Representative Joe Wilson calling President Barack Obama a “liar” during the president’s health care speech last week is a sign of a coming inflection point in U.S. politics and public life. But brace yourself, Wilson’s comment in only the tip of the iceberg. So be it, this inflection point can’t come soon enough. I think it’s all for the good.

I watched President Obama’s speech on TV and was dumbfounded when I heard Representative Wilson call him a liar. Had I ever heard such a thing before? Did I hear what I think I heard? Indeed, even before his outburst, the noisy and rambunctious chamber sounded more like the British Parliament than the U.S. Congress. It felt like at any moment things could spiral out of control.

But in people’s haste to condemn Wilson, we shouldn’t lose sight of a bigger issue. Wilson’s outburst is yet one more sign that our political discourse has run amuck, that it’s producing very little value for the American people or the country. The health care debate is anything but a debate – filled with endless mudslinging, demagoguery, innuendos, half-truths, and blind partisanship. Let’s be honest, these are coming from all political sides!

I’ve watched the Sunday talk shows as senators and governors and others studiously tick off their talking points, slamming their opponent, but never joining the debate. They’ve become automatons, slinging rhetorical arrows at one another, seemingly devoid of any concern for the damage they do. I say “seemingly” because I actually believe many of these people (perhaps almost all) care deeply about the country, and would even like to see a health care solution as well as progress on other key issues.

But for now things are spinning out of control and we’re headed for an inflection point, a crisis point that demands our attention, for the current course can no longer sustain itself. I’ve written about such inflections points before. It is at such places we can either choose to face up to the forces at work, and in doing so propel ourselves forward in new and productive ways, or try to diffuse such forces, even avoid or go around them.

Wilson’s “liar” comment takes us yet another step closer to the edge of impropriety in our society, and our political leaders know that. And yet, just beneath the political maneuverings over whether he should go to the well of the House to apologize, or even be sanctioned, are more contentious and tough issues. Many people believe that Wilson’s outburst was a sign of racism. Whether or not it was, I feel, as many others have, a growing undercurrent of this discussion in recent months; only look at the Cambridge incident between the Harvard professor and the local police officer for yet another data point, and there are many others.

Moreover, the anger we’ve seen in the town halls is not the ordinary stuff of such public sessions. I listened to a recent town hall held by Senator Mark Warner of Virginia and I was stunned by people’s treatment of him. He is a right-leaning Democrat, a legend in Virginia politics, known for his even-handedness, and a very decent man. One individual after another rose up to pull him down, shout over him, and even belittle him. I had to stop my car on the side of the road, listening in disbelief, utterly dismayed by what I heard. This can’t be what we want.

But let’s be clear, there are real forces at work here in terms of our political discourse, and they are bringing things to a head. That’s my point. And when they do, you and I and others face a fundamental choice. Will we say, “Enough is enough,” or will we shake our heads in disappointment, only to walk away? Will we write letters to the editor, comment on blogs, and stand by political leaders like Senator Warner? Will there be an outcry for the president to “strike back against his enemies,” no matter the situation, or will we use this moment to encourage him and his Republican counterparts to demand better political discourse.

One last point: at such an inflection point, the most courageous people are those who stand up and say, “We must go in a different direction, let’s go.” They are the ones who help to set out and create new conditions. They are the ones who choose not to cast aspersions and half-truths, but to clarify and connect. They are the ones who, when people yell, “Liar, liar, pants on fire!” rise and say, “You’re wrong; there is no place for schoolyard antics here.”