Former US Rep. Charlie Wilson dies

[PapaJu]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100211/ap_on_re_us/us_obit_wilson

Certainly an interesting character, and who knows where we'd be with Afghanistan if more people listened to his point of view after the Soviet-Afghan War. RIP.

[outbreak]

Does this count as number three of the everything-happens-in-threes theory?

Ted Kennedy, Jack Murtha, and Charlie Wilson?

I don't know much about Wilson, but even so, since he was not a sitting congressman when he died, does it count, or are we waiting for another dirtbag from the Capitol to kick the bucket?

[M2]

Nope, Wilson was in a league far beyond those other Democrats. He truly kicked ass!

According to the book Charlie Wilson's War, in 1985 Wilson had been told by a doctor that he had 18 months to live. Like a true Texan, he beat those odds by almost 25 years.

Godspeed, Charlie, too bad there ain't more like ya!

Edited February 11, 2010 by M2
Fixed image link

[discus]

Godspeed, Charlie, too bad there ain't more like ya!

Sorry, M2, I gotta disagree with ya there. Without Charlie Wilson, the Russians would have kicked their ass, and they would not have several SAM's that we are worried about every time we fly over there. (If we were even flying over there) Thanks to Charlie, they were getting all kinds of supplies, aid, and weapons. When the Russians left, the supplies dried up. The Afghan people may be backwards but they are not stupid. They quickly realized that they were being used as pawns for us to try out our new toys on the Ruskies. Oh, and the people that Charlie was helping out? Yup, that's right, the Taliban, who used their newly acquired power to overthrow the "Reasonable" (By Muslim standards) government that was in exile and take on a hard line Muslim stance.

Charlie meddled where he did not belong, because he hated Commies ( to that, BTW), but even with his best intentions, he ended up making an enemy far more scary than the prospect of the Russians rolling tanks across Europe. Yes, Afghanistan broke the USSR's bank and spirit, but are we really better off with the enemy we face now?

Readings that lead me to these conclusions; "Charlie Wilson's War", "Two Cups of Tea", and "The Kite Runner". I realize they are entertainment books, and not hard and fast research. Willing to take suggestions for further reading if you got 'em.

[busdriver]

Blaming one man for a long standing foreign policy paradigm is a bit short sighted. Also the idea that "Charlie Wilson supported the Taliban" is incredibly simplistic, and even the freaking movie covered that angle.

[slacker]

I thought he was good in Forest Gump.

[HerkDerka]

Yes, Afghanistan broke the USSR's bank and spirit, but are we really better off with the enemy we face now?

Are you kidding me? You'd rather we fight World War III than terrorists? And the "Charlie Wilson and the Taliban" arguement never works. By that same logic, we should have helped end the mass murder in China during WWII.

[brickhistory]

They quickly realized that they were being used as pawns for us to try out our new toys on the Ruskies.

They, the Afghans, knew at the time we were using them. They knew it, they let us because it fit their needs at the moment.

It's a little bit patronizing to assume that they weren't wise to the deal at the time.

We didn't create the Taliban, we didn't make Afghanistan the suckhole that it is, has been, most likely always will be.

[discus]

Are you kidding me? You'd rather we fight World War III than terrorists? And the "Charlie Wilson and the Taliban" arguement never works. By that same logic, we should have helped end the mass murder in China during WWII.

I didn't say I'd rather FIGHT WWIII, but hey, at least it was a clearly defined enemy who had a clear plan for the use of their Nukes that we could anticipate and counteract. What are we going to do when something like Beslan comes to the United States? What are we going to do WHEN (Not if) those guys get a Nuke? The very instant they get one, they will set it off. There will be no "Mutually Assured Destruction". They will set it off and we'll never find the bastards that did it to answer in kind.

To the counter points, I'm always willing to learn new things and points of view. I do remember that he (Charlie Wilson) advised we not pull out of there, that we needed to go in and re-build their country, in order to ensure that they remained our friends. That simply was not realistic at the time though. We had bigger fish to fry and limited amounts of money to do it, and he knew it.

[Chapter29]

Willing to take suggestions for further reading if you got 'em.

Read Descent into Chaos and you will understand why this place is such a shithole.

[PapaJu]

"Ghost Wars" is a good one too.

[Guest DaJudge]

NOTE: The sender, ex-Congressman Martin Frost, was a college roommate of mine:

From the desk of Martin Frost:

Dear Friends,

I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my good friend Charlie Wilson earlier this month. Charlie was truly a remarkable man.

I thought you would be interested to read the remarks I delivered at the Congressional reception honoring Congressman Wilson last night, and I have included them below.

Thanks for your interest as always.

Martin Frost

Congressman Frost's Remarks on Charlie Wilson:

Where to start?

I felt a special affinity for Charlie when I was first elected to Congress in 1978. Charlie had arrived there just six years earlier but he was already a legendary Texas figure.

The link to Charlie was strong. My mother was from the small town of Henderson in East Texas just up the road from Charlie’s hometown Lufkin. I had an uncle and two cousins in Lufkin….small town Jewish merchants who ran a general store on the town square. Our politics were similar – liberal on domestic issues like civil rights, a woman’s right to choose and issues affecting organized labor…conservative on defense, foreign policy and preservation of the State of Israel. Though different in style, I already knew Charlie was my kind of Texas politician...

All told we served together for 18 years until he retired in 1996. The longer I served with Charlie, the more I came to appreciate exactly what a special person he was.

Not only did he alter history by his one man crusade to help the Afghan rebels expel the Red Army from their country and thus hasten the demise of the Soviet Union, Charlie also was a classic, district-oriented Congressman. He brought jobs to his area and looked after the real needs of the people he represented. He took care of the widows on Social Security and the Veterans who needed medical care. Equally important, there was not an ounce of hypocrisy in Charlie. He never tried to hide his foibles…he was, in fact, an honest politician.

But the people here today who loved Charlie know all that. Let me tell you a few things you may not know about this remarkable man.

During the 1990’s, every two years after the election season, House Democrats would gather together for pizza and look at some of the best television commercials from the preceding campaign. We all liked to see how our colleagues portrayed ourselves back home to the voters.

And the programs always concluded with commercials from Charlie Wilson’s campaign. His colleagues, hard-bitten politicians all, roared with approval when they saw what Charlie put on television.

One year you would see him sitting on his porch in Lufkin with the hymn Amazing Grace playing in the background and then you would see Charlie dancing with the little old ladies at a Senior Citizens Center. And you could see in the eyes of the seniors that they loved Charlie and valued his service.

Another year there was Charlie throwing a Russian made Kalashnikov rifle into an East Texas river, telling you how much he hated the Soviets and how much he loved America. The spot ended with a large America flag, with the words, “The flag, the flag.”

Charlie was the real deal.

And Charlie was a great Democrat. There was the time in 1996 when Charlie had decided to retire. I was Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that year and it was my job to ask Charlie not to leave in the middle of the year (thus causing a special election) but to serve out his term so his replacement would be selected in a regular general election that Fall. Democrats were having a hard time winning special elections but we felt we could hold the seat in a general election when other Democrats like Bill Clinton would also be on the ticket. I made my pitch and Charlie responded, “You know, Martin, that serving out the rest of my term will cost me $50,000 a month” for 6 months. This was during an era Members could start lobbying immediately….there was no cooling off period like there is today and Charlie had already lined up some defense contractors as clients. My response was to ask Charlie to do this for the Democratic Party. Charlie thought about it briefly and then told me, “Ok, Martin, I’ll do it.” As a result, Democrat Jim Turner was elected to Charlie’s seat that Fall and served the 2nd District with great distinction until the Texas Legislature drastically redrew the district effective 2004.

And even after his health began to fail and he moved home, he continued to help the Democratic Party. He came to Dallas to help raise money for the effort organized by my former chief of staff Matt Angle to win back seats in the Texas Legislature and to elect local Democrats to countywide offices. And though somewhat frail, he traveled to the 2008 Democratic National Convention to be the headliner at a Lone Star Fund event to help Texas Democrats I wish we had a few more Democrats like Charlie Wilson today.

But what I most remember about Charlie was his sense of style. It was often said that he could strut sitting down. I remember lots of examples of this unique style:

There was his 50 th birthday party at a Georgetown club with the entertainment being provided by the Kingston Trio. There was his 60 th birthday party at the Kennedy Center with Charlie dressed in a white dinner jacket. There was his advice about romance that he often gave his friends – if you have someone special, take her to the most romantic place in the world – the Momunia Hotel in Marrakech, Morocco. I followed his advice and he was right.

There was the time Charlie was seated in a wheel chair in the Speaker’s lobby dressed in a robe and pajamas hooked up to an IV so he wouldn’t have to miss a key national security vote.

There was the large seal of the House of Representatives that he gave to his good Democratic friend Don Montgomery which is to this day on display on tile next to the backyard swimming pool at Don’s house in the most Republican part of Dallas – Highland Park.

And there was his exchange with Speaker Tip O’Neill’s staffer who told Charlie the Speaker wanted him to serve on the Ethics Committee. Charlie was reported to have told the Speaker, he would do it if the Speaker would appoint him to the board of the Kennedy Center, telling the Speaker it’s a great place to take dates. When asked by the press about the irony of his serving on the Ethics Committee, Charlie replied, “Members who like alcohol and women deserve some representation too.”

Many of us saw the movie, “Charlie Wilson’s War.” Tom Hanks gave it his best shot but he underplayed the role. Charlie was much more colorful in real life. I guess Hanks felt that if had had portrayed Charlie in full voice no one would have believed the rest of the movie which was, of course, all true.

Charlie was a unique figure in the history of our state. He was a patriot, a very smart and able public servant, and my friend. I will miss him greatly.