I'm SHOCKED by the number of people here in favor of heckling non-elected officials.

[mike_c]

24. oh I generally agree...

...but the discussion about this topic seems to have evolved from the specific incident to the general principle, e.g. the subject line of this OP. And in the broader sense I still believe that no one should expect to be above challenge.

So let's bring this back to the specific incident. Do you think an audience member has the right to raise a challenge unrelated to the speaker's remarks? Offhand, I can't bring myself to say no, although I tend to handle interruptions like that by deferring the challenge-- "OK, I hear you, but that's another conversation." If I'm serious I'll usually offer to make arrangements to have the conversation, e.g. "Why don't you come see me during office hours," or "let's talk about that right after we're done here." Michelle Obama's reaction seemed more along the lines of "When I speak I expect you to listen and not interrupt."

That's OK too, but whenever anyone professes to be above challenge, their motives need to be examined closely.