At Least The Other Joe Wilson Had A Reason To Shout "Lie!" At The President

The most sensational moment of last night's speech, obviously, was the heckling and rowdiness from the likes of the now-infamous Rep. Joe "You Lie!" Wilson and others. We see heckling of this sort in the British House of Commons all the time. Politics is emotional. The President is not a king. There's nothing inherently wrong with it.

It does, however, appear to be against House rules, and simply by the book, there ought to be a censure resolution passed. Wilson apologized quickly under pressure, but rules are rules, and Congress should censure him. As Joe Biden said, Wilson "embarrassed the institution I love."

If Wilson wanted to show some fighting spirit for his base, it probably totally turned off the middle, made the entire party look small, and put into perspective the nonsense of the town halls in the last month. It also will gave Republicans fits as the more sane elements rush to condemn the action. Suddenly, we can get a "Republicans in disarray" narrative out of this. It also gave Wikipedians a fat target.



It's worth noting that Wilson's claim, that illegal immigrants would be allowed to access federal funds for health insurance, is patently false. The outburst actually says more about the immigration debate, and all its xenophobia, than the health care debate.

...I think Eric Cantor's twittering might have looked even more offensive to the public. Although, in his defense, he says he was taking notes, and I have used my PDA for note-taking, and it looks bad, even though it isn't.

...Joe Wilson's opponent in 2010 has raised $100,000 $200,000 overnight on Act Blue.