Look, I have been forthright and unstinting in my condemnation of Rep. Joe Wilson for his disgraceful insult to the president during the Obama Congressional speech the other night. The Democrats have reaped a deserved bounty of good publicity from Wilson's bad behavior, for which he has apologized (whether or not he meant it is another question, but he did the formally correct thing, and we should move on). But they couldn't let it stand. Now the House has formally rebuked Wilson for his remark. Of course the resolution is correct in its criticism of Wilson, but after widespread condemnation of the South Carolina Republican, even from within his own party, the Democrats ought to have let it drop. This decision to rub his nose in it is not going to help them at all, and may actually hurt. Michael Kinsley opined from the left earlier this week that the Dems ought to drop the Wilson thing. Excerpt:
The more times he is required to write "I will not call the President a liar" on a special blackboard set up in the well of the House, the bigger hero he will become to a large chunk of the population. And, of course, forcing him to grovel will not help to convince him or his supporters that the president is not a liar.[snip]
No matter how important or otherwise the underlying issue may be, it seems that about three-quarters of American politics can now be distilled down to "How dare you say that!" Taking offense at someone else's possibly over-vigorous exercise of free speech, demanding an apology and so on has replaced much serious discussion about, oh, health care, the financial crisis, Iraq, Afghanistan, stuff like that. Umbrage is so much easier: You can do it in your sleep, or on talk radio.
[snip]
Wilson is obviously a bozo. (I can say this because I'm not on the House floor.) But all the attention is making him more popular within his own constituency, not less so. Why can't the Democrats be the class act here and just drop it?
Good grief, Democrats, these folks do not need any more encouragement. You've just given it to them.
UPDATE: Good on Barney Frank for being a grown-up here:
One Democrat so far says he will vote no: Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts. Frank, who is a bit of a contrarian to say the least, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying: "I think it's bad precedent to put us in charge of deciding whether people act like jerks. I don't have time to monitor everyone's civility."
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As you say a lot on this site, Rod, what you tolerate you legitimize. The House has rules of decorum that Wilson violated and his not very convincing apology to the President notwithstanding, he's made political hay out of the incident and that will be noted by other members. Congress is enough of a circus already, and while I don't know if censure will be enough to change behavior, at least members who pull this kind of stunt will have to consider the danger of on-the-record official repudiation.
I wonder what Mr Wilson has to say about Mr West's actions?
Whether you agree with the resolution of disapproval or not, to me, this points to how bankrupt the conservative movement has become. Being rude to the President is now enough to make one a hero to the base.
When my children misbehave, I make them apologize. I also punish them, to reinforce the lesson. Nothing horrific, just extra chores or the loss of privileges. How else do they learn? If you ignore bad behavior, it escalates.
Wilson broke the rules. Pure and simple. There needed to be consequences.
One heartfelt apology was enough. The democrats then decided to simply make a show of it and milk it for as many news cycles as possible; heck, it's easier than dealing with the actual matters at hands---like trying to sell a very unpopular trojan horse of a 'health care' bill.
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