remember when members of Congress and the Senate used to be called "Statesmen"?

[BigBearJohn]

THOSE DAYS ARE HISTORY

[Scuba]

1. I'm more comfortable with "conmen".

[840high]

10. ...^ that

[Uben]

2. Most of them had integrity......

...nowadays, very few, if any, have integrity. When you take money to forward any bill that does not benefit the common man, you lose it all. Zero republicans have integrity. They are bribe-taking worthless pieces of shit who should spend the rest of their entire lives in prison doing hard labor.

We should make it an impeachable offense to lie to the people. How many would be left then? Zero.

[Cooley Hurd]

4. +1

[Cooley Hurd]

3. Politics has never been a noble business...

It's ugly. Those who wade thru that muck to get to the Capitol Building, and then act to benefit ALL of their constituents, not just their donors, are still, to this day, Statesmen. That's what we're lacking today.

For fuck's sake, GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS!!!!!

[hobbit709]

5. The difference between a politician and a statesman.

A statesman looks ahead to the next generation. A politician can't see past the next election.

[fredamae]

6. And today they're

mostly known as Corporate Marketing Reps or as I like to put it: Crooks.

[Nye Bevan]

7. On Feb 22, 1902, Senator Tillman punched Senator McLaurin squarely in the jaw.

On February 22, 1902, John McLaurin, South Carolina's junior senator, raced into the Senate Chamber and pronounced that state's senior senator, Ben Tillman, guilty of "a willful, malicious, and deliberate lie." Standing nearby, Tillman spun around and punched McLaurin squarely in the jaw. The chamber exploded in pandemonium as members struggled to separate both members of the South Carolina delegation. In a long moment, it was over, but not without stinging bruises both to bystanders and to the Senate's sense of decorum.

http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Senate_Fistfight.htm

And on Feb 15, 1798:

Federalist Congressman Roger Griswold of Connecticut attacked Vermont Representative Matthew Lyon with a hickory walking stick in the chambers of the United States House of Representatives. Griswold struck Lyon repeatedly about the head, shoulders and arms, while Lyon attempted to shield himself from the blows. Lyon then turned and ran to the fireplace, took up a pair of metal tongs, and having armed himself thus returned to the engagement. Griswold then tripped Lyon and struck him in the face while he lay on the ground, at which point the two were separated.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_violence

[treestar]

9. Got a point

When people talk about how nasty the campaigns are, there are always examples from history that show they always were. It's one of those things where human nature never changes and when you get older, things the way they were when you were younger seem better. It's just that you felt better, that's all!

[L0oniX]

8. Honor and integrity in Congress and the Senate are sooooo....... last century.

[polichick]

11. These days Corporate Whores is more accurate.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. In those days, they had the decency to have their "campaign contributions" delivered in brown paper

bags. Now, they advertise to get them delivered via credit cards.

[freethought]

13. Anyone remember the cartoon strip "Bloom County"?

I remember a particular strip where Opus the penguin is standing in front a mirror dressing himself up during one his ill-fated runs for president. He looks in the mirror and calls himself "A Statesman!"

The mirror replied:
"A statesman is a dead politician!"

Pretty fitting with the current crop of senators and house members.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

14. Worth noting that mostly what has changed is the perception, not the reality.

The difference between now and two hundred years ago is not that leaders are less honest and honourable now, or were more so then, but that respect for authority figures has gone out of fashion and scepticism has come in.

[City Lights]

15. "Honorable."

Don't they still expect to be addressed as "The Honorable So-And-So?"

What a fucking joke.