Friday, September 11, 2009


Is Obama the first president to get heckled during an address to Congress?:

Is Obama really the first president to get heckled during an address to Congress?

It depends on what you mean by heckle. Members of Congress frequently express their disapproval audibly during a presidential speech. When Bill Clinton outlined his health care plan in 1993, for example, some Republicans snickered, shook their heads, made faces, and even shouted "no." And when George W. Bush claimed in his 2005 State of the Union that Social Security will be "exhausted and bankrupt by 2042," Democrats responded with boos. (At the time, several political talk-show hosts, including Ted Koppel of ABC, claimed such booing was unprecedented.) But last night may be the first time a congressman went beyond communal muttering—and interrupted the president with a loud and denigrating retort.



9:50 AM