If you are doing a study on the behavior of politicians, then the last four weeks of high profile activity involving Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) and Rep. Alan Grayson would certainly be one place to start in the current political environment.
Neither member of Congress was a household name before the last few weeks, but now, they're on the tip of a lot of tongues.
Wilson stepped into the spotlight with his "You lie!" shout out to President Obama.
Grayson arrived with his line about the GOP wanting sick people to "die quickly."
"I know who Alan Grayson is for one reason only: he is the latest obscure politician to garner national attention for an intemperate remark," wrote conservative blogger Eric Trager on New Majority.
"Of course, Grayson would hardly be the first politician to recognize that, simply put, there is no such thing as bad publicity," wrote Trager, who then zeroed in on something crucial.
"The problem, however, is that the Age of Hypermedia has magnified the incentives for crude political behavior substantially."
To quote one of my college dorm friends, "You ain't EVEN lying."
Everywhere I looked a few weeks ago, Wilson was on a cable TV network.
Everywhere I looked this week, Grayson was on the TV as well.
Supporters rallied to Wilson's side and raised a lot of money for him.
Now Grayson is getting a smaller fundraising windfall as well.
The blogosphere rallied to each man's side as well, as the Right and the Left got themselves energized, while many others looked at the two lawamkers and wondered 'what's up with that?'
"Is Rep. Alan Grayson the Democrats' Joe Wilson -- the guy who says something inappropriate publicly but is really saying what others in his party are thinking?" said one item on Politico.com.
Asked about Grayson's zingers this week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Grayson didn't need to apologize to anyone.
At her weekly news conference, Pelosi urged everyone in the Congress to bring their rhetoric down a notch, and focus on the specifics of health care reform.
"There's no reason for Mr. Grayson to apologize. If anyone should apologize, everyone should apologize," the Speaker said, alluding to the heated debate that already exists on health care reform.
Grayson was on MSNBC again last night, soaking up the excitement.
"We got a Democrat with some guts!" gushed MSNBC host Ed Shultz.
I can only shake my head and chuckle at what we've got right now in this New Media Age.
A few weeks ago, I was getting email complaints from Republicans about how I was being too tough on Joe Wilson.
This week I'm getting email flak from Democrats about how I'm being too tough on Alan Grayson.
I'll say it again - this isn't a Dog Bites Man story, this stuff is Man Bites Dog.
Face it - this is political hyperbole - and political entertainment. Whether you like one or the other probably depends on your own personal political prism.
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