U.S. Senate Falls Off the Insult Cliff

Strained negotiations over the fiscal cliff have to led to some heated remarks in the normally stodgy Senate. Harry Reid called House Speaker John Boehner a "dictator" for the latter's refusal to bring Senate bills to a vote in the House. Before that, Reid compared Republicans to the New York Jets.

Which is to say: Senate insults have gotten lame lately and productivity seems to have suffered as a result. At least you could count on the Senate to authorize a war or two in the days when Dick Cheney stalked the chamber, telling Sen. Patrick Leahy to do a certain anatomically impossible thing to himself.

Maybe if we get back to the days of hardcore incivility and let elected officials blow off some steam, they'll get more work done. Consider the greatest congressional insults in history:

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A Short History of Senators Complaining About Having to Work

When: December 2012
What the Senate Should Be Doing: Extending tax rates, passing a farm bill to avoid the lactocalypse, raising the debt ceiling.
What they're Doing: Complaining…

Mostly, people just looked mad. Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, his tie slightly askew, looked as gloomy as the clouds hovering over the Capitol dome. "I didn't realize how much I didn't want to be here until I got here," said Mr. Schumer, who had taken the red eye from San Francisco, where he had arrived only days earlier to visit his daughter.

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Best Write-In Votes of 2012 National Tournament

From Jesus Christ to Ron Paul to Your Mom, thousands of not-on-the-ballot candidates received votes in this year's election. Some of the most creative entries came from Georgia's 10th Congressional District, where evolution-denying doctor Paul Broun faced no Democratic opponent but had to fend-off a write-in challenge from the ghost Charles Darwin.

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Chuck Grassley Learns About "Electricity Inventor" Thomas Edison

For nearly a year, Senator Chuck Grassley has been remarking on the dearth of history programming on the History Channel. "I turn to History channel frequently bc I like history. There is nevr any history unless u r an antique dealer. Change name," read one representative tweet from the Iowa Senator who should never, ever change.

"Norwalk HS 41students issues STOP Gasprices AfgNistan gaymArriage Iowa economy F16," read another tweet from earlier this year, which was ostensibly not about the History Channel, though who knows?

In any case, there's some decidedly mixed news on the History Channel versus Grassley battlefront. Yes, the Grassley Twitter account's grammar and syntax have improved, but unfortunately, it still reflects the thoughts of Chuck Grassley…

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A Republican Natural History of Life on Earth

Circa 7000 B.C: Earth created. "You see, there are a lot of scientific data that I've found out as a scientist that actually show that this is really a young Earth. I don't believe that the Earth's but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them. That's what the Bible says." – Rep. Paul Broun, M.D., 9/27/12

7000 B.C. + 3 Days: Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit trees, which shall pollute the earth. "Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do." – President Ronald Reagan, 8/80 

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