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On Wednesday as 61 S.C. House Republicans clamored for the resignation of South Carolina's loverboy, do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do and damn-the-expense GOP governor, GOP Rep. Joe Wilson mistook the chambers of Congress for a barroom – or a health-care town hall – and heckled the president.
Is it something in South Carolina's water? If S.C. leaders keep this up, even long-time South Carolinians will find it hard to quip “thank God for Mississippi” to minimize the state's shortcomings.
That would include my relatives. My ancestral roots are in South Carolina. Many family members are buried there – including my parents – and some relatives still live in the state. I've always had more than passing interest in its politics and goings-on.
So House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn spoke for a lot of South Carolinians I know when he said: “I thought the governor had embarrassed us enough but Mr. Wilson has gone even lower.” Going lower than Gov. Mark Sanford, who disregarded his duties and flaunted his philandering, was quite a feat.
Wilson apologized – two hours later after being roundly lambasted by both Republicans and Democrats for his admitted “lack of civility.” Sen. John McCain, President Obama's rival for the presidency, all but demanded the apology, calling Wilson's behavior “totally disrespectful.” And by late Wednesday, Wilson's Web site had crashed from an overload of public anger. The backlash helped Democrat Rob Miller raise thousands of unexpected dollars online for a possible rematch with Wilson in next year's elections.
Yelling “you lie” to the president as he spoke to a joint session of Congress in a televised address clearly did not receive the embrace Wilson expected. It's hard to blame him for expecting otherwise. The raucous free-for-all that has passed for informed discussion of health care reform at many town hall meetings has enabled and encouraged such name-calling.
Worse, they have fostered an atmosphere of zealous intolerance that has overpowered common sense and led to behavior – among liberals and conservatives – that even kindergarteners know not to exhibit. Biting off the finger of an opponent? Threatening to throw tomatoes? Strapping on a gun?
A 28-year-old Virginia man was so emboldened by the gun-toting at the town halls, he had a shotgun and ammunition in his car at a security barricade near where the president spoke. Police arrested and charged him with having an unregistered firearm and unregistered ammunition.
Some of us have lost our minds, and too many of our public officials are enabling this lunacy.
Joe Wilson, of course, has his defenders. Some are calling him heroic for vociferously disputing Obama's claim that illegal immigrants won't receive health care under the health reforms the administration proposes. The charge that illegal immigrants would be covered has been the drumbeat of conservatives at town hall meetings, and on talk shows.
But it's false, as fact-checking news organizations pointed out Thursday. None of the plans now in the Congress would include illegal immigrants – who, by the way, already obtain treatment in hospital emergency rooms. So do multitudes of other uninsured people – at the expense of taxpayers and insured patients.
On illegal immigrants, the House bill's language is explicit: “Nothing in this subtitle shall allow federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully in the United States.” Health care legislation in the Senate is also being crafted to exclude illegal immigrants from coverage. But for too many health reform critics, it's easier to dismiss the facts and stick to the rhetoric.
We expect better from members of Congress, though. And the people of South Carolina should let Joe Wilson know that.
Some are – with money. Wilson's Democratic challenger, who got 46 percent of the vote in his bid to unseat Wilson last year, saw his campaign coffers swell by $350,000 after Wilson's remark Wednesday night.
Other members of Congress – and those in other elected offices – should take note. Some of us are coming to our senses.
Fannie Flono is an Observer associate editor. Reach her at P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, N.C. 28230-0308. E-mail: fflono@charlotteobserver.com.
