C-SPAN Uncensored: Washington's Dirty Mouths and Minds

This whole Larry Craig sex sting story, followed by the one about federal prosecutor trying to have sex with a five-year-old got me to thinking about depravity in Washington. For better or for worse "“ well, really just for worse "“ our politicians seem to be a pretty obscene bunch. They drink like frat boys on spring break (and then sometimes drive), they cuss like they're in a Quentin Tarantino movie and fight like schoolyard enemies. All while running the country.

As it turns out, we just missed out on a Congressional brawl in August. Things started getting testy in the House over the delaying tactics the Republicans had been using on some bills. Jesse L. Jackson, a Democrat from Illinois, shouted that Republicans couldn't be trusted, which set off Lee Terry, a Nebraska Republican. Terry shouted back "Shut up," which was immediately trumped by Jackson, who started dropping F-bombs all over the place and asked Terry if they should take it outside. Luckily for Terry, some of their colleagues intervened; that's Jackson on the left in the kung-fu getup.

John McCain, a salacious novel, and the biggest beating in the history of Congress all after the jump!

This Slate quiz also has some insights in how dirty politicians minds can be. It's got some raunchy passages of "literature" written by people in Washington that you wouldn't want to ever think of as writing porn (Lynne Cheney!).

The granddaddy of Washington dirty mouths, though, belongs to our 36th president, Lyndon Johnson. The Texas native (that already explains a lot) was famous for his outspokenness and often rash language. Probably more famous, though, was his penis, which is sometimes attributed to bringing us the slang Johnson. He was fond of skinny dipping during diplomatic meetings, as he felt his legendary genitals would establish dominance. He didn't like interrupting meetings while he was in the bathroom, so he would often just leave the door open and let anybody watch. My personal favorite anecdote (and the most telling of any from Washington), though, comes from a meeting Johnson held with reporters about Vietnam. He was repeatedly asked why American troops were fighting there and his patience wore thin. He finally snapped, unzipped his fly, whipped it out and declared, "This is why."