Joe Wilson

When Republican congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina heckled President Obama during his address to a joint session of Congress this week, it was no surprise that the subject was immigration. It's also no surprise that while the House Republican leadership demanded that Wilson apologize for his intemperance and breach of protocol, pro-GOP talk-show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and right-wing bloggers have defended him and urged him to stand firm. For the moment, at least, the most effective opposition to the Obama administration comes not from the Republican Party establishment but from the talk-show/tea-party right, which -- if it has its way -- will convert the GOP into an almost exclusively white, zealously religious, mostly Southern party.

Joe Lee Wilson, 75, a jazz vocalist who performed with saxophonists Sonny Rollins and Archie Shepp and trumpeters Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard and hosted a thriving loft club in New York City in the 1970s, died July 17 at his home in Brighton, England, said his daughter, Naima Wilson of Los Angeles. He had a heart ailment. Born in Briscow, Okla., on Dec. 22, 1935, Wilson moved to Los Angeles as a teenager. He studied classical singing, then jazz, while attending Los Angeles City College.

Go ahead, hit me with all the Tipper Gore jokes you want, but I'm beginning to think that U.S. political news, like rap music, needs a parental warning notification. Every few years or so, we have a collective paroxysm over the bad behavior of this or that group of public figures. We fret over what the antics of sports stars or celebrities teach our children. Whether they're taking illegal steroids or partying without their knickers, we hope and pray that the kids won't mimic them.

The "you lie!" congressman has endorsed the "tell the truth" candidate. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign announced Thursday that South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson has endorsed his candidacy, providing key early support in the important nominating state. "As South Carolinians get to know Governor Pawlenty, as I have, they will see someone with a remarkable record of conservative accomplishments in a politically tough state for Republicans, and someone who has the kind of bold vision for America’s future that we need to defeat Barack Obama," Wilson said in a statement.

Dressed in faded jeans and a Hawaiian shirt, Joe Wilson settled into a deck chair beside his tiny swimming pool in suburban Baghdad the other night, fired up one of the fat cigars that have become his trademark, and reflected on yet another day as the cutting edge of U.S. policy in Iraq. It was well after midnight, but his dinner of cold pizza and olives remained uneaten on the kitchen counter. Joseph C. Wilson IV, the highest-ranking U.S.

Manipulating in every fashion the most powerful variable in any sport, human officiating, is the design of all competitors. But if these NBA refs don't start calling the obvious Flagrant 2 fouls, like blood-drawing swings to the mouth, it will progress to players' punching jump shooters in the face while simply in the act of shooting. Then claim it is only a "playoff foul," and just a "game-winning" play. Joe Wilson Fullerton

Re "CIA Leak Investigation Turns to Possible Perjury, Obstruction," July 24 Between all the noise from the right wing trying its best to defame Joe Wilson and his wife and the silence coming out of the White House about how no one who is found guilty will be part of the team, it is easy to loose track of what is really going on, which is exactly what they want. It does not matter who the players are. It all boils down to two simple facts that we must not forget. First, this administration has compromised a valuable national security asset for political gain, and that has made us all less safe.

So Joe Wilson, "Bush's Man in Baghdad" (World Report, Oct. 16), has "Old World" diplomatic skills. Since this is not defined in the article, I'll have to presume that the "skills" Wilson possesses are the ones mentioned in the article. They include Wilson's dreaming of being a diplomat in a war, coming from an "established" Northern California family, taking his scheduled autumn vacation on the French Riviera, collecting all that extra "danger pay" since Aug. 11, and just enjoying the sun from his deck chair by his swimming pool in his "Malibu-style" Baghdad home--all this while wearing a festive Hawaiian shirt.

WASHINGTON -- Mark Sanford, after a detour to the governor's office and, infamously, to Argentina, is back in Washington as a member of Congress.  The former three-term congressman and two-term governor was sworn in Wednesday as the representative for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District, after a comeback victory in a special election last week. In brief remarks after taking the oath of office, Sanford declared himself "humbled" to return. "Each one of our lives involve different journeys.

It's tough these days being from South Carolina. Ask Dick Harpootlian. He was in Peru, on a train from Cusco to Machu Picchu, when he and his wife began chatting with another couple. Where, Harpootlian asked, are you from? Rio, came the response, and you? South Carolina, Harpootlian replied. Mark Sanford! the couple exclaimed. Argentina! Later that night Harpootlian returned to his hotel room, flipped on the TV and picked out two words in a stream of Spanish: Joe Wilson. (As in, "You lie!"

A week of public hand-wringing may have exhausted readers' interest in the recent displays of boorishness by political, athletic and entertainment figures. But I'm going to write about it anyway. Because this is my column. It's got my name on it, plus a picture of my face. Why else would you be reading Sandy Banks if you didn't want to know what I think? What matters is me. Like, if I wanted to stride on stage and snatch the mike from an award winner in the middle of her thank-you speech.

Trying to quell a conservative uproar over his healthcare agenda, President Obama has proposed barring illegal immigrants from a possible government-arranged health insurance marketplace -- even if the immigrants pay with their own money. The move has surprised some of Obama's fellow Democrats and infuriated immigrant advocates, who on Tuesday attacked the position as political pandering and bad policy. The White House revealed its stance Friday, after a renewed debate over illegal immigration that was triggered when Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.

So maybe it's not swine flu, but the nation seems to have come down with a serious case of impulse control disorder. Symptoms include (but are not limited to) Kanye West snatching Taylor Swift's moment at MTV's Video Music Awards; Serena Williams threatening, with expletives, to cram her ball down a lineswoman's throat at the U.S. Open; and Rep. Joe Wilson's inability to contain the urge to denigrate President Obama while the president was in the middle of addressing the nation on a topic of critical importance.

Answering Joe Wilson Re "Outburst forgiven but not forgotten," Sept. 11 At first, I thought Rep. Joe Wilson's outburst during President Obama's speech before Congress was the one of the most shocking, bizarre and disrespectful breaches of protocol that I had ever witnessed in American politics. On further reflection, however, it is clear that his action was a natural development from a loyal opposition that demonstrated its contempt for the president and disregard for appropriate behavior by holding up placards, booing and texting during his speech.

President Obama on Sunday dismissed the uproar over Rep. Joe Wilson's heckling during the president's Wednesday speech to a joint session of Congress, suggesting it was only a distraction -- even as some members of Obama's party threatened to punish the South Carolina Republican. "This is part of what happens. I mean, it becomes a big circus instead of us focusing on healthcare," Obama said in an interview on the CBS news program "60 Minutes." Obama noted that Wilson later apologized, which "I appreciated."

Max Boot (Opinion, Nov. 2) takes the prize for spinning the Valerie Plame leak into the proverbial glass is half full. If I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and other White House officials were "merely setting the record straight," why did Libby request anonymity in conversations with New York Times reporter Judith Miller? "Petty-ante perjury"? I agree it's not comparable to the Monica Lewinsky inquiry, but isn't that the point? This one led to war. MANLEY WITTEN Los Angeles The Times finally prints in Opinion critical background detail on Joseph C. Wilson IV and Plame.

The "you lie!" congressman has endorsed the "tell the truth" candidate. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign announced Thursday that South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson has endorsed his candidacy, providing key early support in the important nominating state. "As South Carolinians get to know Governor Pawlenty, as I have, they will see someone with a remarkable record of conservative accomplishments in a politically tough state for Republicans, and someone who has the kind of bold vision for America’s future that we need to defeat Barack Obama," Wilson said in a statement.

Go ahead, hit me with all the Tipper Gore jokes you want, but I'm beginning to think that U.S. political news, like rap music, needs a parental warning notification. Every few years or so, we have a collective paroxysm over the bad behavior of this or that group of public figures. We fret over what the antics of sports stars or celebrities teach our children. Whether they're taking illegal steroids or partying without their knickers, we hope and pray that the kids won't mimic them.

When Republican congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina heckled President Obama during his address to a joint session of Congress this week, it was no surprise that the subject was immigration. It's also no surprise that while the House Republican leadership demanded that Wilson apologize for his intemperance and breach of protocol, pro-GOP talk-show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and right-wing bloggers have defended him and urged him to stand firm. For the moment, at least, the most effective opposition to the Obama administration comes not from the Republican Party establishment but from the talk-show/tea-party right, which -- if it has its way -- will convert the GOP into an almost exclusively white, zealously religious, mostly Southern party.