If you’re wondering about Rep. Joe Wilson, the Republican backbencher who hurled verbal abuse at the President this evening, here’s a few tidbits:

– If you guessed "This guy is not a moderate Republican from the East or West Coast", you guessed correctly: He’s from South Carolina, which has been in the news recently because of Wilson’s fellow Republicans, Gov. Mark Sanford and André Bauer, but not for the reasons they’d prefer.

– If you wondered if perhaps this guy might be a Neo-Confederate or other person who might not be inclined to treat a black president with the same respect as he would a white one, you’d be right again — he’s a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group that lists Patrick Buchanan and Trent "Strom the Segregationist shoulda won in ’48" Lott among its members:

In 2002, the SCV was criticized in the media and by a group of SCV dissenters for the SCV’s views of Civil War history and the organization’s alleged association with neo-confederate individuals and organizations. Joe Conason, writing in Salon, and Jason Zengerle, writing in The New Republic, have argued that the SCV has morphed from an apolitical organization dedicated to Civil War history to a politicized organization dedicated to preserving the "Lost Cause" version of the history of the Civil War and the 1861-1865 era.[20] The SCV states that "[t]he preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South’s decision to fight the Second American Revolution".[3]

Civil War historian James M. McPherson has associated the SCV with the neo-confederate movement and described board members of the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virginia as "undoubtedly neo-Confederate." He further said that the SCV and their equivalent for female descendants, the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), have "white supremacy" as their "thinly veiled agendas." [21] The incident made McPherson a controversial figure among Confederate history groups and prompted a UDC boycott call and letter-writing campaign against him. In response to this boycott, McPherson stated that he did not mean to imply that all SCV or UDC chapters or anyone who belongs to them promote white supremacist agenda. He further stated that [only] some of these people have a hidden agenda.[22]

No wonder Erick Erickson of Red State, who we last saw defending Glenn Beck, calls Wilson a "hero".

Want to fight back? Donate to Rob Miller, Wilson’s opponent. Abe Lincoln would approve.

Oh, almost forgot — Wilson broke the House GOP’s own set of etiquette rules (he may have felt that they didn’t apply to a black or Democratic president):

References to the Senate or Executive Branch

Until the 109th Congress, it was not in order to make certain references to the Senate or individual senators. However, at the beginning of that Congress, the House removed the prohibition on making references to the Senate, leaving only the requirement that debate be confined to the question under debate and avoid “personality.” The precedents of the House allow a wide latitude in criticism of the President, other executive officials, and the government itself. However, it is not permissible to use language that is personally offensive to the President, such as referring to him as a “hypocrite” or a “liar.” Similarly, it is not in order to refer to the President as “intellectually dishonest” or an action taken by the President as “cowardly.” References to the Vice President, in spite of his role as President of the Senate, are measured against the standard used for the President rather than prior standards used to govern the Senate.

Categories of Unparliamentary Speech

Defaming or degrading the House
Criticism of the Speaker’s personal conduct
Impugning the motives of another Member
Charging falsehood or deception

Claiming lack of intelligence or knowledge
References to race, creed, or prejudice
Charges related to loyalty or patriotism

Committee on Rules – Republicans
U.S. House of Representatives
1627 Longworth Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

PHONE: (202) 225-9191
FAX: (202) 225-6763

EMAIL: Rules.Rs@mail.house.gov