WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Shouting from the audience. Holding up signs blasting the health care reform bill before Congress. Frequent hissing and booing.



Many Facebook and Twitter users condemned Rep. Joe Wilson for his outburst toward President Obama.



Though it sounds like behavior at one of the health care town hall meetings last month, it was how some Republicans reacted to President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday night.



But Norm Ornstein, a longtime observer of Congress and an expert at the American Enterprise Institute, said the tone and behavior from members of Congress are not necessarily new.



"A lot of what went on [Wednesday] night has become fairly typical of what we've seen in the State of the Union messages over the last 10 or 12 years, where it's one side jumping up wildly and the other side sitting on their hands in stony silence."



The most memorable moment came from Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, who shouted "You lie" after the president said that a Democratic-sponsored health care bill would not cover illegal immigrants.



Ornstein said that in addition to being beyond the bounds of what is typical, Wilson's comment is "just sort of stunning in the level of disrespect for not just the president but the presidency."  Watch more of Wilson's outburst »



During several moments in Obama's speech, members of the GOP hissed and yelled at the president as he laid out his plan for reform. One Republican held a sign saying, "What bill?"



House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, was seen several times typing on his phone during the speech.



Vice President Joe Biden told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Thursday that he was "embarrassed for the chamber and a Congress I love."



Observers said the behavior is probably indicative of the vitriolic sentiments found during town hall meetings.



"I think a lot of those Republican members went home to their district and were met with very angry reaction from their constituents. Congress, as you know, is pretty polarized," said Kasie Hunt, a health care reporter for National Journal's Congress Daily. "I think, in some ways, that's what you really saw last night: the degree of acceptance of that angry discord that we've really hadn't seen in a long time."



Hunt said there is still a lot of misunderstanding among Republican members of Congress.



John O'Connor, who covers politics for The State newspaper in South Carolina, said that a lot of Wilson's anger mirrors what many feel in his home state.



"I think he feels the way a lot of people in South Carolina feel about [health care reform]. They're suspicious. They're worried. There's some fear out there about what could happen."



But O'Connor points out that South Carolina tends to be more conservative than other states, and Wilson's town halls were generally civil.



"Rep. Wilson, however, held a town hall meeting in Columbia where, for the most part, there was a pretty reasoned debate," he added. "There were folks on both sides raising issues, asking questions."



Still, it might have been Wilson's constituents' anger and distrust that contributed to the outburst in Congress, O'Connor noted.



"His takeaway from that was that people support his stance, which was to oppose any version of what he's calling Obamacare," he said. "So despite the fact that there was clearly some support in that audience for doing something about health care and health insurance, he kind of had a different impression of what the majority of the crowd thought."



Could Wilson face any trouble for his comments Wednesday night? Unlikely, according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.



Pelosi said Thursday that there is a procedure that could have been implemented to strike Wilson's "lie" comment from the record. But she said the president did the right thing in continuing on and not giving it "any more attention than it deserved."



Pelosi indicated that she would not press the
What was the topic that President Obama delivered? What did Joe Wilson Yell out about? What was the topic of the address to Congress on Wednesday? Who yelled out, "You lie" during the speech? What one observer said?
the health care reform bill a Democratic-sponsored health care bill would not cover illegal immigrants. health care reform bill Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, tone and behavior from members of Congress are not necessarily new.
question: What was the topic that President Obama delivered?, answer: the health care reform bill | question: What did Joe Wilson Yell out about?, answer: a Democratic-sponsored health care bill would not cover illegal immigrants. | question: What was the topic of the address to Congress on Wednesday?, answer: health care reform bill | question: Who yelled out, "You lie" during the speech?, answer: Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, | question: What one observer said?, answer: tone and behavior from members of Congress are not necessarily new.