Palmetto Bug

Is it too easy, too obvious, to even use the words “Rep. Joe Wilson” right now? I know he’s getting all the play a two-bit congressman from nowhere (does “Reagan administration Justice Department official” sound better?) could dream of, so I hesitate to give him anymore. I have to say that I was shocked when he shouted, “You lie!” at the president last night. I’m trying to avoid a lot of the “analysis” of Pres. Obama’s speech since I actually watched it, but I had to check and see if Wilson apologized. He did, quite promptly, though probably not soon enough to protect him from the derision of even his own party. His piggish, boorish, crass, rude, and fatuous comment – not to mention its inappropriate, unseemly, insensitive, and disrespectful timing – apparently didn’t strike him as particularly rude at the time: “Wilson appeared to consult his Blackberry for much of the rest of Obama’s speech. He shook his head defiantly after several of the president’s statements. When Obama finished, Wilson bolted from the chamber.”

Reaction to Wilson’s disgraceful heckling was swift: “Wilson’s congressional Web site crashed and hundreds of calls started flooding into his office.” Rep. Jim Clyburn, a fellow South Carolinian congressman, took up for the beleaguered state: “‘I thought the governor had embarrassed us enough, but Mr. Wilson has gone even lower,’ Clyburn said.” Do you suppose Sanford called to thank him? In true twenty-first century political style, the insult has already earned his opponent $100,000. I don’t know whether to be glad or appalled. I just know I thank God he’s from SOUTH Carolina.