I have neither the time nor the temperament right now for a big political debate, but I would like to pose a question:
What do you suppose would’ve happened a couple years ago if a Democrat had interrupted a major policy speech on the floor of the Senate by President George W. Bush to call him a liar, as Republican Representative Joe Wilson did to President Obama last night?
I’m pretty confident that Democrat would’ve been denounced as an unpatriotic, disrespectful boor, if not accused of outright treason. He would’ve been shamed into making multiple and ever-more humiliating apologies, because the first one would not suffice for the grievous offense he had committed against the very foundations of our Republic. Ultimately, if the right-wing talk-radio types had their way, that incautious man would’ve been hounded from office and sent back to wherever he came from with his tail between his legs.
But we all know that’s not going to happen to this Wilson jackass, don’t we? I admire President Obama for being a bigger man than myself and accepting Wilson’s half-assed and obviously insincere apology, but I’ve got to tell you, I’m extremely frustrated with the Republican double-standard right now. Or don’t they believe any longer that the presidency demands respect, even if you don’t like the president himself? Isn’t that what we kept hearing all through Dubya’s eight years at the helm? And if that’s no longer the case, what happened to change their minds?
Oh, I remember… a Democrat won the election. And in Republican minds, a Democratic president is never, ever, under any circumstances legitimate.
Look, I know a lot of people agree with Wilson, probably including some of my own readers. You’re wrong if you do, but you’re entitled to be wrong here in our great country. So go ahead and be wrong. Tell your friends what you think; write about it on your blog; shout it from street corners; call your Congressperson and tell them; hell, stitch it into a sampler and hang it on the wall, if that’s your sort of thing. But when you’re sitting on the floor of the Senate while the President is speaking, show some manners and some freaking class and hold your goddamned tongue.
And before anyone reminds me that the Dems booed Shrubbie during his 2005 State of the Union, yeah, I know. They were rude, too. The difference there is that they hadn’t spent eight years yammering on about how the president’s political opponents needed to show respect and deference to a man they couldn’t stand, only to turn around and do the same damn thing when the shoe was on the other foot. And anyway, doesn’t anyone remember the Repubs booing Clinton? Seems to me the truly bad manners started right around the time Newt Gingrich and his buddies swept into office and decided they were going to hold their breath and stamp their feet until they got they way.
All of which is much more than I intended to say when I started this. As I noted, I’m very frustrated with all the bullshit right now, and with the Democrats’ perennial inability to effectively counter it…
First and foremost, Jason, I need to agree with you that what Joe Wilson did was rude and unacceptable. I think, at this point, just about everyone from both sides of the aisle has agreed with that sentiment. And I’m not sure why, other than a sudden, reflexive hatred of all things Republican, you believe his apology is “half-assed and obviously insincere.” President Obama called it “quick and without equivocation.” At a very minimum, I think we could agree that he’s sorry he did it, if only for the national political fallout it’s caused him.
As to the “if a Democrat had done that…” logic, you seem to contradict yourself almost immediately, by pointing out a time when the Democrats did do it, and acknowledging that they were rude as well. I don’t remember anyone accusing them of outright treason or calling for their heads on pikes. In fact, I remember the TV talk-show set calling it unprecedented bad behavior, just like they’re doing with Wilson right now (short memories, those TV talk-show folks…).
And as for this:
The difference there is that they hadn’t spent eight years yammering on about how the president’s political opponents needed to show respect and deference to a man they couldn’t stand, only to turn around and do the same damn thing when the shoe was on the other foot.
I think your memory of the Clinton administration may be a bit hazy. Remember the “vast, right-wing consipracy?” Whitewater/Monica-gate? The impeachment? There were plenty of Democrats calling for respect for the President then, who had no trouble disrespecting George W. Bush in later years. And, whatever your feeling about George W. Bush, I think we can agree that Clinton did plenty during his presidency to strain our ability to respect him.
Ironically, just two days before the Healthcare speech, I blogged about how President Obama wasn’t getting the respect he deserved (in that case, around the flack he got for daring to address the nation’s school children). The trend has, in my opinion, been around since Nixon, and has only gotten worse over time. Joe Wilson may turn out to be merely the next step in that downward slide. But painting this as a purely Republican shortcoming is weak sauce indeed…
Consider this entry a cry of frustration at the end of a long summer of increasing disgust and alarm. Wilson’s outburst was the cherry on top for me, following the death panel nonsense, the town hall lunacy, the unwarranted outcry over the speech to school kids (kudos for your stand on that, incidentally), the constant invocation of the “socialism” boogeyman, and all the other bad behavior brought about because a bunch of loudmouths on the right — not all of the right, admittedly, but certainly a big chunk of it — can’t stomach the thought of a Democrat in the White House. (And don’t try to tell me that’s not a factor here; there are Republicans, especially here in my home state, who act as if a Democrat — any Democrat — winning an election is tantamount to the apocalypse. It’s their way or the highway, and they’re not shy about saying so.) I was pissed off and venting, and thus any lapses in logic and/or contradictions I may have exhibited are what they are.
As for painting this as a purely Republican shortcoming, I didn’t think I was. Democrats are guilty of rude, partisan misbehavior, too. But I do perceive a difference in scale and frequency. To put it more clearly, I think Republicans misbehave more badly, more often, than Democrats do, and they’re rarely punished as severely for it. If you think I’m showing a partisan bias by saying so, well, then, guilty as charged. I am a Democrat and, on most issues at least, a liberal (certainly relative to my neighbors in Utah!), and I’m sick to death of being made to feel constantly like there’s something wrong with “my side.”
I’m venting again, and for that I apologize… I’m not pissed at you, Brian. I’m just tired of all the bullshit, attacks, and outright lies I hear on a near-daily basis. It’s not easy to live in the reddest state of the union when you have a different perspective.
I don’t think it’s an issue of WHO is the rudest. That’s always subjective, and each side will always see the other side as the guilty party.
No, the most insightful part of today’s post (despite my personal aversion to the naughty word) is when you wrote, “I’m very frustrated with all the bullshit right now”…ME TOO.
I once considered myself Republican, but I can’t stomach the idea of aligning myself with either side right now. I don’t think either side cares as much about sticking to their own principles as they do opposing whatever the other side supports. Republicans and Democrats all look the same to me right now, and they’re both acting like spoiled preschoolers, throwing a fit because their beans are touching their potatoes. (Lousy metaphor, but good enough.)
I was intrigued by a fluff piece at the end of the news the other day, where some European country was selling tea bags with their presidential candidates’ likenesses on them. There were FIVE candidates represented, all running for President. How inviting it seemed to have more than two choices. Maybe it’s the capitalist in me, but I think the “bullshit” would be drastically reduced if Republicans and Democrats had a little more competition for their votes.
Republicans and Democrats all look the same to me right now, and they’re both acting like spoiled preschoolers…
I disagree with that, Derek — from my perspective, there’s one side that’s clearly acting more petulant than the other at the moment — but as you say, it’s subjective and thus not worth arguing about.
You make a good point about having more options, though. I’m a Democrat because there really isn’t any other choice for someone like me. But the truth is, I’m not always happy or comfortable with a lot of what the Democrats do or how they do it. I’d love to have a legitimate alternative that better fit my world view but also had a chance of actually getting elected. (The Green Party? Please.) I’m not sure how likely that is in this country, though; I don’t know a lot about the workings of Euro politics, but it seems like the parliamentary systems are much better at representing many different perspectives than our own system.
I do think, however, that we may be seeing a breakdown and realignment of our parties as they’ve been constituted for the better part of a century. I’ve been reading about moderate conservatives abandoning the increasingly shrill and looney GOP, and true liberals are frustrated with the resolutely centrist “conservative-light” Democrats. There’s no question that both parties have evolved far away from what they were in, say, the 1950s and early ’60s. So maybe all the partisan rancor of the past four decades will end up having some positive effect after all…
Sorry about the naughty word, incidentally. As I said, I was frustrated. 🙂