I don’t want the job but somebody has to speak up for
Joe Wilson.
Well, not Wilson so much but the practice of
yelling at presidents in the sacred halls of Congress.
Seems to me that as a general principle, even though it’s rude, uncivil, impolite, inappropriate, boorish, and, worst of all, in breach of protocol, shouting “liar” at a president isn’t such a terrible thing for democracy.
What would you have thought, for instance, of a congressman who’d called George W. Bush a liar when he was standing on that same podium lying about Iraq? (Or any of the other things he obsessively lied about.)
Had my representative or senator done such a thing, sure, I would have had my people issue an official statement of disapproval, in order to preserve my chance of some day attaining high public office. But secretly I would have been proud. I would’ve thought, “Good for you, old bean. You spoke truth to power. You said what somebody had to say.”
Haven’t we all watched the MPs baying at the prime minister on C-SPAN and wished we had that kind of feisty, confrontational legislature?
Of course the hard part of speaking truth to power is that the truth you speak needs to be true truth. It’s not effective politics to be lying yourself when you call the president a liar, especially when he’s complaining about all the lies your side has been telling.
This is where Joe Wilson looks pretty bad.
How does he know whether Obama’s health care plan would cover illegal immigrants? Obama never said whether he was talking about one of the three health care plans before Congress or some new health care plan he’s devised. At any rate, given America’s antipathy to illegal aliens, it’s hard to imagine any politician ever giving them anything.
I would have advised Wilson to choose a different part of the speech to interrupt and to pick his two words of remonstrance more wisely.
For instance, when Obama said the health care plan wouldn’t cost an awful lot, Wilson could have shouted, “Oh, really?” or “yeah, right,” or (though admittedly this would’ve taken him to three words) “Get outta here.”
Now some will say: The president must be respected. I agree. Congresspersons can and should demonstrate their respect for the office by:
1. Showing up for the speech, even if they hate the guy.
2. Dressing nicely in suits and ties or red dresses/red pantsuits.
3. Sitting in their assigned seats.
4. Not ringing cowbells and beating drums to drown out the chief executive’s words.
5. Refraining from firing weapons in the House chamber.
I’m just saying that as a general rule, I think I prefer a Congress embodying a modicum of rowdiness rather than one resembling a convention of somnambulistic sheep.
More, as well as less, of Lewis Grossberger's writing can be found at True/Slant.
