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October 18, 2006BELTWAY BLOGROLL
In The Blog's-Eye: The 'Worst' Congressmen
Yesterday, I stumbled across Radar Online's list of "America's Dumbest Congressmen." Today, I discovered that Rolling Stone has a similar list -- "The 10 Worst Congressman" -- in its latest issue.
There is little overlap in names between the two lists. At this rate, every lawmaker seeking re-election could become equally infamous before the election. The familiar cries to "throw the bums out" can't be far behind.
The Rolling Stone list, part of the magazine's cover story on "The Worst Congress Ever," is different from Radar Online's in ways other than the names. For starters, it is about as partisan as it could get. Nine of the 10 lawmakers on the list are Republicans, and the only Democrat, Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana, is under federal investigation and had his homes and congressional office raided.
Rolling Stone also picked only House members, leaving the impression either that: a) the magazine's editors think the Senate is squeaky clean, or b) that Rolling Stone doesn't realize the Senate is part of Congress. I vote for the latter.
At any rate, here are the magazine's picks for worst congressmen:
10) Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo.
9) Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky.
8) Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa.
7) Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif.
6) Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo.
5) Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif.
4) Rep. William Jefferson, D-La.
3) Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska (as at Radar Online, he is recognized in part for the "bridge to nowhere" that so animated bloggers)
2) Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.
1) House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
Readers are discussing the list, including its partisan slant, at National Affairs Daily, the blog of Rolling Stone. (Who knew Rolling Stone had a blog ... and especially one focused on national affairs?)
Posted by Danny | 05:01 PM
