I've watched the British Parliament on C-SPAN many times, and Joe Wilson is no MP.
Several people have compared the out right rude and disrespectful verbal outburst of Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) against President Obama last night with the way the British Parliament behaves. Even Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) said as much on the Rachel Maddow Show last night. Just for the record, I have watched the British Parliament on C-SPAN many times, and I can tell you, Joe Wilson, you are no MP.
Now I do not claim to be an expert on the British form of government. I do know that from time to time, the Prime Minister faces the Parliament for questions. And, I do know that these meetings can get rather rambunctious. There are cat calls, boos and hisses. But I have never heard anyone call the Prime Minister a liar. Even in their most rowdy verbal debates, the British stay respectful. The British invented respectful disagreement, didn't they?
Here is a perfect example. This video shows a particular boisterous session focusing on whether a special election should be called:
Now I may be wrong about all of this. Maybe the British MP's make crude and crass remarks to the Prime Minister. Maybe they do call him a liar. But, if so, it is within the context of their rules of debate. We do not like our Congressional representatives acting that way to our president.
So I hope people will stop saying that Joe "You Lie!" Wilson was merely acting in the same spirit as a British MP. That is simply not the case. Rep. Wilson acted like the ignorant Americans who attended the town hall meetings with the intent to disrupt them. Where they learned to act like that, I can not say, but I am fairly sure that it was not from the dignified British.