ASSHOLE OF THE MONTH
from HUSTLER February 2010

“You lie!”, shouted South Carolina’s Joe Wilson as President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress. The liar, however, was Representative Wilson. As Obama had claimed seconds before being heckled by the GOP lawmaker, nothing in the healthcare-reform legislation suggests illegal immigrants would be eligible.

It takes colossal gall to insult a sitting President—in the halls of Congress, no less. But ya know what? We don’t give a rat’s ass about that. We just think it’s too bad the spineless Democrats didn’t treat George W. Bush with as much abject contempt as the Republicans treat Obama. Bush deserved such treatment.

What bothers us about Wilson’s outburst is its apparent underlying racism, especially since nothing like this ever happened before. Consider the following: Wilson is a member of Sons of Confederate Veterans, an organization said to be riddled with radical neo-Confederates who advocate secession and defend slavery.

Beyond that, Wilson served as an aide to Senator Strom Thurmond, a notorious segregationist and racist. In fact, Wilson was so enthralled with Thurmond’s ugly philosophy that he castigated Essie Mae Washington when she came forward to reveal she was Thurmond’s illegitimate biracial daughter. At first, Wilson said Washington was lying, but when Thurmond admitted to being the woman’s father, he called her remarks a “smear.” And, lest we forget, in 2000—as a state senator—Wilson was one of seven Republicans who voted to keep the Confederate flag flying over South Carolina’s State House. The measure was soundly defeated.

Even if Wilson were a staunch supporter of the NAACP and a member of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition and perhaps even black himself, he’d still be an Asshole. Eligible for military service during the Vietnam War, Wilson hid behind deferment after deferment. Then, after graduating from the University of South Carolina School of Law, he miraculously snagged a highly sought-after spot in the Army Reserve. No way was he going to risk his neck for his country. Since Wilson voted in support of the Iraq War, that makes him just another Republican chickenhawk.

Wilson’s hostile position toward the Obama healthcare-reform package probably has less to do with any true philosophical beliefs than it does with hard-nosed political pragmatism: The Congressman has received $414,000 from the health sector since taking his seat in 2001. That might also explain why Wilson voted against healthcare for veterans 11 times, including cuts to the Veterans Administration and TRICARE4. To an outsider looking in, it would appear that the healthcare industry owns Joe Wilson. Actually, if you think about it, that’s kinda like owning Baltimore Avenue when playing Monopoly.

Wilson’s hostility toward healthcare reform and Obama is so obsessive that he supported Bates Motel-crazy Glenn Beck’s 9/12 march on Washington. Remember, it was Beck who made the ludicrous charge that Obama is a “racist.” Wilson’s encounter with the President is not the first time he’s had such extreme outbursts.

According to the Washington Post, Wilson attacked Representative Bob Filner (DCalifornia) while appearing on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal. The reason? Filner had accurately stated that the United States once supplied Saddam Hussein with materials for nuclear and biological weapons. Once again we see that presenting Wilson with the facts does nothing but inflame him. He has contempt for the truth. By extension, it follows he has contempt for the American people. And why shouldn’t he? His distortions and lies have worked for him so far.

You must be contemptuous to say black is white, as it were. Or up is down. Or America has the best healthcare in the world. (We rank 37 in effective treatment and outcomes.) Even though he was demonstrably wrong in asserting that the President was lying, Wilson issued only a perfunctory apology before retreating to a pseudo-populist position by stating he would not “be muzzled.”

Then he started lying again: “Liberals who want to give healthcare to illegals are using my opposition as a distraction….They want to silence anyone who’s against [the government’s healthcare plan].” Just as aggravating, Wilson continues to call the plan “government run” when that’s patently untrue. Obama’s plan would only have the government as the payer—as opposed to the insurance companies— for those using the public option.

What’s really disturbing is that Wilson’s kids are poised to follow in Daddy’s footsteps. His oldest son, Alan McCrory Wilson—a lawyer—has his eye on the South Carolina state attorney general’s seat. Here’s what we can do to nip this nascent dipshit dynasty in the bud: Make a donation to Rob Miller, Joe Wilson’s Democratic opponent in the 2010 elections. (Miller’s Web site is RobMillerForCongress.com.)

Finally, there’s this: Joe Wilson is not really Joe Wilson. The Asshole’s legal name is Addison Graves Wilson Sr. Perhaps it’s a small point, but it does underscore the fact that it’s Wilson who is a liar.

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You may purchase the hard copy of the February 2010 Issue of HUSTLER Magazine (with free shipping) at HustlerMagazine.com. Comes with full length DVD and free shipping!

You may purchase a digital copy of the February 2010 Issue of HUSTLER Magazine at UnderCoverMags.com.

Tags: Joe Wilson, Rob Miller, You Lie

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