10 dumbest members of Congress

[DealMonkey]

My only comment is why limit the list to merely 10?

Holly Martins names the 10 dumbest members of Congress over at Radar.

* 10. Sen Jim Bunning (R-KY)
* 9. Rep Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
* 8. Sen Conrad Burns (R-MT)
* 7. Rep Cynthia McKinney (D-GA)
* 6. Rep Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio)
* 5. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
* 4. Rep. JD Hayworth (R-Ariz.)
* 3. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)
* 2. Rep. Donald Young (R-AK)
* 1. Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.)

For the reasons they made the list hit the link.

 

[DealMonkey]

A little preview of the #1 position:

1.Representative Katherine Harris (R-FL)
If dumb Congress members were the X-Men, Harris would be their Wolverine?a mutant possessing fearsome skills, the product of a demented government experiment gone horribly wrong. Back in 2000, the then-Florida secretary of state thrust herself into the national spotlight by peremptorily calling the state for George W. Bush. Of course, the longtime crony of Bush's brother Jeb was also Florida's GOP campaign chair. Two years later, after she won her seat in the House, Harris wasted no time becoming a by-the-numbers culture warrior. But she really hit her stride on the campaign trail. Running for re-election in 2004, she told voters in Venice, Florida, that a "Middle Eastern" man had been arrested for trying to blow up the power grid of Carmel, Indiana. Neither the mayor of Carmel nor the governor of Indiana?nor anyone else acquainted with reality?had any idea what Harris was talking about.

Florida Republicans responded with sound skepticism when Harris put herself forward to face off against Democratic Senate incumbent Bill Nelson in 2006. But Harris was undaunted, allegedly telling campaign consultant Ed Rollins that God had asked her to run for Senate.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Being seems to have other plans for Florida Republicans?and especially for Harris's campaign team. Team Harris has hemorrhaged more than 25 senior staff and consultants, Rollins among them, over the past year. They rush for the exits every time there's a fresh report on Harris's shady dealing: her $2,800 dinner with MZM defense contractor (and Duke Cunningham's lubricator in chief) Mitchell Wade, who reportedly vowed to kick in $200,000 for a Harris fundraiser; her withdrawal of $100,000 from her campaign coffers to pay for repairs to her house; news that the FBI is collecting her campaign e-mails for review; and her decision to conceal from her lead staffer a federal subpoena concerning the abuses.

Need more? There was the surreal appearance on Hannity & Colmes during which Harris stood in profile for the entirety of her softball interview, seemingly intending to showcase her pronounced dé colletage to Fox News viewers. There was Harris's whisper campaign after the increasingly desperate state GOP reportedly approached former congressman and cable-host Joe Scarborough to run against her and that Scarborough had a "dead intern problem." Mainly, though, there's her Stalin-esque management style, which includes attacking staffers for such trespasses as procuring the wrong kind of candy, or for screwing up her Starbuck's order (extra-hot low-foam nonfat venti triple lattes with one packet of Sweet-n-Low). It's the sort of unhinged megalomania that makes us giddy. At one point, Harris's battered staffers tested her by submitting a two-month old speech she had written herself: She pronounced it "terrible." Unfortunately, early polls suggest our No. 1 pick won't be around to entertain us much longer. Enjoy her while you can.

 

[Lemon law]

Three dems ---7 repubs----ratio about right.

But if you rate intelligence by political survival---some of the dummies don't do bad.

But I will miss Cythia McKinney---a lady with an additude---but still whip smart with the followup question---she owned Rummy inside of two questions.

And I sure won't miss Harris---but she still got a few terms in congress. But no honor amoung theives---even teh repubs wouldn't have her--after all they stole for them

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

That's a decent list but I'm sure there's turds galore up there.

Bunning may be senile . . . not necessarily dumb.
Kennedy . . . um . . . alcoholic.
Burns . . . yeah dumb.
McKinney . . . wow . . . she's low on this list solely b/c she's leaving. If she had been re-elected I would say top 5.
Schmidt was the tool that tried to take on Murtha?
Boxer . . . yeah dumb but CA has been sending a pair of retreads to Congress for some time.
Inhofe is a major league imbecile so his spot is deserved.
Don Young Way . . . ugh!

 

[extra]

Don Young shouldn't be on that list--he may bring home a ton of money to AK, but he isn't dumb. And the bridge to nowhere--I just hang my head and sigh whenever I hear that brought up, people really have no clue.

However, Ted Stevens should soooo be on there!

It's a serious of tubes!!! It's not a truck dangit!

 

[marincounty]

Nice, you link to some right-wing web site for the list.
I disagree with your listing of Barbara Boxer, California Senator, in your list of dumbest congress people.

For one thing, in her last election she got more votes for Senator than anyone in history.
Here's another:
Senator Boxer has won numerous awards for her efforts to create a cleaner, healthier environment. She authored the amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure that drinking water standards are set to protect children and other vulnerable populations. She has been a leader in the fight to remove arsenic from drinking water, block oil drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge and along California?s coast, stop the use of human subjects in pesticide testing, and revitalize the Superfund by making polluters ? not taxpayers ? pay to clean up the toxic waste they leave behind.

Senator Boxer has worked to preserve the safety net for older Americans. She introduced the 401(k) Pension Protection Act to protect workers? retirement nest eggs by requiring the diversification of 401(k) plans; a modified version of her bill was signed into law as part of the 1997 tax bill. This work set the stage for her active involvement in preserving Social Security.

In response to the September 11th attacks, Senator Boxer authored a bill to protect commercial airliners against attacks by shoulder-fired missiles, and she wrote the law allowing airline pilots with special training to carry guns in the cockpit. She wrote the law to ensure that air marshals would be on board high-risk flights. She has also authored legislation on port security, rail security, and providing assistance to first responders

http://boxer.senate.gov/about/bio/
Notice how Congress has taken up her plans to put defensive systems on commercial airliners, not, but is putting them on the planes the administration
and gov officials fly on.

I think Barbara Boxer is one of the ten SMARTEST people in Congress.

 

[extra]

"block oil drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge and along California?s coast"

That alone is almost reason enough for her to be on the dumbest list, if you ask me.

Of course, as you've pointed out, she's done some totally good common-sense stuff as well like revitalize the Superfund, help let pilots carry guns, etc.

I think if you looked at all the representatives, you can prolly find some very smart stuff that they have done and some very very insane stuff that they've done.

I'd have thrown Bill Frist onto that list for some pretty dumb stuff he's said.

 

[Thump553]

This list is pretty bogus if it doesn't have Ted Stevens on it. He would be in the top three of any realistic list.

 

[ProfJohn]

Originally posted by: marincounty
For one thing, in her last election she got more votes for Senator than anyone in history.

She lives in the state which had the highest population of any state in history!! Duh she got the most. And the poor people from Wyoming will get the least votes, doesn't mean they are worse than anyone from California.

And Radar is not a right wing web site by any stretch. One if its major investors in its new print form is Jesse Jackson.

Just go to the home page and check it out. No right wing person would have anything to do with the trash they report.

Besides.. 7 out of 10 are Republicans... and you think a right wing web site would do that? It would be flipped. Now a unbiased site would list 5 and 5 or 6-4 at most, just to be fair.

Keith Olbermann would list it 9-1, and claim that he not biased at all.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: extra
However, Ted Stevens should soooo be on there!

It's a serious of tubes!!! It's not a truck dangit!

Yeah, what kind of list is this without Stevens???

Perhaps the tubes were clogged at the time of authoring.

 

[International Machine Consortium]

Originally posted by: marincounty
Nice, you link to some right-wing web site for the list.
I disagree with your listing of Barbara Boxer, California Senator, in your list of dumbest congress people.

For one thing, in her last election she got more votes for Senator than anyone in history.
Here's another:
Senator Boxer has won numerous awards for her efforts to create a cleaner, healthier environment. She authored the amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act to ensure that drinking water standards are set to protect children and other vulnerable populations. She has been a leader in the fight to remove arsenic from drinking water, block oil drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge and along California?s coast, stop the use of human subjects in pesticide testing, and revitalize the Superfund by making polluters ? not taxpayers ? pay to clean up the toxic waste they leave behind.

Senator Boxer has worked to preserve the safety net for older Americans. She introduced the 401(k) Pension Protection Act to protect workers? retirement nest eggs by requiring the diversification of 401(k) plans; a modified version of her bill was signed into law as part of the 1997 tax bill. This work set the stage for her active involvement in preserving Social Security.

In response to the September 11th attacks, Senator Boxer authored a bill to protect commercial airliners against attacks by shoulder-fired missiles, and she wrote the law allowing airline pilots with special training to carry guns in the cockpit. She wrote the law to ensure that air marshals would be on board high-risk flights. She has also authored legislation on port security, rail security, and providing assistance to first responders

http://boxer.senate.gov/about/bio/
Notice how Congress has taken up her plans to put defensive systems on commercial airliners, not, but is putting them on the planes the administration
and gov officials fly on.

I think Barbara Boxer is one of the ten SMARTEST people in Congress.

Yeah, she's definitely a powerhouse.

 

[Rainsford]

Agreed that Ted Stevens should be on there, although I'm not sure who I'd bump off to put him on a top 10 list. But Tom Coburn, the OTHER Oklahoma Senator (what the hell are they smoking in OK?) deserves the number 2 spot, between Harris and his buddy Inhofe. Don't forget, not only is Coburn rather dumb, he's also kind of crazy. He's given us such gems as: ""The gay community has infiltrated the very centers of power in every area across this country, and they wield extreme power... That agenda is the greatest threat to our freedom that we face today. Why do you think we see the rationalization for abortion and multiple sexual partners?" and "I favor the death penalty for abortionists and other people who take life."

Look, I understand that he hates abortions, so shouldn't he LIKE gay people? After all, who has fewer abortions than gay people? Perhaps Coburn doesn't understand this, despite being a doctor, because he seems to have went to medical school in Botswana. In any case, this guys is an easy shoe-in for the top 10 list.

 

[glugglug]

How can Patrick Kennedy be on that list and Fritz Hollings not?

 

[2Xtreme21]

Ted Stevens and Sam Brownback?

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: DealMonkey
My only comment is why limit the list to merely 10?

Holly Martins names the 10 dumbest members of Congress over at Radar.

* 10. Sen Jim Bunning (R-KY)
* 9. Rep Patrick Kennedy (D-RI)
* 8. Sen Conrad Burns (R-MT)
* 7. Rep Cynthia McKinney (D-GA)
* 6. Rep Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio)
* 5. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
* 4. Rep. JD Hayworth (R-Ariz.)
* 3. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)
* 2. Rep. Donald Young (R-AK)
* 1. Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.)

For the reasons they made the list hit the link.

Oh come on, Katherine is a genius and a hero.

 

[Jeff7]

I think for that list to be truly comprehensive it would require 537 entries.

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Oh come on, Katherine is a genius and a hero.

From here:
What public policy limits on abortion have you supported or will you support in order to decrease the number of abortions in our nation?

"First and foremost, one of the most important things we can do is encourage abstinence in the schools. That?s really important. The Promise Keepers and some of the things that they?ve been able to do with dads and their daughters, it?s really important."

Peachy, a Promise Keeper supporter.


Concerning Terry Schiavo:
"Having a feeding tube and being hydrated are not life-sustaining."
WTF?????


"Every single office I?ve fulfilled every one of my promises that I made."
I feel like I want to laugh, but I think that it may in fact be an urge to vomit profusely.


"And salt and light means not just in the church and not just as a teacher or as a pastor or a banker or a lawyer, but in government and we have to have elected officials in government and we have to have the faithful in government and over time, that lie we have been told, the separation of church and state, people have internalized, thinking that they needed to avoid politics and that is so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers."
So.......no need for campaigning and voting then?


"And if we are the ones not actively involved in electing those godly men and women and if people aren?t involved in helping godly men in getting elected than we?re going to have a nation of secular laws. That?s not what our founding fathers intended and that?s certainly isn?t what God intended."
.........
Yup, that's why the First Amendment guarantees that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."


"I fully support a federal constitutional amendment to define marriage as being only between one man and one woman. I have voted in support of the Marriage Protection Amendment because we should not undermine the uniqueness of an institution that continues to serve as an essential thread in the fabric of our society."
Because gay marriage is the reason that the divorce rate is around 50%.:roll:


"If you are not electing Christians, tried and true, under public scrutiny and pressure, if you?re not electing Christians then in essence you are going to legislate sin. They can legislate sin."
The piece de resistance.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: Pabster

Originally posted by: extra
However, Ted Stevens should soooo be on there!

It's a serious of tubes!!! It's not a truck dangit!

Yeah, what kind of list is this without Stevens???

Perhaps the tubes were clogged at the time of authoring.

They would have felt guilty about telling the truth about Alaskans . . .

 

[ProfJohn]

On Katherine Harris

She may deserve being on the list. But let's admit that a lot of the hatred for her comes only because of the fact that she was secretary of the state of Florida during the Bush-Gore mess.
If it hadn't been for that no one would even know who the hell she is.

Talking about 10 dumbest how can we not include Major Owens of New York who once declared in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives that a hundred million blacks perished on the journey from Africa to America, and that so many of the dead were thrown overboard that, to this day, sharks still follow the routes taken by the slave ships.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Originally posted by: extra
Don Young shouldn't be on that list--he may bring home a ton of money to AK, but he isn't dumb. And the bridge to nowhere--I just hang my head and sigh whenever I hear that brought up, people really have no clue.

However, Ted Stevens should soooo be on there!

It's a serious of tubes!!! It's not a truck dangit!

*DING*

Anybody with the ability manipulate Washington like Young does, year in and year out, is not a dummy. Stevens is in that category too. He made a weak analogy and everyone pounced on him for it. But everyone involved with the net neutrality issue in Washington has stated that Ted knows the issue front and back.

The true measure of their capabilities definitely came with the bridge issue this year. EVERYONE bashed that pork. It was front page news, universally derided by all. And they still got congress to go along with it. (They just took the earmarks off - We still got the money) Brains and balls.

And yeah... The bridge thing was the most misrepresented issue in congress this year.

 

[2Xtreme21]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
I think for that list to be truly comprehensive it would require 537 entries.

Erm... Where are the extra 2 coming from?

 

[LunarRay]

Is this a Dumb and Dumber thing - the dumb things the elected officials do and the dumber things the voters do...

It seems to me that even Ms. Harris was elected and re-elected.. and even though she has special Starbucks coffee orders that her staff can't get right the people in her district gave her the nod... So... who's dumb... not her ... she got the job..

Stevens... he's been smarter than the average bear for quite some time... been in that seat of his by virtue of the voters... The Dumb ones if he's dumb..

It is the Voters who must examine their mental state... Voters put these clowns in office then call them dumb and then re-elect them...


Amazing

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21

Originally posted by: Jeff7
I think for that list to be truly comprehensive it would require 537 entries.

Erm... Where are the extra 2 coming from?

Got it from the Congressional Demographics page. Add up the totals in each category, and you get 537.

Originally posted by: LunarRay
It is the Voters who must examine their mental state... Voters put these clowns in office then call them dumb and then re-elect them...


Amazing

A truly representative government then?

 

[extra]

Yeah, the reason only 50ppl live there is because... There is no way to get there except a ferry lol...

PORK tho.. is .. paying $500,000 of taxpayer money to paint an alaska airlines jet like a salmon (though the paint job looks great i must say LOL)

 

[ayabe]

Originally posted by: ProfJohn
On Katherine Harris

She may deserve being on the list. But let's admit that a lot of the hatred for her comes only because of the fact that she was secretary of the state of Florida during the Bush-Gore mess.
If it hadn't been for that no one would even know who the hell she is.

Talking about 10 dumbest how can we not include Major Owens of New York who once declared in a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives that a hundred million blacks perished on the journey from Africa to America, and that so many of the dead were thrown overboard that, to this day, sharks still follow the routes taken by the slave ships.

She also doesn't believe there is a such a thing as separation of church and state, among other things.

People missing:

John Cornyn - ditto.

 

[LunarRay]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21

Originally posted by: Jeff7
I think for that list to be truly comprehensive it would require 537 entries.

Erm... Where are the extra 2 coming from?

Got it from the Congressional Demographics page. Add up the totals in each category, and you get 537.

Originally posted by: LunarRay
It is the Voters who must examine their mental state... Voters put these clowns in office then call them dumb and then re-elect them...


Amazing

A truly representative government then?

It is 'Representative' cuz the voters select who goes to do the representing... The amazing bit is the voters themselves do the selecting then the griping then the re-electing... So.. to solve this ummmmmm dilemma.. at least on the House side initially.. find someone in the area to go to DC and represent for a couple of years.. get off yer duff and eliminate the party system altogether.. find a teacher or a mailman or a shop keeper or homemaker... someone who don't even want the job.. send them to DC for two years and then find another... Across this Nation are folks who'd go and serve... Turn politics into an extinct animal... Change the way we do things.. make all the money in the deep special interest pockets worthless..
That is my solution..