Well ladies and gentlemen, I'm last.

While I may be late to the table for this discussion on the recent downturn of good manners, I don't believe that any of basic societal problems that materialized in the last two weeks have really been solved. Yes fines and suspensions have been handed down and resolutions of disapproval have been passed, but we have yet to touch the root of this issue. We have yet to fully discuss or try to understand why it is that in 2009 we still interact with each other in such despicable ways.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's run down some violations of decency over the last two weeks:

*Joe Wilson, a Republican representative from South Carolina, shouted "You Lie!" to the President of the United States during a joining session of Congress.

*A day after the eight anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on this country, tea party protesters take to the streets of Washington D.C. with signs that ranged from mildly clever,endearing, and headscratching to tasteless, borderline racist, and violence portending.

*Serena Williams, one of the most intimidating women on the planet (who's also a pretty good tennis player to boot), threatened a line judge by saying she'd like to stick her tennis ball...in an area that tennis balls probably shouldn't go.

*A Hennessy-fueld Kanye West interrupted yet another award show (at this point we should probably just calling it "Kanye pulling a Kanye").

*Hours after fumbling away the win for the Buffalo Bills, cornerback and return specialist Leotis McKelvin, returned home to find an expletive and the final score of the Bills game versus the Patriots (24-25) painted in his yard.

*Yankee catcher Jorge Posada did not take kindly to a tap on the shoulder from Toronto pitcher Jesse Carlson (who threw behind Posada in retaliation of several Toronto players being hit by pitches) as he was crossing home plate, he proceeded to incite a benches clearing brawl that resulted in the suspension of several players, including Posada.

Now, had all these events occurred over the course of the year they'd seem like nothing special and we, as a country, would be able to chalk it up to the spirit of competition or debate (or in Kanye's case, chalk it up to just spirits). Instead, these events are coming in on the heels of LaGarret Blount's meltdown during the Boise State vs. Oregon game, and right after a summer where we saw LeBron James spur his post-game handshake after losing to the Orlando Magic and Tiger Woods pull his usual tirade of flinging clubs and F-bombs.

I implore you, blog commenters, what's going on here? Is this the best that this society has to offer when it comes to communicating with one another, even during a disagreement?

Let's use this comment section as a forum to discuss the state of sportsmanship/discourse in this country. Here are just a few prompts to get us started:

What's to blame for these meltdowns?

Are the punishments being handed down enough to deter future outbursts?

Are they blown out of proportion by the media?

We all have our own backgrounds and observations to bring to the table, and I'm very interested in what you all have to say.

As a disclaimer though, I'd like to keep the discussion amicable (I enjoy writing for you all and would prefer to not be a booted from this site).