Charlie Wilson in Afghanistan.
I guess the movie they made of Charlie Wilson’s War is now more famous than George Crile’s book. That’s a shame because the movie, while entertaining, ain’t half as revelatory as the book which is more than just a political thriller explaining how – with only some exagerration – a lone Congressman funded and armed the mujahedeen in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan. It’s a terrific piece of work and an excellent, if extreme in the particulars, introduction to the way the United States Congress actually works. Or worked back then, anyway, in the age of Tip O’Neil when Congress was more powerful, or perhaps simply insisted upon its prerogatives more keenly than it does now.
Well there aren’t too many Congresspeeps like Charlie Wilson these days. He was just a touch more colourful than your average Congressman:
Divorce, dope, drunk driving: As the 1984 election approached, the experts figured the voters of East Texas might decide to replace Wilson with someone a bit less, um, colorful.
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