Radar Online assesses the ten stupidest congresscritters. But any such list which doesn't include Senator Ted "made of tubes" Stevens is clearly bogus.
Furthermore, the entire premise misses a vital point. These congresscritters may well be dumb, but what made them deserving of mockery is their public displays of stupidity. Jim Ryun has said things about climate change at least as stupid as what Senator Inhofe has said, and I'd say his ad touting sustainable energy, in which he addresses the camera while gassing up his SUV, easily tops the press conference on energy described in the entry on Barbara Boxer.
And no senator's floridly written novel could match Ryun's article on dating … I mean courtship … in the Ryun household. In that iconic work, Ryun and his wife explain:
Courtship can mean different things in different circles, but for our family it means that if a young man wants to date one of our daughters, he contacts the father and asks to take the daughter out. (Of course, the mother can take this role in families where the father is not available.) [NB: but apparently only if the father is not available. And girls don't have to check with the Ryun parents before taking the boys out on the town] …
when our twin sons, Ned and Drew, turned 16, they began closely observing the dating scene. When they saw the broken hearts and hurt feelings following the latest school break-ups, they believed there had to be a better way to protect their emotions while learning to be friends with the opposite sex.
For what it's worth, my understanding is that Ned, Drew and younger daughter Catherine remain unmarried over a decade later. If you'd like to try hooking up with them, contact Jim's office. How would this courtship work (it isn't clear which of his children other than the married Heather has attempted it)? The Ryuns explain:
If a young man is interested in a young woman, he starts by praying about the relationship. With a go-ahead from the Lord and his parents, he then approaches the girl's parents. The parents pray and, if the young woman has a reciprocal interest in the young man, her father talks through courtship and its expectations with the fellow.
Before a young man and woman actually begin courting, the girl's father and the interested fellow spend time getting to know one another. This relationship may be built through shared activities or -- in cases where the two do not live near one another -- through letters and telephone calls.
Eventually, the boy and the girl might be allowed to meet, though not for long. "In our home," explain the Ryuns, "a young man interested in Heather or Catharine is apt to find himself playing basketball with Ned and Drew, or helping out in the kitchen after dinner."
What makes Katherine Harris or J. D. Hayworth seem stupider than Ryun, New Jersey's Scott Garrett, or a host of other congressional mouth-breathers, is not intellect, but prominence and pride. Senator Inhofe takes a perverse pride in being wrong about things, and shouts it from rooftops. Other stupid congresscritters would do the same, if they had the same prominence.
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This would be funny, if it weren't so sad that this nutjob is an elected official.
I sent the URL to my brother who is a partner in a lobbying firm in DC. His only comment is that the list is "all true".
He said what is really needed us a list of deadlist combo; "Stupid and Mean".
I still can't see how such a list could ignore the Georgia Congressman (was it Westmoreland, if not, somebody remind me of the name) who got on the COLBERT REPORT to argue for the posting of the Ten Commandments in public buildings, and when challenged could only name three of them.