PRINCETON, New Jersey (CNN) -- When Rep. Joe Wilson interrupted President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress by yelling "You lie!" a livid House Speaker Nancy Pelosi looked as if she was about to jump out of her seat and give her colleague a five-minute "time out" for misbehavior. Full Story »
Posted by Michael Bugeja
Zelizer points out that there has been a long history of uncivil behavior in Congress. He notes, though, that today with 24/7 news coverage and media obsessed with controversial sound bites the context is different -- legislators use ugliness to distract the public from opposing legislators and from discussion of substantive issues.
Princeton historian Julian E. Zelizer discusses Joe Wilson's "You Lie!" outburst in context with other more flagrant uncivil congressional incidents since the 18th century, noting that Wilson's case seems more pronounced because we have 24/7 coverage.
Zelizer seems to excuse racist-based shouted lies by citing other crude behavior. "Everybody else does it" never works for an excuse.
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