The issue is important enough that the President called an incredibly rare joint session of Congress to address it. But the morning after President Obama tried to recover his fumbled healthcare reform, the leading story is not about legislation but rather about South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson’s outburst during the address.
After President Obama explicitly stated that his newest proposals wouldn’t include healthcare for illegal immigrants, Rep. Wilson yelled, “You lie.” Obama handled it smoothly and moved on, and Wilson later apologized both publicly and privately for his inappropriate behavior. In fact, his punishment was apologizing to Rahm Emanuel rather than Obama which is a fate that few would willingly suffer.
To be very clear, Wilson’s outburst was rude and thoroughly disrespectful to the highest office in our country. His immediate apology was well in order and necessary. That said, the attention being paid to the incident is absurd. Internet campaigns are being mounted to run Wilson out of office, Congressional colleagues are calling for censure and punishment, and the media is having a field day reporting on it.
Why? It isn’t because Wilson yelled out of turn. There is very little distinction between raucus “boos” and the slightly more articulate, “You lie!” Boos are commonplace – whether they should be or not – for both parties, so the noise pollution could be excused.
Perhaps, then, it was that somebody had the audacity to call the President a liar, though that is also, unfortunately, commonplace.
Instead, my reading is that Wilson’s outburst opened the perfect window for Democrats (and the media) to frame his behavior as typical of the opposition and, in turn, paint opposition to healthcare reform as unpatriotic. It is easy branding to rope an established politician in with the fringes that have come to symbolize town hall meetings, and by throwing all of their eggs in one basket the Democrats can stigmatize the entire opposition in one fell swoop.
That way, legitimate opposition – like the GOP plan that many members held in the air to show the President last night – can be swiftly disregarded.
And one thing that the media seems unwilling to investigate gets to the facts (and not the emotions or etiquette) of the exchange. As far as coverage for illegal immigrants, who was right – Wilson or Obama?
I agree with your post completely up until you suggest Democrats are somehow sinking too low by calling out this behavior. Is it somehow unfairly opportunistic of us to point out how childish everyone agrees this Congressman’s behavior was? Or is it cheap to observe that this is, in fact, now characteristic of what can only be considered the GOP mainstream? How many party leaders must violate basic decency and the fundamental norms of civility before the ones who do continue doing so stop being considered what you called them here – ‘the ‘fringe?’ It seems like it should be impossible to keep referring to this behavior as typical merely of the ‘fringes’ of the party – that lets the party off the hook. . When members of Congress are not only actively encouraging these kinds of tactics but also engaging in it themselves in an official capacity, and moreover even in the most sacrosanct settings, then it has moved well into the mainstream. Our reaction is therefore understandable.
‘And one thing that the media seems unwilling to investigate gets to the facts (and not the emotions or etiquette) of the exchange. As far as coverage for illegal immigrants, who was right – Wilson or Obama?’
I agree that the media has abdicated its responsibility with regard to the facts. The media some how let it slip past that Wilson’s objection has no basis in reality. HR 3200 explicitly does not cover illegal immigrants. It seems besides the point since illegals are somewhat covered under our system as it currently is insofar as they are given emergency care by law – the cost of which is offloaded onto the rest of us. So the whole thing is a red herring. Wilson is either mistaken or worse.
“How many party leaders must violate basic decency and the fundamental norms of civility before the ones who do continue doing so stop being considered what you called them here – ‘the ‘fringe?’”
That’s my point exactly. Joe Wilson is not a party leader, nor is there some critical mass of party leaders who have violated basic decency. But because he did this on national television, you can make whatever sorts of claims you want about the opposition. I know I certainly wouldn’t have yelled at Obama. For that matter, no other Republicans yelled at him.