… but instead got Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel.

As my husband just remarked, it’s the first time he’s ever heard of a Congressman taking himself to the woodshed…

WASHINGTON – In an extraordinary breach of congressional decorum, a Republican lawmaker shouted “You lie” at President Barack Obama during his speech to Congress Wednesday.

Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., tried to call Obama to apologize in person, but ended up speaking to White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

The contrite congressman, “expressed his apologies” to Emanuel, not the president at whom he had shouted a few hours earlier, Wilson’s office said.

By that time, Wilson’s House Web site had crashed and he had taken a brutal beating on his Twitter page for breaching protocol and good manners during a presidential speech to a joint session of Congress.

Understand one thing: with my locally famous temper and penchant towards profanity, Rahm Emanuel is a fucking, freakin’ hero to me! 😉



FoxNews is of course getting comments to the AP same story that Wilson is a hero.

Yahoo has the clip via the link above, at that moment and the shocked look on Speaker Pelosi’s face… plus I think she turned quickly to Vice President Biden and said, “Wilson”- looks that way from reading her lips to me and perhaps others can weigh in.

It was certainly the most extraordinary moment I have witnessed in Congress- and will put the death knell on his career representing the state of South Carolina.

Wilson’s outburst came after Obama said that extending health care to all Americans who seek it would not mean insuring illegal immigrants.

“You lie!” Wilson shouted from his seat on the Republican side of the chamber.

Republicans froze, with several looking in Wilson’s direction.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi directed a fierce frown at him; first lady Michelle Obama pursed her lips and shook her head from side to side. Vice President Joe Biden looked down and shook his head, too.

Obama, meanwhile, looked toward the outburst and replied, “That’s not true,” and went on with his speech.

Wilson seems to have quickly figured out that he screwed up royally:

Right away, Wilson seemed to sense that he had fouled up. Wilson appeared to consult his Blackberry for much of the rest of Obama’s speech. He shook his head defiantly after several of the president’s statements. When Obama finished, Wilson bolted from the chamber.

Below the fold, reactions from Wilson’s future ex-constituents.From South Carolina’s “The State” come the following thoughts:

It’s time for the people of South Carolina to stop excusing their elected officials. Sanford has been a complete international embarassment. DeMint walks around Washington as if no one knows a thing except him. And now Joe Wilson.

Just when you thought the perception of South Carolina was at the bottom…we have Joe Wilson to than for getting out his shovel and start digging deeper.

SC continues to be the laughing stock of the nation.

Suggestions for South Carolina’s new state motto:

“Lower Your Expectations.”

“You Shoulda Just Let Us Secede”

Mississippi’s new motto? “Thank God for South Carolina.”

Alabama often takes national heat for being “backward” in some way, but we may now shift our attention to a cute crop of elected politicians from S.C. Joe Wilson is a wonderful example of how political dicussion in America has degenerated into simply who can yell louder than their opponent. Where do the South Carolina voters get these people like Wilson and the Governor? And more importantly, how can you make them go away!!

There’s already over 10 pages of comments to go through…