President Obama addressed a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening, which turned out to be anything but run-of-the-mill. Around 8:40pm, just after Obama vowed to lawmakers that his health care reform proposals would not provide benefits to illegal immigrants, Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) shouted from his fifth row seat: "You lie!"

Naturally, most of Congress was stunned at Wilson's outburst.. Mumurs of "ooh" filled the chamber, and Nancy Pelosi's chin dropped in awe. Obama tried to ignore it, moving on to the next sentence and talking about how no federal money would be used to fund abortion. Again he was interupted. This time Wilson shouted out "Not true!"

Health care reform has become a hot button issue this summer. Town hall meetings across the country devolved into protests about granny killing and so-called "death panels." It's become so divisive that guns were even brought to various Obama appearances, and a fanatical pastor in Arizona has proclaimed that he is praying for Obama's death.

No one, however, could have expected an elected Congressional representative to behave in such a manor, breaking unspoken established rules of decorum practiced here.

But Wilson was not alone. While he was the most flagrant, there was also some booing coming from House Republicans when the president mimicked a conservative arguement by saying that they would "leave individuals to buy health insurance on their own". They even hissed when Obama protested their "scare tactics", and grumbled with he spoke of the "blizzard of changes and counterchanges."

When Obama said "nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or doctor you have", laughter and scoffing could be heard coming from the Republican side. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) shook his head in disbelief, while several other Republicans shouted "What plan?". Louis Gohmert (R-TX) waved a handwritten poster which read "WHAT PLAN?", which he then replaced with another sign that said "WHAT BILL?"

While such a display is out of place in U.S. politics, in Britain its nothing unusual. The House of Commons regularly voices their displeasure or agreement with various outward displays of emotion and sound. Tune in to C-SPAN to get a first hand look at how things work in the UK, it's actually pretty entertaining.

Interestingly, Obama actually used his speech before the joint meeting to offer a significant concession to the Republicans, as well as to break from his own party. The president told his "progress friends" that the "public option" that they treasured as a part of the health care reform could be sacrificed for other ideas.

Democrats were not entirely innocent last night either; they got into the provocations as well. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) made a victory sign with his hand, waving it at Obama. Al Green (D-TX) pounded his fist into the air and made what some have called an awkward fascist salute.

Here is a video of the wild night in Congress: