Respect

Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina showed no respect at all when he called the President of the United States a liar in the house chambers during a joint session of Congress for the President to plug his health care.  It makes no difference how he feels about President Barack Obama; he disrespected the office of the President of the United States.

The worst outbreak in Congress happened in 1856 by another South Carolinian, Congressman, Preston S. Brooks.  He beat Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner on the senate floor with a cane. 

Over the weekend tennis star Serena Williams violated the rules at the U.S. Tennis Open.  She threatened a line judge for what she felt was a bad call and did so using profanity. The outburst cost her the match and a $10,000 fine.  After review it may cost her much more. 

During an MTV awards show singer Kanye West went on stage while country singer, 19 year old Taylor Swift, was giving her acceptance speech and told the audience that Beyonce Knowles, also nominated in the same category, best female video, should have received the award.  Beyonce showed class when she invited Swift back on stage to finish her acceptance speech. 

The response to this outburst from the offender seems to focus on the cause of the reaction not on the reaction. In the extreme you could associate it with the offender doing whatever they desire, rather than following the accepted rules and proper decorum for the events. 

It is no wonder that things are getting out of hand when it comes to formal rules, accepted decorum and accepted social correctness. Or, in a general sense, Charlie Gibson of ABC news called it lack of civility.  The problem is that it seems when kids see these outburst they feel that it is okay for them to do. 

It is a sign of our times, although a poor one, that our grandkids seem to not recognize the proper thing to do when they receive a gift or do not extend the proper courtesy when it is appropriate.  When such high profile people violate the rules then younger people feel it is an open door to do the same.

It amazes me that when people who do these things, they do not even apologize in a way that even shows any pretext of a true meaning with feelings.  It is as if what they did is okay because they had a reason.

In Congress the recent outburst by the SC Representative seems to be okay by many politicians and voters.  They justify it be comparing it to the 1993 outburst when President Clinton was booed by Republicans during a speech to a joint session of Congress on healthcare and President G. W. Bush was booed by democrats during his state of the union speech in 2005 to a joint session of Congress.

In the political arena true followers of a politician support almost anything the politician says,   with the exception of inappropriate sexual encounters they also support almost anything their favorite politician does. 

In fact, after Wilson’s outburst not only did his opponent’s campaign contributions go up, but his did also.  In both cases we are talking about a million dollars for each candidate in the two or three days after the incident.  That is a strong signal that we are divided at how we look at the incident.

In the 1858 incident the Congressman resigned, albeit after he gave a speech in Congress that was done so to justify why he only beat Sumner and did not kill him.  I feel that Wilson should do the same. 

My concern is that if a severe punishment is not given or self inflicted then these events will increase and get out of hand. It is the “don’t let the camel’s nose get into the tent” reaction.  Roughly translated, it means if the camel’s nose gets into the tent then the entire camel will follow.  In modern terms it means that once you let some small thing get started it will end up becoming so large you can’t stop it.

Nothing was done about the outburst to Clinton or Bush, when they were booed, so now it is taken to the next step – calling the President a liar.  I picture it turning into the House of Commons in England where this type of behavior is accepted and to some extent encouraged.

Once again it appears that the only punishment Wilson will receive for violating one of its own rules is a vote of disapproval.  Congress has become so antagonist that they will not vote on a matter as clear cut as violating one of their own rules unless the offender is in the other party.  It apparently will be a one sided vote. 

I for one do not want to see that.  Respect for the rules and the situation, whether it is in Congress, at an awards ceremony or on the athletic field must be maintained. It has already gone too far and has filtered down to the kids.

What Beyonce did by her action was to prove that some people do have class and will not in any way accept lack of respect.

For the kids it might be time to resurrect Aretha Franklin’s song Respect. Maybe they will listen.  The song talks about respect at the most important level, in the home.  That is being eroded every day.  Maybe if we worked on ways to build that up, then it will work its way out of the home into other areas.