Heckling Reporter Should Be Fired

Respect for the presidency has reached a new low, as proved by a pair of incidents this week, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post. There was the bullet-riddled outhouse labeled "Obama Presidential Library" at a Montana GOP convention, which showed that political discourse hasn't just "gone down the toilet," it's "gone to a place where there isn’t even plumbing." And of course, there was the Daily Caller reporter who interrupted President Obama's immigration announcement.

The scary thing is that instead of denouncing such "vulgarity," conservative leaders are fueling it—witness Mitt Romney seeking birther Donald Trump's endorsement or Joe Wilson's Obama heckling. "When conservatives sanction the debasement of Obama, they are debasing the presidency itself," Milbank writes. That's what Tucker Carlson is doing when he says he wants to give his interrupting reporter a raise. Yes, White House reporters need to be tougher—but Neil Munro's heckling was simply "belittling the presidency." Instead of a raise, "I think Carlson should fire him," writes Milbank. Click through for the full column. (More President Obama stories.)