Today Is Joe Wilson's "You Lie" Anniversary

From “You Lie” to Swiftboating: Joe Wilson’s Shame

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Republicans are running campaigns based on obstruction, fear, and hate.  
And if you’re Joe Wilson (R-You Lie!) and none of that’s working for you? You turn to the bag of tricks you picked up babysitting young George W. Bush during his father’s 1987 presidential primary. That’s right, we’ve got our first swiftboating attempt of the 2010 cycle.

A year ago Joe Wilson was shouting at the President on the floor of the house; today, he’s spending thousands of dollars to smear his opponent. Take a look at this ad:



Never mind that Joe’s opponent, Rob Miller, is a decorated veteran. Never mind that when he says “Move On” he means “20,000 small donors that thought I acted like a jackass.” Never mind that Joe doesn’t have the credibility or the guts to attack Rob Miller himself. Joe’s willing to turn to any lie, distortion, or cheat if it means he has one more day of being able to use your money for all of the free trips, trinkets, and taxpayer dollars that he could want.

Yesterday we took a look at Rob's issue-oriented campaign ad, about jobs that are so much on the mind of South Carolina voters. Today Congressman "You Lie" is back with the only kind of campaigning he knows: the smear. You know what to do.

What Republicans Don't Want Voters To Know About Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

When Bush pushed CAFTA through Congress, it was a very close win for the GOP's Big Business allies. The final vote was 217-215. Although 187 Democrats voted against it-- only 15 joining the Republicans in favor-- Boehner, Blunt, Cantor, Ryan delivered for their corporate masters once again. For the last month Boehner has been running around the country like a bright orange chicken without a head squawking, "Where are the jobs, Mr. President?"

It's an ironic question coming from one of the engineers responsible for passing trade policies that have systematically decimated the basis of America's manufacturing base. Boehner and his cronies-- their wallets fat with gargantuan payoffs from outsourcers-- have voted for every single bad trade bill that has ever promised to ship American jobs overseas. For Boehner to publicly ask where the jobs are is a slap in the face to every American worker and an insult to the intelligence of every Ohio voter. In the Senate, Obama looked at the exact same CAFTA bill Boehner and the Republicans did. Then-Senator Obama voted against it. Several conservative Senate Republicans voted NO as well (John Thune, Lindsey Graham, David Vitter, Mike Enzi, Richard Shelby...) but voting to send American jobs to slave wage economies: Jim DeMint, Richard Burr, Mike DeWine, Chuck Grassley, Blanche Lincoln, John McCain, Ben Nelson and, of course Miss McConnell. All the Democrats voted against it with the exception of a small handful of corporate whores who habitually vote with the GOP against working families.

But let's go back to the House for a moment, where every member has to face the voters in November. Why are Ohio voters thinking of reelecting John Boehner, who has screwed them on WTO, screwed them on CAFTA, screwed them on NAFTA and has the temerity to be boosting plans for more unbalanced trade legislation with a handful of more low-wage countries. I know he wants to destroy the standard of living of American workers and make them into serfs but who does he think will be buying American goods and services to keep our consumer-driven economy afloat if there are no decent jobs? Not everyone can be a caddy or bartender!

Instead of asking Justin Coussoule for another quote about Boehner's record on jobs and how it has devastated businesses and the economy from Butler County up through Darke, Miami and Mercer, we took a look at a perfectly framed ad by Rob Miller, the former marine running against Joe "You Lie" Wilson. Although South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham warned that CAFTA would be disastrous for South Carolina's textile industry and small businesses (and voted NO), at the last minute Wilson was persuaded by Boehner's slick blandishments and voted YES, along with Gresham Barrett and Bob Inglis, both of whom have been disposed of by tea party activists. Miller's TV ad should leave Wilson reeling:



We caught up with Rob this morning and asked him if Wilson, just one Member of Congress, really hurt South Carolina with his vote. We knew the answer but we wanted to see how Rob would put it. He put it well:

When Joe Wilson went to Congress in December 2001, South Carolina’s unemployment rate was 5.7 percent. Today, 10.8 percent of South Carolinians are without jobs, including 112,500 people who have lost their manufacturing jobs.

Manufacturing was the backbone of South Carolina’s economy, until unfair trade deals like CAFTA went into effect. CAFTA sent thousands of our jobs overseas, and people all across the state knew that would happen before the first vote was cast.

But that didn’t stop Joe Wilson. Joe Wilson voted for CAFTA and broke his promise to protect South Carolina’s workers, sending their jobs to Central America. The real insult is that Joe Wilson cast the deciding vote for CAFTA. If Wilson voted “No” CAFTA would not have passed.

It was that simple, and Joe Wilson didn’t have the courage to do what’s right. South Carolina towns are dying-- people are struggling to put food on the table-- and it all comes down to Joe Wilson turning his back on South Carolina’s workers by voting “Yes” for CAFTA.

I hope lots of Democrats watch Rob's ad. Similar ones would be especially effective against Roy Blunt (R-MO), Mike Castle (R-DE), Mark Kirk (R-IL), and John Boozman (R-AR) four particularly corrupt Wall Street darlings who are all trying to upgrade from the House to the Senate. It may also be useful for Democrats in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and New Mexico to keep in mind as Charlie Bass, Mike Fitzpatrick and Steve Pearce try to slip back into office without letting voters know they were major players in the battles to pass CAFTA and similarly toxic trade bills.

Do You Remember Rob Miller, The Guy Running For The South Carolina House Seat Joe Wilson Occupies?

A few days ago, in an unkind, even thoughtless, throw-away intro to a post about Tarryl Clark that didn't appear at DWT, I kind of lumped South Carolina Democratic congressional candidate Rob Miller in with Elwyn Tinklenberg. Tinkenberg is an unabashed conservative-- he ran against Michele Bachmann in 2008-- who is anti-Choice, against equality for gay people and as backward and reactionary, at least on social issues, as your garden variety Republican. He actually has nothing to do with Rob Miller whatsoever.

Well... he has one thing to do with Rob. Both were the beneficiaries of massive outpourings of disdain for the moronic statements of their opponents. I doubt many of Tink's donors knew he favored a constitutional amendment to make sure same sex couples could never get married under any circumstances or that a woman should not be allowed to ever have the medical procedure that she and her physcian had decided on because it offended his-- Tink's-- religious sensibilities. I mentioned that I had tried to find out about where Miller stood on some of the core issues of the day but had been unable to. Someone from the campaign saw the post and yesterday I had an excellent talk with the former Marine officer, who did a couple of stints in Iraq. Unlike any number of bizarre Republicans claiming military honors they never won, Rob's military awards are breathtaking-- and real, including the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with Combat Distinguishing Device (‘V’ for Valor) for operations in Al Fallujah, Iraq; the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for leadership during cold weather training in Bridgeport, California; the Combat Action Ribbon for operations in Iraq; the Navy Unit Commendation for operations in Mosul, Iraq; the Good Conduct Medal (X2); the National Defense Medal (X2); the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; the Iraqi Campaign Medal; the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; the Armed Forces Service Medal; the Humanitarian Service Medal for Operation Sheltering Sky in Liberia; the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (X3); the Marine Corps Drill Instructor Ribbon; and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Medal.

No wonder he wanted to talk about service to the country! To Miller that's what running for office is all about: service. Too abstract a concept? I asked him about the issues-- he's good on them (even having come out publicly against the Stupak Amendment)-- and I asked him if we can expect to see him join the Blue Dog Caucus in Congress. He laughed. "I get asked that all the time." He said he wouldn't be joining the Blue Dogs and an impeccable source told me that the Blue Dogs approached Miller several time bearing gifts-- promising to raise money for him the way they are for conservative corporate shill and DCCC stooge Lori Edwards in Florida-- and he turned them down flat. It takes guts and conviction to turn the kind of easy money the Blue Dogs offer their recruits, the kind of conviction an unscrupulous political creature like Lori Edwards has never imagined and the kind of conviction a patriot like Rob Miller could never get through a day without. "What South Carolinians are looking for is an independent voice that represents hard working people in this district... There is so much corporate lobbyist influence in Washington that you can't get anything done for ordinary families and if you do, it's all watered down." Yep, this guy wouldn't be the right fit for the Blue Dogs.

"The biggest difference between Joe Wilson and me is service. Joe Wilson continually shows that he serves the special interests of Washington and Wall Street instead of serving the hard-working people on Main Street. Whether he's bailing out big banks or sending jobs overseas by casting the deciding vote on CAFTA, Joe Wilson represents everything that's wrong with Washington. While South Carolina's suffering from one of the highest jobless rates in America, Joe Wilson is off trying to privatize Social Security and cut Medicare. South Carolina needs a Congressman who will serve the people who elected him, and unfortunately Joe Wilson has shown that the only job he cares about is his own."

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