Commentary: Why we don't heckle the president (but it was ok when the Rats heckled President Bush)

cnn ^ | 9/10/2009 | John Feehery

[tobyhill]

When I worked in the House of Representatives in the mid-'90s, Congressional Republicans grew enamored of the idea of replicating the tradition of "Question Time" that was popular in the British House of Commons.

C-SPAN had just started broadcasting "Question Time", where the British prime minister thrusts and parries with colleagues on the other side of the aisle, while hoping for supportive statements from those on his side of the aisle.

It seemed like a lot of fun, most of all because the party out of power could show their disdain for the government's leader in no uncertain terms, and best of all, face-to-face.

The proposal to do an American-style question time, with Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich as the principal antagonists, died, mostly because the president had little interest in subjecting himself to that kind of ridicule on a weekly basis.

[FrdmLvr]

I wonder how many signs we'll see with the 0bama-Joker faces with the word "LIAR" scrawled across the top at the 9/12 rally in DC!

I'll bet about "47 million".

Oh, BTW, do you think ABC, NBC, and CBS will be broadcasting it on Sat? /sarc

[justlurking]

At Bush's 2006 State of the Union speech, Democrats interrupted his speech to applaud and cheer their obstruction of Bush's proposal to reform Social Security.

http://mfile.akamai.com/5913/wmv/whitehouse.download.akamai.com/5913/2006/01/20060131-10.v.asx

Fast-forward to about 45:50 to see it. And at 46:05, take careful note of who you see in the lower left corner of the frame.

Hint: he didn't vote "present" this time.

[BallyBill]

It is never right. Unless of course the President is doing a standup routine.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Remember this, Zero?

http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/09/front-center-guess-which-hopey-changer.html

[CitizenUSA]

Seems to me the president should be able to present his point of view without outbursts from our side, just as we should be able to counter without outbursts from them during the Republican response.

Obama is a liar. Of course he is. But I think a degree of civility should be maintained...by both sides. However, I understand emotion plays a role, and sometimes one cannot restrain oneself from showing disgust.

A FReeper on another thread made an excellent point. Our side should apologize when we are rude, but that apology should only be for the outburst, not the reasons behind the outburst.

Republicans should take this as an opportunity to explain that while our side should have tried to be quiet during Obama’s speech, it’s hard to restrain oneself when the president is being so dishonest, especially with such an important issue.

While we regret the outburst, this SHOULD be an opportunity to explain our side. Unfortunately, most of our representatives/senators are complete sellouts.

[tobyhill]

You're right. Pelosi, Reid, Obama, Murtha, etc, should now offer their apologies to President Bush for all the times they did it.

[roses of sharon]

John Feehery is a Chrissy Matthews butt boy.

Ignore him.

[CitizenUSA]

BTW, I want to add that the Democrats have mastered the art of the non-apology apology. They very rarely put any blame on themselves. It’s more like they are sorry we misinterpreted them or didn’t understand the point they were making. In other words, it’s our fault, but they are sorry for it.

[balls]

“Ever since George Washington declined to become a king, we have established traditions that give the president all the kingly trappings.”

That’s the problem, What a crock of sh**. The POS that holds the office right has no checks or balances and we are turning into a facsist country. He and the SRM would not get away with that if there were a Question Time on CSPAN every week.

[RichInOC]

Oh, but we do heckle presidents. I mean, private citizens have heckled presidents at speeches and other appearances for years. It’s just that members of Congress usually haven’t done it at joint sessions...until now.

[CitizenUSA]

Yes, the Democrats should apologize, but that’s unlikely since they are scum. Nevertheless, Republicans aren’t supposed to be uncivil cads like the Democrats. We’re supposed to represent civil society (and we mostly do).

[balls]

sould be: The POS that holds the office right now has no

[a fool in paradise]

If we AREN’T going to provide insurance for 10s of millions of illegal immigrants, then is it FAIR to even count them among America’s “uninsured” as we have BEEN DOING?

[Tex-Con-Man]

I had no idea that was being considered in the 90’s...I would have loved it.

I do think that we should incorporate the “Question Time” model into our Presidential races. (Anything to replace those idiotic “Town Hall” type debates.)

Have the nominee from each party face a select group of Congressmen from both parties. Each candidate would take turns at the podium, and each would face hostile questions about specific legislation from the opposing party, as well as softball questions from their own party that would allow them to define their agenda.

And let it be free-form like the British do it, to see how the candidates perform under intense pressure.(Tony Blair always performed very well during these sessions.)

In my opinion, the biggest advantage to this approach would be the candidates would have a difficult time “staying vague” about particular legislation they may be proposing.

At the very least, I would like to have the Republicans do it in the presidential primaries. It would help weed out the ones who can't handle the spotlight.

[ApplegateRanch]

Civility and $3.00 will get you cup of $0.50 coffee, and two bits worth of ridicule; then they keep the change.