It goes without saying that there's a lot of colorful characters in Texas. I grew up in New Mexico. We used to bitch constantly about the Texans who'd blow through the state, or disrespect those of us from the Land of Enchantment as poor sisters in the oil and gas game. It was one of those state-level inferiority complexes, I guess. (Interestingly enough, my first true girlfriend was a transplanted Texan, from Hereford.)
Among the more complex political players ever to emerge from Texas was the technicolor character of Charlie Wilson, a Democrat who represented the very conservative second congressional district for over two decades. Some of you know him from the movie, "Charlie Wilson's War", in which Tom Hanks played a caricature of the real man.
"Good Time Charlie" died today. He was 76. Charlie was a Texan I would have liked. More...
Since I read of Charlie Wilson's passing, I've tried to think of someone - anyone - in the current congress with whom he could be compared. There's no one currently serving who could have wielded the influence that Wilson did, been closer to the halls of power, or was able to walk a tightrope between public service and his rather risque personal life.
Wilson was like the Wilt Chamberlain of congressmen. He cut a tall, imposing figure; not someone you'd want to meet with bad intentions in a back alley. And like Chamberlain, Wilson had a predilection for the ladies. His congressional staff was largely comprised of pretty young Texan women, dubbed "Charlie's Angels" on Capitol Hill.
It's interesting that Charlie died the within a few days of Jack Murtha. In the book, "Charlie Wilson's War", George Crile describes Tip O'Neill's placement of a known carouser such as Wilson on the House Ethics committee. Tip wanted Charlie on Ethics because of one person: Jack Murtha, who was under investigation for his role in the congressional ABSCAM sting in the 1980's. O'Neill needed a reliable vote on Ethics to shut down the investigation of Murtha. He got it in Charlie (who was also a long time friend of Murtha). Why did Charlie take the assignment? One reason: in exchange, O'Neill offered Wilson a lifetime seat on the Kennedy Center board, and in doing so, insured that Charlie would have a permanent free ticket to Center events. It was a cheap date ticket that the financially strapped playboy congressman coveted. Charlie always had a different, luscious babe on his arm, whether at the Center or in a hot tub in Las Vegas.
At a lecture in Scranton, Pa. last year Wilson said: "Anything you've seen about me or read about me, I plead guilty as charged." The interesting thing is, though, he kept getting re-elected in a very conservative Texas district. His constituents knew his personal story: the drinking, the womanizing, the alleged cocaine-fueled hot tub escapades. But they didn't care. Why? Because there may never have been a more colorful, powerful, and honest-to-a-fault politician to have ever served in congress. Wilson never apologized for who he was, or pretended to be something that he wasn't. He was a different breed. His constituents forgave him his trespasses, because he served them well, and didn't try to bullshit them about his personal foibles. There's a lesson in there somewhere for current Democratic Party politicians.
Wilson was not just a partying playboy, though. He was a Democratic Party power player. What you'll be reading most about Charlie in his obits is his involvement in the 80's with Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the U.S. proxy war that was staged by the CIA against the Soviet Union. It is absolutely not a stretch to say that Rep. Wilson was a key player in ending the USSR's occupation of Afghanistan and the downfall of the communist empire. That's what drove him for his entire life. Ronald Reagan would never have been able to call for Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down that wall" without Wilson's previous behind the scenes work to secure funding, forces, and support for the Afghan Mujahedeen.
If you want to know more about Charlie Wilson, and get a great primer on why the current U.S. involvement in Afghanistan is ultimately a losing deal (and why the phrase, "Afghanistan - where empires go to die" is so appropriate), don't get the movie from Netflix. Read George Crile's book. It's a wild read that's as good as a spy novel.
Charlie retired from congress in 1996. He finally settled down a bit, and got married. In 2007, he had a heart transplant, but then returned to a speaking schedule.
In reading today of Wilson's death today, I'm reminded of an interview with him that I read last year regarding his current views on Afghanistan. He acknowledged that Barack Obama was faced with lousy choices in Afghanistan:
Mr. Wilson believes that the United States' failure to invest in Afghanistan's recovery following the war led in large part to the ascension of the Taliban, who provided a refuge for Osama bin Ladin, who had fought with the mujahideen against the Soviets, and Al Qaeda in the years leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Failure to finish
"We (screwed) up the end game," Mr. Wilson said. "It would have been very easy and done for a minuscule amount of money. We should have done the basic things for a backward country that's trying to come out of (a war) and have a reasonable hope of economic success."
As President Obama considers whether to send tens of thousands of more troops to Afghanistan, Mr. Wilson worries that the war could become "another Vietnam."
"It's probably best to make a calculated withdrawl," he said. "If I were the president, I'm not sure what I'd do. I'd probably shut it down, rather than lose a lot of soldiers and treasure."
Sage words, indeed. As General Stanley McCrystal positions American troops for a Fallujah-style assault this week on the Afghan city of Marjah, both he and President Obama would do well to heed Wilson's words last year:
He says this as someone who knows as well as anyone just how fierce and tenacious the Afghan fighters are.
"I'd rather take on a chain saw," Mr. Wilson said. "They're the world's best foot soldiers, best warriors. And they're fearless...
That was as close as Charlie Wilson would ever come to criticizing U.S. involvement in Afghanistan.
Rest in peace, Charlie. You followed your conscience and muse in life, and you done good.