When Joe Wilson yelled “you lie” to President Obama, the President hesitated slightly, but then continued with his speech. If he had decided to break from the prepared remarks to address the words, what would have been the best response?
I’m not asking for an extemporaneous departures from his written speech to some lecture on decency. I’m assuming just a one-line retort that would have put the opposition (either Wilson in particular, or his idelogy in general) in its place.
Let’s leave the debating about the justification of the outburst out of this. That’s found in other threads. If you hate Obama, or agree with Wilson, pretend that some Democratic House nobody yelled “you lie” to GWBush while he solemnly declared the need for War.
A witty put-down would have been the “snark heard 'round the world.”
-“I lie? You wouldn’t know the truth if it donated money to your campaign.”
-“Oh yeah? Well, the jerk store called, and they’re all out of you!!” [That would have killed - I promise.]
It shouldn’t have been a one-liner response. It should have been a lecture like an adult to a rude child. And Wilson should have been escorted out of the chamber by the Sergeant at Arms.
To mess with the Birthers: " Hey - you can’t talk until you show me your birth certificate. No, not that one, the other one, the special long form one. What? you don’t have it? Go get it."
To mess with the liberals: “Honkey motherfucker! c’mere and say that. I’ll cut you”.
To cite historical precedent and cause hilarity north of the border: “Fuddle-duddle” [Pierre Trudeau once (probably) told a fellow politician to fuck off, but when pressed about it, implied that he had said “fuddle-duddle”. Fuddle duddle - Wikipedia]
Most likely real Obama response: " There is a time for catcalls and inane ejaculations from the inuniformed. That time is over. Now is the time for paying attention acting like responsible legislators in a democracy"
‘I find your lack of faith disturbing’, then some force-choking thrown in for good measure. Aside from being the shiz, it would help bolster the likelihood of getting the Public Option accepted too.