it goes...

And they keep going on TV...

And they keep on lying...

They call it a "government takeover of health insurance."  Which it isn't.  (If it's even in the final bill, only 5 percent of Americans will likely take part in the public option.)

They say it will result in GUBBERMINT coming between you and your doctor, which it will not.  (Leaving things as they are means INSURANCE BEAN COUNTERS come between you and your doctor.  Ask me about it.)

They say you will have to give up your current doctor, your current insurance, which you will not.  (Unless you want to.)

They say it will result in expanded federal funding for abortion, which it will not.

They say it will include "death panels" -- which it doesn't.  (Only 4 Republican Senators managed to applaud and find their feet last night when Obama called the whole "death panel" thing a lie.)

They keep saying it will explode the deficit, which it will not.  (Obama has said he will not sign a bill that adds to the deficit.  And doesn't this look like crocodile tears from the folks who sent us to war and refused to pay for it, while cutting taxes for the wealthy.)

They say it will steal money from Medicare services, which it won't.  (Cuts would come from big payoffs to insurance companies and cuts in fraud, waste and abuse.)

It's like they weren't even listening when the President spoke last night.

Now it's in the hands of Congress as the President travels around the country to try and undo the damage the liars did in August.

He will tell them what health care reform WILL do.

An end to pre-existing conditions.

An end to being dropped from your coverage because you're sick.

An end to arbitrary caps on benefits.

And end to losing your insurance if you lose or change jobs.

The liars will continue to lie.  Stupid people will continue to believe them.

We can choose to be informed if we want.  Or we can embrace stupidity.  We'll see which way the nation goes over the next few months.

But if you're worried about Congressman Wilson?  Don't be.

Rep. Joe Wilson, who heckled President Obama's speech on health care reform Wednesday night, is a popular, deeply conservative, usually polite Republican with a solid lock on his district, observers say.

...

"I taught Joe Wilson's kids. He is a good guy. I don't think this is in keeping with him," said Dave Woodard, a Clemson University political science professor who has known Wilson for years.

"He's a decent guy," Woodard added. "We all make mistakes, and I think he made a mistake."

Yup.  Another mistake.  Like the time he attacked the late Sen. Strom Thurmond's illegitimate black daughter saying she "should have kept the shameful secret to herself."

Wilson says he's been "overwhelmed by supportive calls" from his fellow wingnut, birther constituents.  The Fox News Wingnut Choir says Obama's speech was "partisan hackery."  The Moonie Washington Times claimed that Obama cut a line about bipartisanship from his speech -- a line he actually DID deliver... Michael Steele says it was "Bad Form" to mention Teddy Kennedy and read his final letter to Obama in the speech.

And Rush Limbaugh was sad and sorry that Wilson bothered to apologize.

So, lest anyone believe the President's wonderful speech last night means and end to the lying, the hyperventilating, the town hall-style screaming and shoutdowns from right wing morons... disabuse yourself of that fanciful notion immediately.

Oh, by the way?

No word whether or not this is a related story...

A man with a shotgun was arrested on Wednesday night by U.S. Capitol Police while attempting to gain access to Capitol grounds as President Barack Obama began to deliver his speech to a joint session on healthcare.

Capitol Police stopped Joshua Bowman, 28, of Falls Church, Va., at approximately 8 p.m. on Wednesday night several blocks away from the Capitol as he made a "failed attempt to gain access to [a Capitol] barricade," a spokeswoman said.

Scary times.