STATE TRADITION LIVES ON

Maybe there is something in the water served up in South Carolina that makes their Congressmen act so strangely while doing the Peoples' business.

South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson became an instant national ogre Wednesday night when he interrupted President Obama's health care reform speech with a very audible "You lie". An stunned gasp was heard throughout the Congressional chamber and Obama blanched in disbelief at such a rude and indefensible interruption, softly muttering "not true" in response.

One must go all the way back to May 22, 1856, for a worse example of Congressional etiquette and yes, it was another South Carolina Congressman, Preston Brooks, who was involved. Brooks entered the Senate chamber to confront Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner over an anti slavery speech Sumner gave three days earlier, and beat him into unconsciousness with his Gutta-percha wood walking cane.

Obama fared a lot better than Sumner over misbehavior by a South Carolina Congressman. It only took the President about three seconds to regain his composure and continue his oration. It took Sumner three years before he returned to the Senate.

We shouldn't be too hard on Congressman Wilson. Apparently, he was just following a state Congressional tradition.

Originally published in Glen Ellyn News, September 16, 2009