Tuesday, October 17, 2006

America's Ten Dumbest Congressmen

Radar ranks the 10 biggest fools on the Hill:

10. Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY)

9. Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)

8. Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT)

7. Representative Cynthia McKinney (D-GA)

6. Representative Jean Schmidt (R-OH)

5. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA)

4. Representative J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)

I have to include the story on the dumbass from AZ -- it amazes me that he has stayed in office this long.

After a long tour as a Sunbelt TV sportscaster, Hayworth rode the 1994 Republican revolution into office, where he started things off by telling a group of environmental activists that untrammeled logging was a conservation measure because forests are a fire hazard. He distributed leaflets on the House floor accusing Maryland Democrat Steny Hoyer of promoting "sex training for federal employees," planning to indoctrinate them into drug use, and pushing New Age cult worship, all because of a proposal to extend health coverage for abortions under dire circumstances. And the amendment Hayworth was protesting so absurdly wasn't Hoyer's at all—it was actually the work of Hayworth's fellow Republican, Rep. Ron Packard of California.

Over the years, he racked up more than $150,000 from Jack Abramoff's clients, $64,520 in the last election cycle alone, second in the House only to Majority Leader Dennis Hastert. Alone among Congress members, though, Hayworth has refused to return any of the tainted funds, offering only this rationale: the donors don't want the money back.

Hayworth's dimness is so legendary on the Hill that one Arizona colleague told a reporter that he's a textbook example of the power of gerrymandering because of his continued ability to get re-elected despite saying "any foolish thing." Recently he put that thesis to the test, openly approving the nativist writings of the anti-Semitic auto baron Henry Ford and repeatedly mis-stating a reporter's first and last name during an interview. Of course, Hayworth is a strong supporter of "English only" bills, proving yet again the adage that those who can't do, legislate.

3. Senator James Inhofe (R-OK)

2. Representative Donald Young (R-AK)

1. Representative Katherine Harris (R-FL)

You'll have to go to the site to read up on why these idiots made the list.


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