AUSTIN, Texas — The Heckler of the Year award goes to U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., who heckled the president of the United States while he was addressing Congress about health care reform.
Wilson shouted "You lie!" at Barack Obama when the president said the health care plan won't cover illegal immigrants.
Having the guts to heckle the president of the United States right there in front of Congress and a national TV audience is pretty spectacular. I mean, it's one thing to heckle the comedian. But it's another to heckle the president. It just isn't done. I'll bet nobody ever heckled George Washington.
"Hey, stupid, sit down. You're not supposed to stand up in the boat, dummy!"
You never heard that when Washington crossed the Delaware. That was back in the day when our leaders were shown respect. Heckling the U.S. president and calling him a liar: That's all-star stuff, although it has caused quite a stink for Wilson.
I doubt if this was what he was shooting for, but this outburst is the biggest thing he'll ever do in his life. This is the one thing he'll be remembered for.
You know that when they write Wilson's obituary, it's going to start, "The U.S. representative who heckled the president ... "
Not that heckling the president during such an important speech won Wilson a lot of Brownie points. Wilson's Web site crashed from all the people calling it up to chew him out for a lack of manners. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called Wilson's behavior "totally disrespectful."
And Wilson apologized to the White House, saying, "This evening I let my emotions get the best of me."
Hey, it could happen to anybody. Maybe Wilson got confused and thought he was at a ball game. Did somebody leave a bag of peanuts on his chair? Maybe the guy got mixed up and thought he was in the center field bleachers. Maybe Wilson thought Obama was the umpire.
Then again, maybe Wilson thought he was at one of those Tea Parties, and Obama was U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas.
It's been a hectic week of speechifying for Obama. On Tuesday, it was the schoolchildren, among them a bunch of second-graders. On Wednesday, it was Congress, where Wilson was behaving like a second-grader.
Actually, I shouldn't say that. That's an unfair insult to the second grade.
And speaking of second grade, in Wilson's favor, he didn't raise his hand during Obama's speech and ask to go to the bathroom. We'd all have been better off if he had, though. If the man had been powdering his nose instead of running his mouth, it would have been an improvement.
John Kelso writes for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: jkelso(at)statesman.com.