Joe Wilson's War

South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson (R-Idiot) will forever have a special moment set aside in the DVD box set of "When Congresscritters Attack!" Republican colleagues described the Army reserve veteran and five-term 2nd District representative as "likeable" and "reserved." This isn't the first acrimonious outburst for Wilson though. In 2004, Wilson was called a "chicken hawk" by Former Democratic Senator Max Cleland of Georgia after he demanded an apology from John Kerry for his 1971 remarks about the Vietnam War. Unfortunately Wilson seems to have lived down to the recent standard set by other members of the South Carolina Republican party.

Wilson's outburst during the President Obama's speech on health care also shows how low discourse on the Right has gone. Illegal immigration was the subject of that portion of the president's that resulted in an outburst eerily similar to recent to those in town hall meetings, something not lost on the Democrats. It immediately boosted the war chest of Wilson's opponent Rob Miller. To their credit, GOP congressional leaders -- including The Gentleman from Arizona -- did denounce the outburst and Wilson made an apology. The outburst was a self-inflicted black eye on the party when they need it least.