Ohio Valley Politics

The last few months it’s been somewhat difficult to keep up with news stories about my congressman, Rep. Charlie Wilson, because every time I searched his name or received a Google Alert it was filled with results for the upcoming movie “Charlie Wilson’s War” about a different Rep. Charlie Wilson (now retired).

Well yesterday these two different Charlie Wilson topics collided when the Steubenville Herald-Star ran a story titled “Wilson watches ‘Wilson’ movie“. As the title suggests the story is about the current Rep. Charlie Wilson attending the last 45 minutes of the movies premier after the House adjourned for the day.

There’s an excerpt below but you can find the full article here for the next few days.

“I saw the last 45 minutes. There were five theaters that were packed,” Ohio’s Wilson said.

“I’ve read the book, and the movie is pretty accurate. It’s a good story, a very, very good movie that will be very well received. Tom Hanks is wonderful in the part of Charlie Wilson,” Wilson said.

And, he got to hear a line that has a kind of funny twist for him.

“As I was headed out of the theater, I heard this on the way out. People said, ‘That Tom Hanks sure is great, but he’s no Charlie Wilson,” Wilson said, laughing.

“Hanks plays him very well. It’s a movie you’ll enjoy seeing. It’s the only movie I remember being at when the people applauded when the movie ended,” Wilson said.

Of course, having a previous Charlie Wilson in the House of Representatives has meant sometimes hearing tales of the past for the current U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson.

“I get 20 to 30 comments a day,” Wilson, who began his first term in January, said. “In fact, some friends thought the movie ads were negative ads against me.”

Wilson said he bought the book, “Charlie Wilson’s War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History” by John Crile, at an airport in Atlanta a few years ago. The book by the former “60 Minutes” producer was published in 2003.

“I was at the airport in Atlanta and I was walking by a book store when I saw the book in the window,” Wilson recalled. “I bought it, and when I gave the guy the credit card, he said, ‘Here’s your book. Are you that Charlie Wilson?’ And I said, ‘No, I’m not the same one.’”