The President’s Heckler Has a Dirty Past
Remembering The Days Of Old
Joe Wilson belongs to an organization called the “Sons of Confederate Veterans” (http://www.scv.org). This group is run by some radical folks who call themselves neo-Confederates who promote secession and define slavery as a “benign institution”. This is not simply a group of Civil War reenactors: They are the real deal when it comes to wishing life was back to it was in the South before the Civil War.
Follow The Leader
Wilson was an aide to the late Senator Strom Thurmond. When Thurmond passed away in 2003, a woman came forth – after his death and at the age of 78 – claiming to be the illegitimate bi-racial daughter of Thurmond whom he fathered with a 16-year old girl while he was in his twenties. In what seems to be a pattern with him, Wilson publically claimed that she was lying, even though she had proof to back her story. Thurmond had met with her throughout her life and paid for he r education. True to form, Wilson had to make a public apology to her for his strong words.
Show Me The Money!
If you don’t want to believe that Wilson’s comments were racist in nature, then maybe it is because he has some financial gain to protect. According to Opensecrets.org, Wilson has accepted $414,000 from the health sector in the eight years that he’s been in office (almost $52,000/year in addition to other monies and his salary). This is his second largest contributor. The Financial insurance and real estate lobbyists have given him an additional $455,000.
A Veterans Love For The Military
Representative Wilson is a military veteran. He served in the United States Army Reserve between 1972-1975 and with the South Carolina National Guard, retiring in 2003 at the rank of Colonel. You would think with this austere service record that he would hold the U.S. military with the highest regard. Well, this is not the case. True to his hatred of reformed health care, Wilson has voted down health care reform to veterans eleven times in the last eight years. Note: Wilson is now on the government health care plan, so veteran coverage no longer applies to him. He has voted to cut benefits for veterans, pushed for budget cuts at the Veterans Administration, and voted repeatedly to stop TRICARE coverage to military reservists and National Guard members who have lost healthcare in the private sector due to multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.
An Insincere Apology
While Wilson was made to apologize, it was a token effort. According to a YouTube video, he is heard stating: “Liberals who want to give health care to illegals are using my opposition as a distraction…” ”They want to silence anyone who’s against [the Democrats'] health-care plan.” Wilson continues to refer to the health-care plan as “government run,” and attributes his outburst to having spent a month in town-hall meetings with emotional constituents who oppose a “government takeover” of health care
