Associated Press photo
Just your average Addison Graves: Politically dead man walking U.S. Rep. “Joe” Wilson, pictured during President Barack Obama’s nationally televised speech on health-care reform, during which Wilson yelled out to Obama, “You lie!”
Shit, all I did was enter “Joe Wilson” into Wikipedia.org’s search bar and I learned that the Repugnican U.S. representative from South Carolina’s real name is Addison Graves Wilson Sr.
How do you get Joe from Addison Graves?
But Joe sure sounds a lot more folksy, doesn’t it? You betcha! You’ve never heard of any Addison Graves the Plumbers, have ya? I mean, you probably wouldn’t want to have a beer with an Addison Graves, but how about a beer with a Joe?
Wikipedia also notes that Addison Graves the Plumber was an aide to the infamous racist South Carolina politician Strom Thurmond, who in 1948 ran for president on the segregationist States’ Rights Democratic Party (“Dixiecrat”) ticket.
As Addison Graves (doesn’t that sound like a medical disorder? “Addison-Graves Disease” or something?) was born in 1947, Thurmond’s racist past had to have been known to him when he decided to become Thurmond’s aide.
Thankfully, Thurmond finally died and went to hell in 2003.
Hopefully, we’ll see Addison Graves’ political death soon. And then maybe we can say that he politically died from Addison-Graves Disease.
