‘You Lie,’ You Die?

Screen shot via the <a href="http://free-times.com/Image/24_02/psa_larger3.jpg">Free Times</em>.

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This seems to be of questionable judgment (from Columbia, S.C.’s Free Times):

A South Carolina gun and accessories company is selling semi-automatic rifle components inscribed with “You lie”– a tribute to the infamous words of 2nd District Republican Congressman Joe Wilson when he shouted at President Barack Obama during a congressional speech about national health care reform in the fall of 2009.

“Palmetto State Armory would like to honor our esteemed congressman Joe Wilson with the release of our new ‘You Lie’ AR-15 lower receiver,” reads a portion of the company’s website.

The page selling the commemorative rifle components has since been taken down, it appears. The company noted that their product “is neither endorsed nor affiliated with Joe Wilson or his campaign,” but it also featured a photo of the congressman in the gun shop, cradling a rifle.

Perhaps it’s heartening that the site is now gone after it drew media attention in the wake of the shootings in Arizona, which have focused scrutiny on the intersection of guns, politics, and inflammatory rhetoric in America. But it says something that this product was even out there to begin with.

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This is how change happens.

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This investigative reporting takes time too. Months of research. Weeks of writing, editing, and fact checking—and putting together the photography, art, video, and audio that tell the stories in a new way, illuminating new perspectives and voices.

We can afford to take our time because we don’t report to oligarchs or corporations. We report to you, and for you.

And the stakes are high. Democracy is on the defense. We’ve been exposing corruption and scandal for five decades, and this is a pivotal moment in our country’s history. Will democracy prevail? We won’t wait for time to tell—independent journalism is essential for democracy, and we’ll keep doing our part to amplify the free press.

So, we’re asking: Will you join the fight? Mother Jones has been here for 50 years, and we need your support to fuel the future of investigative journalism. Mark our 50th anniversary with a gift of any amount.

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