South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson yells 'You lie!' to the president

It was a perfect storm of hot buttons that evoked an utterance of such negativity that it turned heads. President Barack Obama was giving a speech to Congress and he started talking about healthcare and illegal immigrants and money, and unexpectedly, Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina spoke up.

"You lie!" the Republican congressman blurted out on the floor of the House immediately after the president said: "the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally."

It was Rep. Wilson who had been reinforcing the belief that the healthcare reform would include the so-called Death Panels. He called it an "end-of-life counseling program, which has been correctly highlighted by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a program which could lead to seniors being encouraged to seek less care in order to protect the government´s bottom line."

Minutes before Wilson's wail, the president had debunked the theory that grandma's plug would be pulled in order to save federal dollars. "It's a lie, plain and simple," he said, which brought most of the attendees to their feet.

After the speech, the criticism for Wilson was bipartisan. "I've never seen anything like that before," said Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-N.D.) "We do not invite the president of the United States into the House of Representatives and hurl insults."

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said the outburst was "totally disrespectful" and demanded that Rep. Wilson apologize to the president. "No place for it in that setting or any other, and he should apologize for it immediately," McCain told Larry King on CNN.

Wilson apologized shortly after the speech for how he acted out: “This evening I let my emotions get the best of me when listening to the president’s remarks regarding the coverage of illegal immigrants in the healthcare bill. While I disagree with the president’s statement, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. I extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility.”

So how did you feel about the speech, the outburst, and/or the apology? Blurt out your comments in the field below. 

-- Tony Pierce

Photo: Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) shouts "You lie!" as President Barack Obama addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol on Wednesday. Credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

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Rep. Joe Wilson's response to Obama's speech: 'You lie!'

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Bill Maher bashes 'Birthers' over Barack Obama's birth certificate

Bill Maher has had enough with all of the right-wing naysayers who are convinced that Barack Obama's birth certificate is false. The "Birthers" claim that the president's true birthplace is somewhere in Africa, not the United States, and thus he is ineligible to be commander in chief. Today Maher took aim at the Birthers in an Op-ed piece in The Times. An excerpt:

For the last couple of weeks, we've all been laughing heartily at the wacky antics of the "birthers" -- the far-right goofballs who claim Barack Obama wasn't really born in Hawaii and therefore the job of president goes to the runner-up, former Miss California Carrie Prejean.

Also, when Obama was sworn in as president, he forgot to give his answer in the form of a question.

And yet, every week, the chorus of conservatives demanding to see his birth certificate grows. It's like they're the Cambridge police, Obama's in his house -- the White House -- and they need to see some ID.

And there's nothing anyone can do to convince these folks. You could hand them, in person, the original birth certificate and have a video of Obama emerging from the womb with Don Ho singing in the background ... and they still wouldn't believe it.

Maher wrapped up his essay by writing, "this isn't a case of Democrats versus Republicans. It's sentient beings versus the lizard people, and it is to them I offer this deal: I'll show you Obama's birth certificate when you show me Sarah Palin's high school diploma."

So the question is, do you agree with Maher that the Birthers are grabbing at straws and are being sore losers in regard to the election? Or do you think the Hawaiian government is working with the Democratic Party to hide the fact that Obama was born in Kenya?

-- Tony Pierce

Photo of Bill Maher in 2005 by Janet Van Ham. Photo credit: HBO

Did David Letterman go too far with Willow Palin joke?

David Letterman has never been shy about airing his contempt for former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. During the run-up to the 2008 election, Palin's foibles were the subject of countless jokes on Letterman's late-night talk show. Even with the election over, Letterman shows little sign of letting up on Palin, who still makes an occasional appearance in his opening monologue.  

However, Monday's show has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle for a joke made about Sarah Palin's 14-year-old daughter, Willow. During his opening monologue, Letterman poked fun at Sarah and Willow's recent weekend outing to a Yankees game, joking that, "during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."

The joke is a reference to Sarah Palin's other daughter, Bristol, whose unwed pregnancy was made a focal point of the 2008 presidential elections. Despite the numerous jokes made about Sarah Palin during her campaign, comedians generally avoided making jokes about her children. Public figures may be fair game, but children of politicians are usually considered off-limits. 

As such, reader response to the joke has been generally negative.

"David has been a crass has-been for years who's only so quick to kiss the collective behinds of the liberal Hollywood elite who are desperate to hock their latest tripe on TV and film. What he did was dead on wrong, and it's time we stop placating these arbiters of cool and shut them down. This vitriol has got to stop, and Dave didn't just cross the line, but he gleefully bolted past it," remarked writestuffla.

"Public figures are one thing, but trying to derive humor at the expense of someone's kids is deplorable. I don't recall a "comedian" poking fun of former Senator Edwards', former VP Gore's, or President Obama's children," wrote Jumpin' Jellybeans.

(Read more comments after the jump.)

Bristol claims Sarah Palin's views had no influence on her choice to be a mother

Bristol Palin admitted that though she had a lot of experience babysitting and loves her infant son, she wished that her pregnancy could have occurred 10 years later. But instead of admitting that she should have waited until she was more responsible to become sexually active, the 18-year-old mother states that teaching abstinence to teenagers is an unrealistic request.

The daughter of Sarah Palin told Fox News that her mother's political views had nothing to do with her decision to keep her her child, admitting, “It doesn’t matter what my mom’s views are on it. It was my decision.” Upon finding out the younger Palin's views did not align with her mother's staunch Republican Party views, readers took to the blogs.

almas wrote: On here you're a thinly-veiled liberal, but I'll respond to this article anyhow. Abstinence teaching is essential. We've got to stop making it seem like an OK thing to have sex before you're mature enough to have babies or handle the complications of sex. Hollywood doesn't help---they don't have a clue.

rckstrdave wrote: Abstinence education is counterproductive--I was present for plenty of it in high school. No one learned anything, nobody waited to have sex, and the useful information we needed when we became sexually active was denied to us. People used to get married and have babies at 13... the teenage years are when the urge kicks in. Obviously, social standards and laws have changed, presumably to protect "innocent children," but systematic denial is a bad practice for any problem. Telling horny teenagers they can't have sex until they get married is a disaster situation. "You mean if I want to have sex, I have to become like my angry, divorced parents? No way! I'm having sex now and never getting married!" That's what abstinence education really taught us. Thank god for Trojan commercials, Planned Parenthood, and a handful of brutally honest adults that saved us all from the fate the "abstinence only" nut jobs tried to force upon us.

And cheers to Bristol Palin for saying it's OK to be pro-choice, keep the baby, and stand up to ultra-right wing nut jobs like her mother who push an agenda of fear and misinformation on the youth.

Read more about comments on the Palin-versus-Palin debate below.