The 5 Biggest Pricks in Congress

A Gallup poll last month put Congress' approval rating at 29 percent, which ties it with the President and puts both exactly two points behind AIDS in terms of popularity. This raises the question: Why does America loathe its elected officials so much?

Forgetting that whole “war” thing for a minute, you could make the argument that it's because most members of Congress are arrogant pricks who would rather toss Rosie O'Donnell's salad after a summer hike than do anything remotely kind, thoughtful or constructive for America. Cracked.com has singled out five of the most stubborn, abrasive, inconsiderate pricks on Capitol Hill that you should be keeping your eye on:

http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=2130&pageid=1

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Cracked takes a shot at a gargantuan task. I disagree with including Robert Byrd as there are so many, many more congresscritters who are so much more worse.

What's your list and why?

....must be on list. That little crybaby makes me crazy.

Cheers

his lack of understanding of global climate change and perpetuating the problem, McCain for caving to the ** junta and for supporting a war after he was so traumatized by one, Cheney for everything he has done since he was 5 yrs old, and Stevens for being a big whiny crybaby who loves his pork.

and I thought Stevens was the prick with the bridge to nowhere in Alaska, not Young, although Young is certainly a prick.

Byrd was a prick in 1964 when it came to civil rights. Byrd was a prick through the 70s, 80s, and up to 1994 when he was called the King of Pork, consistently bringing home the Federal bacon to West Virginia by moving whole Federal agencies there into buildings that fitted their exalted nature. Byrd is a prick because he has many more decades of experience being one. He does belong on the prick list.

Notable for their absence were Cornyn of Texas and Inhofe of Oklahoma, two men who are giving Stevens a run for the dumbest man ever to occupy a seat in the Senate. Marilyn Musgrave and Michelle Bachmann certainly belong on the list of pricks, although they anatomically lack them.

The rest of cracked.com's list deserves little comment, as they certainly know their pricks. It might have been a good gesture to list the biggest prick of them all first instead of last, though.

It should be noted that the bridge here in Anchorage was to have been named Don Young's Way :puke: . Thankfully, it may never happen as it doesn't really have much support here. (Although lack of local support didn't stop Young from allocating a bunch of money in exchange for campaign funds for a south Florida road that only the developer wanted.)

Both Young and Stevens are in legal hot water at the moment, and may not last until 2008 without being indicted. :woohoo:

or at least I'd never heard it before.

She saw a bumper sticker that read "Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bush" and she called the driver a "Prickasaurus."

That sounded like a keeper.

If enough of us use it maybe she'll make it into the Oxford English Dictionary.

With her mastery of English and insult, she is totally worthy of that distinction.

Sessions
Hatch
Davis
Lieberman
Senselessbrenner

Bill Jefferson is an utter disgrace. The whole "cold, hard cash" episode is just an example of what happens when Louisiana's sad political culture fuses with Washington crapulence.

By the way, I agree with having Byrd on the list, but for a different reason. He's the very incarnation of pork barrell politics, and he has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars over the years with his effort to move the whole damn government to Harpers Ferry.

I must I missed it. :evilfrown:

Jefferson is a crook. Finding the marked bills in the fridge only confirmed it.

I was disgusted at the run-off last year. Jefferson trotted out the repulsive, race-baiting Harry Lee, the sheriff of Jefferson Parish and the world's only 400 lb. Chinese-American redneck, to frighten white voters away from supporting Karen Carter.

where there's smoke, there's usually fire, but let's not act like all rules have been suspended and we now issue guilty verdicts before a trial or presentation of evidence.
OK ?

simply because of the omission of my two. bunning and mcconnel

one of the most obnoxious people ever to be force-fed on the American public. And those fat commercials, brother. She's lost 75 pounds? Between her ears.

Were we reading the same article? Or has Bob Sensenbrenner gotten so fat you can't tell the difference between him and Kirstie Alley?

wait, I'll be back.

Here I am. That site keeps freezing up my computer so I have to get there the long way. And I got into the wrong frigging article. It looked like the right one from the address. But then, I was going from what I thought it was, not being able to get there from clicking on it.

http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=1994

I was wondering about all this, but then people pitch a fit about Scientology all the time, so I just figured, what the hell.

I wasn't thinking very straight on this one. In fact, I think both my responses should be deleted just from sheet stupidity.

:rofl:

She is the single greatest threat to our nation, and should be removed from congress NOW!

Boehner. Hands down.

But a stone's throw to the South is Mean Jean Schmidt.

she's a close second.

and yes, my neighbors who elect these assholes tend to be assholey as well.

to be a terminal asshat, which isn't in the same league as prick.

but also a MONUMENTAL prick. The little blurb doesn't begin to encompass his prickiness.

I've been telling people here for years how big a prick he is. It's heartwarming to see that he's noticed nationally for what he is. :)

Tom Coburn for this:

WASHINGTON -- A debate over the television airing of "Schindler's List" erupted in the U.S. Congress this week when two Republican lawmakers sparred over its appropriateness.

Rep. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) urged public outrage to stop the networks "from polluting the minds of our children."

NBC's airing of Steven Spielberg's Oscar-winning film Sunday took network television "to an all-time low, with full-frontal nudity, violence and profanity being shown in our homes," Coburn, co-chairman of the Congressional Family Caucus, said in a statement Tuesday.

Arguing against the new television rating system, which labeled the film "TV-M," for mature audiences, Coburn said Sunday's broadcast "only encourages the airing of more sex and violence.

"I cringe when I realize that there were children all across this nation watching this program. They were exposed to the violence of multiple gunshot head wounds, vile language, full frontal nudity and irresponsible sexual activity."

Marilyn Musgrave for this:

Musgrave is best known as the main sponsor of the unsuccessful Federal Marriage Amendment in the 108th and 109th Congresses, originally drafted by the Alliance for Marriage. This proposed constitutional amendment would define marriage as "the union of a man and a woman" and bar any recognition of same-sex marriage or "legal incidents thereof" in the US Constitution. In a July 18, 2006 speech to the House, Musgrave said:<8>

I cannot think of a better good that this body may pursue than to promote and defend the idea that every child deserves both a father and a mother.

In a September 2006 speech to the Family Research Council's "Values Voters Summit", Musgrave warned the audience that "the future is grim unless we do what we need to do to win this battle" and that "as we face the issues that we are facing today, I don’t think there's anything more important out there than the marriage issue."<9><10><11> Musgrave later distanced herself from these claims during the 2006 election.<12>

I totally agree with them on Sensenbrenner

Senator Saxby Chambliss for his dispicable campaign against Senator Cleland.

Senator Coleman for his dispicable campaign against Mondale and just for his being him.

and said there was no divorce or homosexuality in his lineage?

Please, please can we find the gay Coburns and out them? (cuz you know they're there and hidden deep within the closet) Oh, please???

that lesbianism is “so rampant in some of the schools in southeast Oklahoma that they’ll only let one girl go to the bathroom.” This was during his Senate campaign.

You just can't make this stuff up.

..you know it's there. Those that are so batshit crazy, adamant in their protests are hiding something BIG.

He is truely a piece of work.

And even though they note he apologized hundreds of times, they call him "unforgiven." Unforgiven for the thing that he has repeatedly apologized for and expressed shame about...pretty fucking unforgivable, to be such judgmental assholes, IMO. Would they be happier if the old man just shot himself?

I dunno, I think the list is pretty lame. You really can't blame a congressman for bringing home the bacon--that is WHY they were elected. They weren't elected to raise the tone of the debate, to bring truth and justice to the NATION. They weren't elected to be FAIR. They were elected to rudely, selfishly, piggishly grab all the largesse they possibly can for their state, be it stuff, projects, jobs, money, you name it. It's why Trent Lott stays in power--he's the King of Pork. They don't HAVE to love him, they just have to like what he brings home. Those congresscritters are the gladiators for their state, and they have to bring home prizes and riches to keep their seats.

There are plenty of congresscreatures whose biggest sin was attaching themselves like a tick to the ass of BushCo, and who willingly, cheerfully did their obstructionist bidding that has caused the deaths of so many thousands over the past several years. Those are the REAL assholes, not the clowns who use existing rules and in true self-preserving style, prevent changes to those rules, to enrich themselves and their constituencies.

He still, to this day, won't support either ENDA or hate crimes. I could have easily put him on my list had I chosen to.

Robert Byrd has a horrible record on gay rights. Voted for DOMA, was vehemently against lifting the ban on gay and lesbian soldiers, against every single bit of legislation for gay and lesbian people. I know Byrd is admired around here. I'm not going to be a part of that, though.

I'm guessing WVA will be one of the last states to pass any kind of equal marriage law.

and Metzenbaum, who is four years older, had a terrific gay rights record. So did Cranston, who would be several years older if he were alive. On edit: Metzenbaum is the same age not four years older.

Metzenbaum was from CLEVELAND, and a screaming Jewish liberal from way back when. Cranston was from California--you just can't compare them to an old traditionalist from West VA. And Rockefeller, FWIW, is much younger.

Plenty of people from urban areas who came up before the war have a more liberal attitude towards gay issues, mainly because there was a gay renaissance in the late twenties and thirties in the cities. But south of the Mason-Dixon, you didn't see that at all.

I'm not defending his attitude, just explaining it.

my problem with Byrd is his vocal anti gay attitude.

If he did, he'd probably lose the homophobe vote. And I'll bet that's not a tiny number of his constituency, unfortunately.

I'm not canonizing the guy, I just don't think he's the "worst" for the reasons that the article gave. Byrd's one of the few in the Senate who seems to give a shit about the Constitution, and to me, that counts for something, despite his wrongheaded, antiquated, crochety old man attitude about gay rights.

but by now his position really should have changed given the large number of openly gay staffers and such in the Senate. What I think needs appreciating is that he is cashing checks written on the backs of lesbians and gays when he upholds the constitution.

One thing about Byrd - he's a straight shooter. No talking out both sides of his face saying we have to cut down on the pork and then slip in money for his state on the sly -- (Like Ted Stevens)

Plus I like Byrd on the TeeeVeee - he makes me laugh. :)

If Byrd is your Senator, and you're bringing home sixty grand a year in a job he brought to the state, you love him. Same with Trent Lott.

See, the only pork people don't like so much is the pork that goes to OTHER states. For the most part, the pork that comes home is GOOD pork, for worthwhile projects!

Bob Byrd really is just kinda thrown in there--they more or less admit he hasn't done any pricky things in 33 years and that he's apologized numerous times for the things he has.

Besides William Jefferson, there's got to be some real jerks in the Democratic caucuses. Power attracks pricks and even turns normal people into pricks. For instance, the image of Ted Kennedy and Chris Dodd making a "waitress sandwich" is permanently seared into my brain. That's not official legislative prickdom, but private acts of prickery, but certainly that counts for a bit more bad character than having grown up poor and white a falling, briefly, for some racist lies.

Senator Norm Coleman R-Mn. Disgusting asskisser of George W. Bush. A walking, talking, pile of shit.

Senator Saxbe Chambliss R-Ga. Ran an obscene campaign against then incumbent Max Cleland. Another walking, talking pile of shit.

Senator Tom Coburn R-Ok. I can't believe this insane right winger is in the United States Senate. Virulent homophobe.

Senator John Cornyn R-Tx. I didn't think the voters of Texas could choose anyone worse than Phil Gramm for the Senate. I was wrong.

I'll definitely agree with Cheney for being the biggest prick.

"I'll definitely agree with Cheney for being the biggest prick."



Dude's name is Dick, after all. I don't consider it a proper noun in his case.

I know this isn't going to go over well, but Joe Lieberman is not a prick.

Look, I understand the frustration with the guy. But to lump him in with boobs like Blunt and Young isn't really appropriate.

Joe Lieberman is not a crook. He isn't in public life to line his own pockets, or those of his family members.

Joe Lieberman isn't a bigot. In fact, Lieberman risked life and limb by travelling to Mississippi to register African-American voters at a time when Jewish kids from Yale weren't exactly welcome. He sponsored the first gay rights law in the country while serving in the Connecticut state senate.

Joe and Hadassah Lieberman are actually two of the warmest, kindest people I've met in over twenty years in politics. While I've been disappointed by some of Joe's remarks and some of his policy decisions over the last few years, I believe that he reaches his decisions out of a genuine desire to do what is best for his state and his country.

for Joe. That's why he keeps threatening the democrats with switching parties.

And he was helped to his seat this time by Rove, et. al.

Joe has jumped the shark. I don't like him because he supports the BushCo that keeps this war going. That's not sweat on his hands, it's blood.

IIRC, CT has Sikorsky, Electric Boat (nukuler subs,) United Technologies (Pratt & Whitney) and lots of sub-contractors to major makers of death-dealing machinery. There's also AIPAC, Likud and so on to be considered; he needs to be gone ASAP.

For the life of me, I found it amazing after that facility ended up on the BRAC list, and the Pentagon AGREED that it should close, that Holy Joe STILL managed to stop that from happening. And that's pretty hard to do....When BRAC designation is "supposed" to be a done deal...the whole thing was just amazing to me.

He is a corporate tool and a steaming pile of shit on the sidewalk.

Having someone in charge of the internet that thinks its a "series of tubes" let alone has a tendency to shout "NO"! At his colleages...I would replace Robert Byrd with Stevens in a minute...

Some of their list was ok, but I disagree about Byrd. Maybe they're just catering to the right wing market.

eom

is a bit insulting...to male genitalia?

The president of the Senate.

Then there is xenophobe Tom Tancredo - a liar who was on TV the other day claiming aunts and uncles of US citizens can immigrate, which has never been the case. Among other lies.