Wednesday's Top Ten List
The top ten most colorful Members of the House of Representatives over the last 3 decades
The most quotable, the most interesting, the biggest characters in the United States House of Representatives. This is my list…feel free to share your own
10. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) He was impeached as a Federal Judge and came to Congress to get his revenge. Good card player and a really nice guy
9. Helen Delich Bentley (R-MD): led the charge to stop exports of manufacturing jobs to Japan. Once took a huge hammer to a Japanese car.
8. Martin Hoke (R-OH): Trained as a pianist at Juliard. Chairman of the Republican Theme Team. Got in trouble for commenting on the size of the breasts of a member of the press corps. Founder of Nauvage.
7. Bob Dornan (R-CA): B1-Bob. He was hard-line right-winger who never backed down from a fight. Known for colorful floor speeches.
6. Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL) : Powerful Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Got caught up in a Post Office scandal and lost in 1994 election to Michael Patrick Flanigan.
5). Don Young (R-AK): Dean of the House of Representatives, once held a knife to the throat of John Boehner on the House floor.
4). Charlie Rangel (D-NY): Former Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Knocked off Adam Clayton Powell in a primary. Faced down corruption charges. Famous for his trips to a beach.
3). Tom DeLay (R-TX): The Hammer. The most feared whip in history. Faced campaign finance charges from a partisan prosecutor in Texas and was forced to resign.
2). Charlie Wilson (D-TX) Spearheaded efforts to beat the Communists in Afghanistan. Known for hiring the most beautiful women in his office. Inspiration for the movie Charlie Wilson’s War.
And number one most colorful Member of the House from the last 30 years is, hands down, James Traficant (D-OH), master of the one-minute speech, famous for his crazy haircut, once beat a corruption rap by representing himself in a jury trial.
great list -- i might move helen bentley up a few notches