All over but the shouting

Shouting "Liar" in the middle of the President's address to Congress is rude and inappropriate. So is lying about the contents of your health care plan. Glenn Reynolds puts it best.

I’m finding it hard to get excited about this. It was a breach of decorum and civility. But someone who says “get in their face” and “punch back twice as hard” has little standing to bring that up. If you want to benefit from traditions of civility, you should respect them, and that has hardly been a hallmark of this administration, which has gone out of its way to try to demonize and shout down opponents.

The health care bill would gut enforcement provisions designed to ensure that only citizens and legal residents would be eligible for the insurance benefits offered under it. Illegal immigrants could easily sign up. President Obama could insist that the enforcement provisions be restored, but has not.

I would add that tut-tutting about decorum like a fop from a Jane Austin novel is a sure sign that you've lost the argument and want to change the subject. Besides, acting like jerks while the President is addressing you on an important topic is apparantly a long bipartisan tradition in Congress.