Does Heckling Matter?
Responding to a question from Professor Peter Loge, leader of the Project on Ethics in Political Communications at George Washington University.
As mentioned previously, I serve on the Stubblefield Institute for Civil Political Communications’ board of advisors. Launched about two years ago at West Virginia’s terrific Shepherd University - about a 90-minute drive from Washington, DC - our mission (my words) is to train, model, promote, and reward civil social and civic discourse.
My fellow board member and friend, Peter Loge, is an associate professor at George Washington University who leads the Project of Ethics in Political Communications. Both he and I have a long history of political campaigns and congressional staff work on opposite sides of Capitol Hill. He’s the editor of Political Communications Ethics; Theory and Practice, a valuable collection of writings on an increasingly important topic.
Peter asked his fellow Stubblefield Board members and others to answer this question following the President’s State of the Union Address last week, which included an unusual degree of raucousness from a small handful of Republican members, especially Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Andy Ogles (R-TN): “Does heckling matter? Is there a way back to a more polite or respectful State of the Union addresses?” Our responses are limited to 250 words.
I decided to share mine with you.
Someone I know texted me during the President’s State of the Union Address. “Well, the neighbors officially hate us,” he wrote. “We had (my wife and brother-in-law) yelling at the top of their lungs at the TV, volume high.”
The heckling seen in Congress during Biden’s speech last week primarily reflected what was being said in many American living rooms. The extraordinary amount of heckling by GOP members mildly reflects the views of many constituents.
And our parliamentary friends in London, Ottawa, and Canberra, thriving democracies all, are likely chuckling. Heckling has been a tradition of “question time” of the Prime Ministers there and elsewhere forever.
I’m also reminded of an occasional refrain from children everywhere. “So-and-so was mean to me.” I’m tempted to respond, “what did you do to invite it?”
The path to a more respectful State of the Union starts with a speech that is more respectful to audiences - humble, honest, and even self-deprecating. The path to respect starts with the speaker and the speech itself. It doesn’t help when they insult and sound more like campaign kickoffs than what was envisioned by our framers in Article 2, Section 3 of the Constitution.
But given the gaudy spectacles that State of the Union addresses have become, perhaps the best way is a return to George Washington’s first one - a letter to Congress.
In short, heckling matters, except when it doesn’t. In this instance, it reflects passionate views about a badly flawed and often inaccurate and insulting speech.
I would rather no one heckle speakers in Congress, college campus events, or anywhere, especially when it is increasingly used to shut down and silence opposing thoughts. It’s not a good look and is rarely persuasive, if not counterproductive. Heckling to silence speakers is especially egregious and violates our best traditions. But Joe Biden has only himself to blame for the thumbs down, murmurs, and retorts heard from Tuesday’s address.
Had he given a different speech, no heckling would have occurred. He invited it.