After the 1998 congressional elections, [Bill] Clinton bemoaned the fact that GOP Rep. Jim Bunning had narrowly won a Senate seat in Kentucky. [Taylor] Branch writes, "He said Bunning, a former baseball player, was so mean-spirited that he repulsed even his fellow know-nothings. 'I tried to work with him a couple times,' said Clinton, 'and he just sent shivers up my spine....I know you're a baseball fan and everything, and you don't like to hear it, but this guy is beyond the pale.'"
-David Corn, Mother Jones, 2009
Last night, Jon Stewart opened his show with a clip of Sen. Jim Bunning refusing to talk to reporters in the rudest, most imperious way possible. Was Bunning's hold on unemployed Americans benefits a protest of the budget deficit, Stewart wondered? Was it a principled stand for fiscal conservatism? Stewart had an answer for his audience; "Turns out, he's just a dick!"Normally, that'd be an opinion. Maybe you don't like someone, but plenty of other people do. It may be your opinion that "he's just a dick," but that doesn't make it true. This isn't the case with Sen. Jim Bunning, Republican of Kentucky -- he is demonstrably a dick. In fact, he's such an insufferable ass that he's currently in the process of being fired from the Republican Party. It's a de facto firing -- they didn't support his reelection, handing him a guaranteed loss -- but a firing nonetheless. If you're too big of a jerk for the Republican Party, then call Guinness. You might be able to claim some sort of record... [CLICK TO READ FULL POST]
