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My friend Martin Frost has a very nice article about Charlie Wilson. = Charlie is also an old friend of mine and he is in the news now days due = to a new heart he was given in Houston and the new movie coming out. We = miss Martin and Charlie in the U.S. House of Representatives. And = thanks to Martin for permission to reprint his comments.=20

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New Film Portrays Hero Charlie Wilson as American Original

Monday , October 08, 2007 By Martin Frost

There are very few originals in America politics anymore. Most of = our elected officials tend to look and sound like.

One of the true originals is former Texas Congressman Charlie = Wilson.

Charlie served a rural East Texas district with great distinction = and great flare for 24 years prior to his retirement form Congress in = 1996.

He is the subject of a new movie, "Charlie Wilson's War," to be = released this December. Tom Hanks plays Charlie and Julia Roberts is his = love interest. And just recently, the 74 year-old Charlie has added a = new dramatic chapter to his already extraordinary life.he received a = heart transplant in late September and is convalescing near the Houston = hospital where the surgery was performed.

I know Charlie as a former colleague and a friend. The rest of the = country will soon know him too.

The movie is based on a book by the same title. It chronicles how = one Congressman who served on the House Appropriations Committee = championed the cause of Afghan rebels when their country was occupied by = the former Soviet Union during the 1980's. It demonstrates how one man = can make a difference.

Charlie made sure that the Afghan rebels got U.S.-made stinger = missiles. It was these missiles, which are fired from the shoulder by a = lone soldier, which started knocking feared Soviet helicopter gun ships = out of the sky. These missiles and other weapons that Charlie convinced = our government to send to the rag-tag rebel army ultimately drove the = Soviets out of Afghanistan in what turned out to be their Vietnam.

CBS's "60 Minutes," which rarely has anything nice to say about an = incumbent officeholder, featured Charlie in one of its segments. It = quoted the late president of Pakistan, in one of his final interviews, = saying simply "Charlie did it." The entire 60 Minutes segment could have = been a re-election campaign spot for Charlie---it was that good.

A graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Rep. Wilson had a = well-deserved reputation as "Goodtime Charlie." He was both a playboy = and a legislative genius who quietly worked behind the scenes to improve = the U.S. military and to make sure that key allies like the Afghan = rebels and Israel had the military support they needed to survive in a = hostile environment.

Divorced part way through his Congressional career, Charlie never = tried to hide the fact that he liked beautiful women and a good drink of = whiskey. His Baptist constituency in East Texas forgave Charlie his sins = because he delivered for the home folks (particularly the large senior = citizen population in his district) and because he was not a hypocrite. = His flamboyant life style was out in public for everyone to see. Also, = it didn't hurt that he was a dedicated anti-communist in a state where = people really would rather be dead than red.

Charlie was one of the shrewdest and finest public servants I have = ever met. He was always willing to help a younger colleague with advice = and his word was good. If he told you he would do something, he did it = or went down trying.

Charlie came from a conservative district but he had a good civil = rights record and a good labor record. He knew who his friends were and = he stuck by them in tough times.

Charlie left Congress in 1996 to look after his health and to make = some money as a lobbyist. Ultimately, he married a terrific lady and = moved back to East Texas as his health problems increased. After all, = everyone knew Charlie had a lot of hard miles on him.

Now Charlie is on the mend and come December the whole country = will get a close up view of one of the true originals in American = politics.

We are a better country because Charlie Wilson served his nation = in uniform and in the Halls of Congress. Politics would be a lot more = fun too if we had just a few more Charlie Wilsons.

Martin Frost served in Congress from 1979 to 2005, representing a = diverse district in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. He served two terms as = chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, the third-ranking leadership = position for House Democrats, and two terms as chairman of the = Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Frost serves as a regular = contributor to FOX News Channel and is a partner at the law firm of = Polsinelli, Shalton, Flanigan and Suelthaus. He holds a Bachelor of = Journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a law degree from = the Georgetown Law Center.=20

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