On today’s episode of Fox News Sunday, Rep. Joe Wislon, said he would not apologize once more for his outburst of “you lie” during President Obama’s address to Congress last week, even if he faces disciplinary action in the House of Representatives. While I think it is impolite and disrespectful for anyone to behave that way–regardless of the party–I think Democrats should accept the apology and move forward to focus on the issues. Why? I simply fail to see what Democrats and health care reform would gain from formally disciplining Rep. Wilson. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi initially indicated she would not support formal disciplinary action against Wilson, but has later backtracked and decided to support such a measure. Video of Rep. Wilson’s appearance on Fox News Sunday is after the jump.

I do not support what Rep. Wilson did. It was disrespectful to the President, Congress, and the country. But I also do not support any formal disciplinary measure taken against Rep. Wilson by the House of Representatives. Doing so will likely further divide the parties, and when taking into account the political reality that votes might be difficult to come by, it does not make sense for Democrats to potentially further inflame those against health care reform. We need to be working to reinforce support among Democrats and to bring people across the aisle in favor of reform–not against.