As I thought about tonight's SotU address, I recalled the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's childish display (pictured above) after the SotU three years ago and the predictable responses on right and left:
From the right -- outrage at the defiling of our "sacred" institutions.
From the left -- whataboutist references to Joe Wilson.
The references to Joe Wilson's outburst fourteen years ago were meant to suggest that Pelosi's act was no great breach of decorum, but rather business as usual in Washington. When Wilson disrupted President Obama's SotU address in 2009, the issue was healthcare, and the President was arguing that undocumented migrants would not be covered under Obamacare. At that moment, the previously little-known Congressman from South Carolina shouted out "you lie!" The left's reference to Wilson's outburst was not without rhetorical force -- it was shockingly indecorous. But I fear that few may remember what happened after Wilson's outburst.
First, leaders from both parties immediately condemned Wilson's action and called for him to apologize.
Second, Wilson apologized right away and without equivocation.
Third, President Obama graciously accepted the apology.
Fourth, the House (with Pelosi presiding as Speaker) approved a "resolution of disapproval" against Wilson.
So far from showing that Pelosi's display at the SotU was business as usual, the Wilson episode shows how far we fell in the eleven years between Wilson's outburst in 2009 and Pelosi's display in 2020. If Wilson's incivility provided a template for Pelosi's, we should have seen a bipartisan condemnation of Pelosi's incivility (didn't happen), she should have apologized (nope), Trump should have graciously accepted the apology (never), and the House should have formally condemned Pelosi's action (not that Congress).
Many reading this can only think about how either Pelosi or Wilson was justified (or at least accurate). If that is you, then I respectfully suggest that your reaction proves my point.
Will there be another outburst of incivility tonight? Hopefully not, but if there is, does anyone seriously think this Congress will do any better than the group in 2020? Even if nothing happens tonight, eventually, there will be another outbreak of incivility, and when there is, it really will then be business as usual, and that's too bad.
