ahem. i have an opinion.

Remember that whole George Bush shoe-throwing incident, and how clever many of us thought that was? [Or maybe that was just me. I certainly thought it was clever. Bush may have disagreed; he appeared a bit thrown by it. "Thrown"? Heh, see what I did there?]

Well, exclaiming "that's a lie!" and then apologizing over that seems about on par. Maybe less interculturally educational and sillier-sounding. Definitely brought the level of discussion and debate down several notches. But still a form of dissent aimed ["Aimed"? I did it again!] directly at the president. Either both are acceptable, or neither is.

finlandia

This is my song, O God of all the nations
A song of peace for lands afar and mine
This is my home, the country where my heart is
Here are my hopes and dreams, my holy shrine
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country's skies are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine
But other lands have sunlight, too, and clover
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations
A song of peace for their land and for mine

True of people as well as countries. Peace be with you.