Commentary

MARK SCHUMANN

Self-described “Professor of Political Baloney,” partisan and propagandist Charlie Wilson, who regularly performs at City Council and County Commission meetings during public comment time, was out this week sowing seeds of misinformation.

In addition to going on WTTB radio to attack the reporting of Inside Vero, Wilson went before the Taxpayers Association proposing, of all things, the formation of a committee to be known as “The Truth Squad.”

The more Wilson attacks the reporting of Inside Vero, the more likely it is we are on to the truth.  While on WTTB Tuesday, Wilson claimed a three-part series we published on his political activities since the early 1984 had “more than 40 factual errors.”

It was at least the third time Wilson used his free airtime on WTTB to disparage the reporting of Inside Vero.  As is typical of Wilson, he failed to offer so much as one specific example of misreporting.

Wilson proposed the Taxpayers Association create “a credible third source,” to counter what he described as Inside Vero’s “yellow journalism”.

Last week, County Administrator Joe Baird said, speaking of Wilson, “I don’t know where this man gets his facts.  It is getting scarier and scarier.”

Wilson’s proposal, supported by Scott Stradley and Mark Mucher, included the following:

1. Letters to the editor submitted on a regular basis by members of the Truth Squad.
2. Consistent appearances at City and County meetings during public comment.
3. Sponsorship with dedicated weekly appearances on Bob Soos and Rhett Palmer Shows.
4. Consider a 1 hour sponsored radio show.  Cost, approximately $5,000 annually.
5. Establish, write and edit a Taxpayers Truth Squad Facebook page.
6. A committee member specifically appointed to establish and write Truth Squad blog.

Wilson wrote, “The first task will be to draft and submit a press release and hold a press conference to announce the establishment of the committee and the need for doing so which is to combat the dissemination of false, inaccurate information to the public that has been perpetrated by InsideVero.”

In the comments section of InsideVero.com just yesterday, attorney Ed Taylor wrote, “When Charlie was caught after turning in forged voter petitions several years ago, I heard him on numerous radio shows blaming the supervisor of elections for his obvious scam. On the Lisa and Leo show, he called his son who was later convicted of forging the petitions a “political prisoner.”

Taylor added, “He (Wilson) then uttered a phrase that I will consistently associate with him . . . “if you can’t attack the accusation, attack the accuser”. Having been a prosecutor for many years, I was quite familiar with that mentality and it is not a phrase that I associate with honor or integrity.”

Clearly, in his regular appearances on WTTB, and his appeal to the Taxpayers Association, Wilson’s strategy is to attack.

Inside Vero stands behind every word of our article on the history of Wilson’s political activities.  Where information has been printed about him in other publications, we confirm the source and date. The profile on Wilson is available now online and will be out next week in our August print edition.

Regardless of how far down Wilson and his supporters choose to burrow into the mud, we will continue reporting facts, revealing the connections, and discovering the truth behind the motivations of political activists such as Charlie Wilson.