Joe Wilson's 15 minutes of infamy notwithstanding, Democrats were pretty rough on George W. Bush during a joint sessions a few years back.
Two examples:
In 2004, Democrats delivered a “Chorus Of Boos” during Bush's Bush’s State Of The Union when he called for renewal of the Patriot Act., according to the Washington Times.
In 2005, Dems howled, hissed and shouted "No!" when Bush pushed for Social Security reform in the SOU: "Foreshadowing the contentiousness of the coming debate, Democrats broke decorum and booed twice," according to the National Journal.
At the time, CNN's Bill Schneider remarked, “It was unusual. I had never heard it at least at that level before. The Democrats clearly were booing, heckling, saying no when the president talked about the crisis in Social Security."
Moreover, Obama's claim that illegal immigrants won't be covered -- which sparked Wilson's outburst -- while technically accurate, doesn't quite tell the entire story. Some of the bills being considered in the House and Senate contain provisions locking in local statutes that prevent providers from inquiring about immigration status prior to treatment. And illegals are treated, and are bound to be treated, in ERs, covered by local, state and federal uninsured pools.
So why the outcry over Wilson?
I think it's because Congressional Republicans have used the health care debate to vent a deeper, uglier contempt for Obama that verges on the personal.
They've done little to discourage the party's fringes from questioning Obama's legitimacy to serve through the birther movement, fitness to govern through the death panel canard -- and even the territorial integrity of the US under a Democratic president through Texas Gov. Rick Perry's flirtation with secession.
Anger may stoke the base at town halls -- and goose Glenn Beck -- but it just looks ugly on the national stage. - Politico Story
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