Well, beam me up: I see that Jim Traficant will be on the ballot, running for his old House seat, after all. Obsession about all things Traficant is, no doubt, the key test of whether one is or isn't a political junkie, and has been for decades now -- I'm very proud to say that I'm the owner of an authentic Traficant for President button.
So my question is: once they finally beam him up for good, is there anything or anyone on the horizon to replace Traficant's place in the hearts of political nerds? I suppose you could test for political junkie status by checking to see whether someone could correctly sort a list of obscure Members of the House and C-SPAN on-air talent, but that's not quite the same thing.
(And, yup, light blogging will continue for the rest of the week, while I'm on the road).
You got me on this one. I know who the guy is and realize he's colorful and all, but I guess I lose junkie points for not knowing he ran for president. Wow.
ReplyDeleteHow about this as a test for hard-care political junkies -- can you name the US ambassador to the United Nations?
ReplyDeleteTraficant is the anti-Kucinich. Parity-conservation was violated when Jim and his trained badger (or toupee, I'm not sure) went up the river.
ReplyDeleteI blame the present state of Congress on this quantum anomaly.
I can do you one better. I own a "Welcome Home Jimbo" t-shirt printed by some inexplicable well-wishers in Youngstown on the occasion of his release from prison. On the chest, it features his scowling mug, rendered in vivid green ink, toupee and all.
ReplyDeleteA couple of GOP nominees really are in the running to replace Traficant, unless their staff rein them in. Angle, Paul the younger, Greene...these guys would provide ample comedy, and Paul2 and Greene would do so with Traficant-like party discipline, I imagine.
ReplyDeleteMy only concern is that they're all such political neophytes that, if elected, they'd actually follow their staff's suggestion to shut the hell up.
Not quite your same question, but I have mused that years from now (and maybe already) one will qualify as a certain type of political junkie by the length, depth, and passion of one's answer to "Who was Valerie Plame?"
ReplyDeleteThat's some real Bush-era arcana there.
Thank you for all your hard work. I always enjoy seeing who is picked and enjoy reading that post.
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Susanna's right. Thanks for all your hard work Jonathan. I always enjoy reading the posts too.
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