Representative Joe Wilson's outburst not a rare breach of protocol

Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina

South Carolina Republican Representative Joe Wilson's outburst at the president last night was not that rare a breach of protocol.

First, let me say that Wilson was out of line last night and needed to apologize, which he did. Elected representatives should be capable of controlling their emotions and of always, at the very least, showing respect to the president. However, The New York Times has an article today treating Wilson's "You lie!" comment to Obama during last nights health care speech as if it sets some sort of precedent for partisan jackassery.

The Times apparently dug into its archives for evidence of similar treatment of a president in the past, and came up with another, though much milder, example of Republican rabble-rousing, this time during the Clinton Administration:

"When President Clinton addressed Congress in 1993 to push his health care plan, “both sides of the aisle received the President warmly,” according to a report in The New York Times at the time. But when he began talking about raising taxes on tobacco to pay for the plan, or the need to cut Medicare and Medicaid, many on the Republican side of the aisle began snickering, shaking their heads skeptically and making faces at each other,” the article said."

Still, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel insists: “No president has ever been treated like that. Ever.”

Well, not exactly, Rahm. The Times piece left out a more recent example from the last administration, and at the same time unintentionally highlighted The New York Times' one-sided coverage of politics. As the video below shows, George W. Bush was subjected to similar catcalls Democrats during his address to Congress on the need to reform Social Security.

Because there were no calls for Democrats to apologize for their outbursts, we don't know if any of them said anything comparable to Wilson's "You lie!" But the point still remains that Wilson's outburst wasn't an aberration, and the media hysteria following in its wake is completely unwarranted.

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