And so it begins: Support healthcare reform because . . . Joe Wilson took NoDoz? [update]

[Bumped up to Friday morning.]

*This just in: Wilson's Wikipedia page says he's a racist. Scoll down.

Oh brother:

A source told The Hill in 2007 that the congressman ingested the tablets “like candy," but Wilson insisted he was not addicted despite the fact that he had been taking them since high school.

The fifth-term Republican said he shared his NoDoz use with his doctor, who Wilson said assured him that the over-the-counter pills are not dangerous unless you get addicted. [emphasis added]

You have to admire the research done by these tireless investigative reporters: NoDoz is

a brand of pill that contains 200 milligrams of caffeine a pop. By comparison, a seven ounce cup of drip coffee contains 115 to 175 milligrams of caffeine.

So it's like a large cup of coffee. Maybe Dear Leader needs to insert coffee-consumption limits into his non-existent healthcare reform plan.

Would you believe this is the top story on Memeorandum?

(His name isn't really Joe, either. Let loose the hounds!)

*Update: Michael Goldfarb is right:

Joe Wilson offered the most succinct and effective Republican response to Obamacare since Sarah Palin attacked Obama's "death panels" -- and, like Sarah, he did it in just two words: "You lie." It is also incontrovertibly true that Obama was lying. Illegal immigrants will get health care for free under the Obama system just as they get health care for free now. Except under Obama's system the American taxpayer will foot the bill instead of the hospitals and insurance companies. Liberals have reacted as one might have predicted based on the Democratic response to town hall protesters this summer -- by questioning Joe Wilson's patriotism and honor and civility. Let them question all those things, and let them send all that money to Wilson's challenger in 2010. It won't make a bit of difference. That district is as safe as Nancy Pelosi's, and Joe Wilson's constituents were probably more bothered by his apology than anything else.

Get yourself a tee-shirt: “I’m With Joe Wilson! America's Congressman”

(Don't get too excited. They only have fifty.)

Rush is right, too:

Folks, we are in a serious struggle to save our country and Joe Wilson voiced what millions of Americans have been saying about this man, Barack Obama, for months. And if we're going to start censuring our own people on our team who are willing to try, then maybe we need new people in the game. I was ecstatic when I heard that last night. This is serious. This is not normal, everyday politics.

In his video statement Rep. Wilson makes it clear that he'll continue to fight against Democrat heathcare reform. He seems to be prepared for ad hominem attacks that are just beginnning.

Meanwhile, the Senate Finance Committee closes the loophole-that-wasn't-there in their bill:

In the Senate, Democrats in the so called "Gang of Six," a group of bipartisan senators on the Senate Finance Committee which is the last panel yet to release its bill, began moving quickly to close the loophole that Wilson helped bring greater attention to.

"We absolutely assure that those who are here illegally would not get the benefit of any of these initiatives," Sen. Kent Conrad said.

*Commenter Sue points out that Wilson's Wikipedia page has been updated since yesterday with this accusation of racism:

He is best-known for having interrupted President Barack Obama during a speech to Congress by shouting "You lie!" - an unprecedented act of rudeness to a President making a Congressional speech. This was widely thought to have been inspired by racism.

I don't know how long that will stand. But it was only a matter of time before Wilson's opposition to Obama was attributed to racism.

*Update at 8:15 am: It's already been removed.

Related: Fact-checking Joe Wilson

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