One Congressman Worse Than the Nudie-Twitter Pic Dude
Everyone's been paying a lot of attention to one member of Congress these last two weeks, and next to none about the ones we should really be worried about. Let's start with David Rivera, recently cleared by the FEC for paying a third party to run attack ads, but what about everything else, it is pointed out today? Such as: half a million dollars from a dog track? The amended financial disclosure forms, after his reports that attributed his income to USAID were rebutted by… USAID? Also, yes, there is that time that his car somehow ran down an opponent's truck that was carrying fliers that were, well, "produced by Rivera's campaign opponent at the time, that included a last-minute attack on Rivera's character and detailed past domestic violence accusations against him." Still under investigation by at least two agencies, his Wikipedia is a battleground!
Dick pics or it didn't happen.
@boyofdestiny I know, right? Plus, all that stuff Choire wrote was boring and hard to understand. What's US AIDs?
1. Show it on the Internet? Shame, censure, and eternal damnation.
2. Stick in the public's ass? Run for higher office.
@KarenUhOh 3. Stick it in a man's ass? Cry on television, go to "rehab", buy wife new diamond necklace, continue to demonize gays, retain office or "retire" and get lobbying gig.
David Vitter.
Is it wrong of me to hope he becomes collateral damage?
Heh-heh…you said "member."
Oh, well, at least there's only one member worse than Mr. Twitter guy. And I'm so glad the media are focused on the Weiners of the world rather than trivial stuff like outright lawbreaking on the part of elected officials.
Why doesn't Bill Jefferson ever get brought up when people complain about awful congresspeople?
deepomega: The Awl's go-to source for "Both Sides Do It!"
In all seriousness, I don't think this is the answer to your question, as it gives pundits and armchair commentators too much logical credit, but Bill Jefferson actually got convicted and thrown in jail for a long long time. Perhaps our sense of outrage is blunted by the fact that a measure of justice was done, which is more than can be said for a lot (most) of Congressional scumbags.
@boyofdestiny And Jefferson has been out of congress for four years. Who the fuck cares anymore? About as relevant as AbScam.
@boyofdestiny: I take my job very seriously, and apparently my job is to get mad about team red/team blue politics.
Yeah the fact that Jefferson is now Jailferson (sorry) is a good point. (And I'd also accept as an answer, the fact that he was voted out in 2008 – a distracting year.)
@La Mareada: Yeah, and Dave Vitter was caught with a prostitute a year earlier. So?