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Not all outbursts should be chastised

 
Not all outbursts should be chastised
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The majority of the response I’ve seen or heard regarding the Joe Wilson outburst has either ranged from certain members of Congress pushing for some official admonishment by the House to people stating, “Well, I think we can agree that it was uncalled for.”

But should Wilson’s paroxysm really be scorned? I initially thought I might have been the only person that thought Wilson’s statement was something to take pleasure in, but apparently I wasn’t the only one.

I’m not saying that during the course of discussion or a debate, parties involved should automatically toss their rebuttals prior to the other person completing their sentence.

There are situations in which I would say it’s not only appropriate to call out the other side prior to them completing their speech. More specifically, that other side being the President.

“It’s the President! Have you no shame?” The fact that it’s President Barack Obama speaking is exactly why Wilson was appropriate in choosing the time and location for his call-out.

Most of the time the President speaks, especially where a majority of the country will be watching, it’s one way. Obama’s speech to Congress sure wasn’t going to be question-and-answer time about his policies.

Unless people such as Wilson call him out, the President can just stand in front of congress and the cameras and spread whatever he wants to the American people.

The funny thing is that I’m sure many people scolding Joe Wilson were more than happy to boo Bush during the 2005 State of the Union address.

We should revel in Joe Wilson’s calling out of the President, not chastise him.

 
 
  • Art Green

    Did you forget about the Republican response that runs directly after the President’s speech? That’s the correct time to respond, not turning a Presidential address into a CNN/MSNBC/Fox News shouting match.

    We should not “revel” in the continuing slide of political decency. Instead, we should let both sides have their say without childishly screaming at one another.

  • Charles

    I agree with Art. There’s always a response from the other party after these addresses and that’s the time for objection. It shouldn’t be done via interruption.

    You keep praising Wilson for “calling out” Obama, which is fine except for one thing: Wilson didn’t know what he was talking about, and the statement Obama made right before the “You lie!” was in fact true.