Joe Wilson Becomes Gigantic Fundraiser!

Because the House officially censured him yesterday:

In a rare action, the House rebuked one of its members Tuesday for shouting "You lie!" at President Obama last Wednesday, ending a week-long standoff during which Democrats demanded a public apology that the lawmaker refused to give.

On a largely party-line vote, the House voted 240 to 179 to ratify a "resolution of disapproval" against Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) for interrupting Obama's health-care speech before a joint session of Congress.

During the hour-long debate, Wilson refused to apologize, saying his private phone call to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was sufficient, because Obama himself said the matter was closed the day after his speech.

"It is clear to the American people that there are far more important issues than what we are dealing with now. . . . [Obama] graciously accepted my apology, and this issue is over," Wilson said in brief remarks. He is just the second lawmaker to be rebuked by the full House this decade.

But House Democrats responded that Wilson's call to a presidential aide was not enough, because he had violated chamber rules forbidding such remarks directed at colleagues or the president. "This is about the rules of this House and reprehensible conduct," said House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (S.C.), who led the effort to censure Wilson.

And so the Democrats have likely minted a new fundraising juggernaut. Don't be surprised if Wilson starts making trips around the country to help other Reps in competitive races. His own isn't exactly a thriller, by the way - I read somewhere that he has won most of his own campaigns by attracting around 60% of the votes in his district, and that includes a previous race over the same guy who's challenging him now. I doubt he's shaking in his boots.

In related news, the Democrats in First Grade have now instituted some new vocabulary words for the rest of Congress to study before story time:

House members will no longer be able to call President Obama a "liar" even when he's lying.
The Politico reported:

Under section 370 of the House Rules and Manual it has been held that a Member could:

• refer to the government as “something hated, something oppressive.”
• refer to the President as “using legislative or judicial pork.”
• refer to a Presidential message as a “disgrace to the country.”
• refer to unnamed officials as “our half-baked nitwits handling foreign affairs.”

Likewise, it has been held that a member could not:

• call the President a “liar.”
• call the President a “hypocrite.”
• describe the President’s veto of a bill as “cowardly.”
• charge that the President has been “intellectually dishonest.”
• refer to the President as “giving aid and comfort to the enemy.”
• refer to alleged “sexual misconduct on the President’s part.”

Typical - rather than address the substance of the issue, they're simply re-defining words and playing semantics while attacking their opponent.

Also, I'm just sure that they're going to go back and retroactively censure all of the Democrats who booed President Bush and accused him of lying, too. That'll probably be on today's agenda.

There's my two cents.