No question, Joe Wilson was a royal schmuck for screaming "you lie" at President Obama during his speech yesterday.

But Wilson's worse sin was that he lied, and too many people (many of them in the media) are forgetting that.

As a refresher, President Obama said:

There are also those who claim that our reform effort will insure illegal immigrants. This, too, is false – the reforms I’m proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally.

Congressman Wilson, take note: President Obama was correct. You were wrong, as the actual legislative language of HR 3200 makes clear.

Page 143 for those keeping score at home, Lines 3 to 7: SEC. 246. NO FEDERAL PAYMENT FOR UNDOCUMENTED ALIENS. Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States.

Wilson has already apologized for his childish outburst, but what he really should have apologized for is lying.

In the end, Joe Wilson is an irrelevant gnat. As Meteor Blades wrote last night, his sense of decorum won't matter once his fifteen minutes are up.

But unless we fight back against the kinds of lies that Joe Wilson and his Republican colleagues are spreading, we'll never get meaningful health care reform. And that's what really matters.

Support Joe Wilson's Democratic opponent, Rob Miller, via ActBlue.