What Ohio Congressman Charlie Wilson Wants You to Know About New Movie

Monday, December 24, 2007
By Brit Hume

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Mistaken Identity

The movie “Charlie Wilson's War,” which opened in theaters on Friday, has nothing to do with Congressman Charlie Wilson of Ohio. But that Charlie Wilson is often mistaken for Charlie Wilson of Texas, the former congressman who is the subject of the current feature film which stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.

Wilson of Ohio says he has been asked "what seems like a thousand times" if the story is about him. And says he has even fielded calls from concerned friends who thought the movie trailer was a negative political campaign against him.

But there is a silver lining for Ohio's Congressman Wilson, who says the unsolicited attention has given him an opportunity to discuss the issues that are important to him.

Christian Condemnation

Christian groups across the country are condemning vandals and what they call "leaders of the secular left" for destroying and stealing Nativity scenes.

One group, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, issued a news release last week denouncing over three dozen such instances since the beginning of the month. And in what the League called "the sickest incident," a public school football coach from Marietta, Georgia, drove students around in his pickup truck while allegedly instructing them to trash Christmas displays.

John Hayes and several middle-school students damaged a number of displays, let the air out of inflatable figures and even rearranged plastic reindeer into x-rated sexual positions. Hayes has since been charged with trespassing, contributing to the delinquency of minors and reckless conduct. No word yet from the school district on Hayes' job status.

Holiday Homecoming

Meanwhile, a world away more than 4,000 Iraqi Christians who fled a Christian enclave in Baghdad are returning home to celebrate their first Christmas in two years. Known as "The Vatican of Iraq," the district of Doura was turned into an Al Qaeda base in 2004 after churches were car-bombed, women were threatened for not wearing Islamic headscarves and roving death squads controlled the area.

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But now Al Qaeda has been driven out of Doura by the U.S. and Iraqi military, and local Muslims there are telling the displaced Christians to come home. On Christmas Day, Christian families will congregate in the battle-scarred St. Mary's Church, where part of the crucifix is still missing after being targeted by gunfire.

Flying Saucer Debate

And in Japan, a debate over flying saucers kept politicians there occupied for much of last week after an opposition member demanded that the Japanese government confirm the existence of UFOs.

But the debate really took off when the Japanese chief cabinet secretary said the government could not confirm any UFO sightings but that he personally believes in them. That response prompted Japanese Defense Minister Shigeroo Machimoora to say that if Godzilla showed up he would send in the army.

FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.


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